Third time to see Melt Banana at the end of a bittersweet day as I said goodbye (probably temporarily) to my student status earlier in the afternoon. This meant a poor Illusionator mood and lack of attentiveness to tales of holidays from George and enthusiasm from Mr Eldritch (I know, fucking hell), sorry for being such a wet wank.
Rolo Tomassi were the support. I saw some young people making music. (Thanks Chris for the idea for this part of the shite)
Main act were Melt Banana, whom I've loved for a long while. Tonight though my disappointment (mild) wasn't just because I was feeling low. They were very good, polished, put it over in a professionally aggressive way, quality control is never an issue. But, as alluded to in my last trip to see them (when much admiration-semen was spilt), their set has changed little over the 5 years since I first saw them. Ironic this becomes a problem when they HAVE made some changes. Anyway, my disappointment focused most keenly during the "short songs" bit. It's fun 'n' all, and people react to it with mirth and enthusiasm, but they do it EVERY TIME, and for me it's got a bit old.
So to sum up, a very good gig, worth the admission, but there's a sense of MxBx standing still. It's a nice place to stand, but what I loved about them was the manic rush to the new, and maybe that's gone, psychodynamically speaking there's some linking to be done there I'm sure.
And finally, they did do "Love Song" not "Neat Neat Neat" 5 years ago guys, trust me for once.
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