THE RED, THE WHITE, THE BLUR

HOPE OF THE STATES / AGENT BLUE
The Liquid Room, Edinburgh - 23rd August 2004

Something's changed in Hope of the States. Somehow this gig was light years from the Glasgow one just 3 months ago. Perhaps some of it is down to my perceptions. Certainly knowing the material was a big improvement. But last time the band's confidence seemed to plummet the longer the gig went on (until a defiant encore) whereas this time the confidence soared. A leaner set and a more appreciative audience both helped but perhaps selling large quantities of 'The Lost Riots' didn't do any harm either. For whatever reason this was HOTS at their best. Highlights included a wonderful 'Black Dollar Bills', a celebratory 'Nehemiah' and a version of 'Enemies/Friends' which saw Sam managing to contribute vocals for (almost!) the entire song this time. The best though was saved for last.

Encoring with 2 B-sides appeals to me but a fair chunk of the crowd were a little perplexed. But whereas 'Static' last time had been the equivalent of a spectacular last minute consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat, here it was simply the jewel in the crown in a 7-0 hammering. Absolutely tremendous and the perfect conclusion for me.

This time I would have been happy if they'd played longer. But the audience reaction subsided after the encore even though there was quite a gap before the lights went up, suggesting that he audience reaction up to that point had made a second encore a real possibility. But youngsters today seem locked into the routine of obligatory encores. The whole point of encores is that they are EXTRA, generated by PUBLIC DEMAND. Shame on you young people!

Earlier AGENT BLUE existed in that not quite New Metal, not quite Indie rock vacuum. Aggressive, but far from one trick ponies, they nonetheless could do with some subtlety in their sound (and could do worse than check out 'Static' for a template). Best moment though was when the singer decided to go crowd surfing during the final number. As a support act. In the Liquid Room.

Predictably the crowd parted like the Red Sea which would have been even funnier if he hadn't got up off the floor a couple of feet from me. Credit where it's due though he made a decent fist of recovering his dignity by prowling as far as the mic cord would let him, giving it his best holler. But it was still pretty funny.

HOPE OF THE STATES SETLIST

1. The Black Amnesias  2. George Washington  3. 66 Sleepers To Summer  4. Black Stars, Red Stars  5. Black Dollar Bills  6. Goodhorsehymn  7. The Red The White The Blue The Black  8. Nehemiah  9. Me Ves Y Sufres  10. Enemies/Friends

Encore
11. The Last Picture Show  12. Static In The Cities