
Was Doug Yule a more conventional player than John Cale? Yes, but even Jimi Hendrix was a more conventional player than Cale - pick anyone in rock music - who wasn’t a more conventional player than Cale."
Jonathan Richman
Fear Is A Man's Best Friend (Est. 1999) is the ultimate unofficial John Cale website
Live reviews
Setlist
Venus In Furs
Gun
Hanky Panky Nohow
Set Me free
Femme Fatale / Rosegarden Funeral of Sores
Hush
Outta The bag
Guts
Look Horizon
Magritte
Ship Of Fools
Cable Hogue
Things
Sold Motel
Jumbo in tha Modernworld
Perfect
Pablo Picasso / Mary Lou
Close Watch
Leiden 2006-03-18
18-3-2006 7.50 pm
LVC, Leiden, The Netherlands
Review by Marga Taris
Waiting in the cold for the LVC to open its doors for us silly
chilly concert-goers,
watching unfamiliar - non Cale related - instruments and cases being
unloaded from a truck and carried inside... huh?? , the police on
mountain bike (typically Dutch – the bikes that is, not the
mountains) invading the venue, the band _leaving_ the place and
going downtown, and the girl at the box-office trying her best to
trace our reservations in `some' computerfile but failing to conjure
up our names on the screen,
but of course I don't believe in bad signs....
9.00 pm
the show is supposed to start, but by then first all guitars need a
double-check & tuning by Joe Karnes.
Ok can we begin now?
Enter stage manager, equipped with flashlight and tools of all sorts
stuck in his belt... like a bloody carpenter. Setlists get taped in
every corner... irregularities swept aside, microphones and wires
checked.
Ok now?
The audience's wardrobe is to be removed from the stage floor...
Now?
Here comes the grocer to deliver a plentitude of bottles with
mineral water on every horizontal spot available ... somebody here
must be pretty thirsty.
Now?
Guitar batteries are replaced.. just in case. we won't have that
funny incident happen a second time! haha...
Now?
Official Setlist
Leiden 18 march 2006
Venus
Lights / Save Us
Evidence
Walking
Helen
Dancing
Woman
Femme
Hush
Outta Bag
Set Me Free / Buffalo Mozarella
Guts
Look Horizon
Magritte
DirtyAss
Gun
Ship / Cable
Things
Jumbo in tha Modernworld
Sold / Hot Nuggets
Perfect
Leaving it
----encore----
Gravel
Heartbreak / Pablo
The lady next to me is demonstrating signs of impatience, she
beckons the stage manager and instructs him to tell JC there's
people waiting for him. A bit embarrassing but she's convinced it
worked!
9.45 pm or so enter JC & band...
My God he looks thin and fatigued, he definitely lost a few
pounds on the way.
And what's wrong with European hairdressers. Does he distrust them?
His hair has grown uncontrollably wiry since Eindhoven, and although
the front locks have been carefully combed back with gel to create
the evil Don Corleone look, the back has adapted the shape of
Woodstock's coiffure. It's a cute and harmless little bird, isn't
it?
New bicoloured sportsshoes in pale- and dark grey pattern `adorn'
John's feet, smartly matching with his dark blue/grey-ish trousers
and pale grey-ish surgery shirting ... a uniform that wouldn't have
been out of place in China... in the Mao-era!, an ensemble that
complacently despises fashion. Fantastic!
Yes Ziggy, following the St.Petersburg example there were
black&white posters glued to the monitors right in front of me
shouting `No Smoking' (I must admit smoke-free zones are a
revelation and a recommendation) and 'No Photographs' (only during
the first 3 songs without flash!! - which amazed me... I mean this
still sounds like an encouragement from a man who shuns the
camera?). Strangely enough it forgot to mention 'No Recording' which
is usually the artist's greatest fear. I assume that everyone in the
back felt free to merrily shoot the event for DVD release then? Keep
me informed.(Sorry Margaret, just joking) :)
The band was packed on a cosy little stage that could be easily
accessed by 4 or 5 inviting steps leading directly to John's
microphone. A bit stressful for the stage manager no doubt, who kept
a close watch and was not allowed to lose attention one single
minute.
But nobody bothered to climb up there and spoil the vibe, everyone
was too absorbed by the music. You just wanted to close your eyes
and make the songs, each one a distillation of a different mood,
take possession of you. It was a great atmosphere.
If you have attended the Black Acetate Tour earlier on and think you
know what it is like... forget it!
This night seemed to be taken from a completely different tour
compared to two months ago. Many songs have been replaced by others
and the ones that remained on the setlist were now rearranged and in
different guises, for instance the extended alien/Asian version of
Gun (and are those ambulance sirens??), or that strange minimalist
Christmas version of Hanky Panky Nohow.. complete with modest jingle
bell sound. Very unusual!
The songs played were:
- Venus In Furs
- Gun
- Hanky Panky Nohow
- Set Me free
- Femme Fatale / Rosegarden Funeral of Sores
- Hush
- Outta The bag
- Guts – in Bflat?
- Look Horizon
- Magritte
Introduced as: "So I wrote this song about my favourite painter, and
I turned on the tv and there they were destroying the Bamiyan
statue. And that's the atmosphere in which this song was written".
- Ship Of Fools
Mr.W. and I were hoping for this one not to pop up, but hey I'm on
the verge of fully enjoying it. I suppose it's an acquired taste.
Surprising guitar improvisations here.
- Cable Hogue
Great great ending with screeching guitars. Whaddya mean
an `acoustic' song?
- Things
- Sold Motel
- Jumbo in tha Modernworld
"This is a new song that's probably out this summer and the chorus
is: Blame it on the monkey.. that's us"
And indeed we were treated to the proper animal voices & Zoo-noises.
- Perfect
- Pablo Picasso / Mary Lou
"This is another painter"
An over 10 minute version of Pablo Picasso, with Mary Lou cleverly
interwoven. Did anyone recognize it?
Encore:
- Close Watch
And that was it.
There must be a curse on Gravel Drive yes?, but let's not bring up
that subject anymore....
The official list for the nigth showed 10 other options of songs,
and was a cross between a menu and setlist ... maybe to encourage
John to eat?
It seems they now produce extra copies of this list to be able to
satisfy the needs of _all_ collectors that keep pestering the crew
after the show. A sympathetic gesture, but I tell you it's not quite
the same as the real thing that you normally have to 'fight'
for :), .. and with the footmarks and dirt imprinted on it.