Gig: The New Pornographers/Spoon @ KOKO 16/5/06

Ever since seeing KOKO on the ads for The Album Chart Show, a live music program on Channel 4, I have wanted to see a band there. Theoretically, I couldn't have chosen a better band to christen my KOKO nights than The New Pornographers and last night was the night.

KOKO stands like a monolith on a busy corner in Camden. Boldly illuminated letters pronounce its name proudly to the street. The place is huge without loosing its intense intimacy. That is most probably due to the deep red and gold motif in which the whole place is decorated. All storeys and ramparts included, there are something like seven levels of vantage points from which to watch the stage and then there are back bars and wings to ferret away in. It is like a playground for the live music lover.



By the time Rog, Duncan, Paul and I rolled ourselves in after our meal of exceedingly good vietnamese from Nam An, Spoon were already trying to rock the crowd.

While I am not a huge fan of Spoon, I do like them. I would even venture to say I like them a lot. Their recordings are can be quite adventurous and innovative but last night, live, they managed to squeeze all of that innovation out of their set, and with it went most of the passion. Even though we were chatting away up on tier 6, paying little attention to the band and attempting to stop our noses from bleeding, I got the vibe that that, like us, the crowd hadn't got the vibe.

I suppose that is the problem with a double bill. Most of the crowd will generally be there to see only one of the bands.

For The New Pornographers we muscled our way into the pit. From the bowels of KOKO, under the murderously large mirror ball I was awakened to the horrors of the acoustics and the impossibly low stage. Perhaps we were spoilt at the weekend with The Globe's elevated stage but I generally like to think that I should, as a reasonably tall individual, be able to see the band when I am 10 odd people from the front. The stage I can forgive, it is a known hazzard at concerts but the acoustics are harder to get over.



I am blaming the acoustics. It may have just been the mixing desk. Whatever the reason, A.C. Newman sounded like he was singing inside a whale; you couldn't even hear what he was saying when he was speaking into the mic. This, for a band whose music registers pretty highly on the treble-o-meter. It took me a while to get into there set but the sound did seem to improve, either the mixing desk picked up or my ears became accustomed. Or perhaps I just forgot my woes after Kathryn Calder missed her entry into "Bones of an Idol" and, giggling, was forced to play the notes with her nose, twice.

It is refreshing to see a band enjoying themselves on stage. The humanity of error and the cohesive playfulness gives the audience a reason for seeing a band live. From there on in it was all jumpy, sing-a-long goodness of the kind that only The New Pornographers can provide. We slunk upstairs to the mixing desk to take in their encore rendition of their classic first single "Letter From An Occupant" and it sounds like the place to be for this Friday's gig. Though on second thoughts, The Decemberists would probably fit right in singing inside a whale.

All in all, a little disappointing. I still hold out hope for KOKO; I don't think I'll bother seeing Spoon again live and I'd hunt out The New Pornographers for another set or two, even though they weren't the revelation I'd hoped for on stage.


Tags: review, london, music