Despite how much I hate the Academy as a venue (more on that later), Band Of Horses pulled off a fantastic gig last night. What I found most refreshing about the gig, was that Band Of Horses delivered the songs short and punchy, with absolutely no overindulgence. I think the only song in the entire gig that was longer than four minutes, was the first (acoustic) encore. It almost felt like a punk gig, with the four minutes or less ethos covering pretty much everything they did.
Band Of Horses ran through tracks from all three albums, with pretty much everything off Cease To Begin and Infinite Arms getting a hearing. They also threw in a Townes Van Zandt cover which was excellent. They said they were playing one song each night as a cover that they'd never played before; "to keep it fresh". Top stuff.
On various songs Band Of Horses had a three lead guitar attack, which is surely the finest sight in Rock n Roll. The only other band that also pull this off so well is the mighty Drive-By Truckers. Band Of Horses had an excellent stage setup with a huge cimematic backdrop showing images / films throughout the gig. Top stuff, especially the compilation of stills documenting a year of playing live.
Mojave 3 did a nice cameo support role, though only played six songs. What I heard I liked, so I'll be borrowing some of their CD's off Digger over the next week or so.
On to the venue; the main problem with the Academy is that the back end of the venue is under a fairly low roof where pretty much everyone stood there talks all the way through the gig. What is the point in paying £20 for a ticket and then talking? It really winds me up, especially when the band is as kick ass as Band Of Horses. I guess the answer is to pile down the front, which is what I'll be doing for Mogwai in a couple of weeks.
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