setlist:
the sound of wichita
stand up and fight
the blair bush project live @ the old skool
corporation man
dive
mobilise
rod's got one
fucking sunday
better living through reckless experimentation
review:
okay, so the occasion may have been my 21st birthday, but
after an evening with martin carr and a few of his pals from
boobytrap, it felt more like christmas. or rather, all my
christmases rolled into one. the whole night was certainly
something of a religious experience, from my slow pilgrimage
from london to the gig itself - the point is even a converted
church for heaven's sake.
of course, it could have turned out so differently. rarely
have i seen a place as deserted on a saturday night as was
cardiff bay at six o'clock but, hey, i guess everyone was
inside watching the england match, right? wrong - after wandering
around in the rain for half an hour, my girlfriend and i still
hadn't managed to find anywhere to watch the game and were
facing a trip to some irish bar in the city centre where we
were assured they showed 'foreign football'. but then came
my first visitation of the night, a lanky, messy haired, bespectacled
welsh wizard by the name of matthew evans, a former member
of the church of murry the hump. guiding us to a pub across
the road, we discovered not only the football, but also the
cheapest alcohol i've found in a long time. stood at the bar
was the angelic euros childs, the genius behind gorkys zygotic
mynci. sat in the corner, meanwhile, was the leader himself,
martin carr. maybe football really is more than a matter of
life and death; i thought i'd died and gone to heaven.
and then there was the gig, kicked off by a triumphant set
by the keys. fronted by the aforementioned evans, one
of the few frontmen left in music who could probably not only
spell the word 'charisma' but also even tell you what it means,
they were always going to be special. for those in any doubt,
the songs made doubly certain, a uniquely charming blend of
acoustic guitars, sharp hooks and wit. rather like murry the
hump, in fact. but i guess evans is just one of those frontmen
- like michael stipe or jarvis cocker, no matter how much
he and his bands try and innovate, his dominant character
ensures they never really sound any different. and, sadly,
since no one really got murry the hump, the public's really
not going to bother with the keys either. when however many
people have gone out and bought that bloody ketchup song,
perhaps there is no god after all.
nothing el goodo do really convinces otherwise. sure,
the influences are all present and correct - big star (from
whom they take their name), teenage fanclub, mogwai, six by
seven et al - and when combined properly the results can be
spiritual. sadly not here, though, as the band chug their
way through a set in which they live up to their name, but
nothing more.
living up to his name is something martin carr, on the other
hand, has made something of a life-long mission. after years
spent mostly hiding away with the reclusive boo radleys, he
unleashed bravecaptain, giving reign to his wild courage
and skewed leadership. his last major release, the better
living through reckless experimentation ep, seemed a definitive
example of this, better than anything done under the bravecaptain
moniker thus far and, perhaps not coincidentally, certainly
more recklessly experimental. but now, after almost eighteen
months, advertisements for myself has finally arrived, taking
carr on bigger, bolder journeys than ever before. and if the
results seem initially a little confusing on record, in a
live context the songs are shown to be worth their weight
in gold.
somewhat surprisingly, martin never took his guitar from his
side. there was not a laptop in sight. yet from the opening
'the sound of wichita' through to a final, flourishing 'better
living
', carr and his band not only reproduced but added
to the recorded versions of each of the nine tracks played.
they never put a foot wrong. well, maybe once when 'mobilise'
began with martin playing in a different key to the others
- but by then everyone, including the band, was having too
much fun to care. and, thankfully, that included the captain
himself, a rejuvenated character from his last appearance
as the embarrassingly over-qualified support to lowgold. indeed,
no one seemed sadder than carr himself when the regrettably
short set came to an end after just over half an hour. but
then again, no one seemed happier when he was mobbed by a
dozen or so disciples afterwards.
his followers may currently be small in number, but whole
religions have been founded on less. if these supporters keep
on in their unwavering faith, and carr himself continues to
perform such miracles, the cult of bravecaptain can take on
the world. even if he doesn't win, you can rest assured he'll
stand up and give a great fight.
review by martin sainsbury
if you have any reviews, photos or setlists from previous
bravecaptain live shows, please email them to sparky@bravecaptain.co.uk.
back
|