HOPE AGAINST HOPE
HOPE OF THE STATES /
KOMAKINO / YOUTH MOVIE SOUNDTRACK STRATEGIES
King Tut’s Wah-Wah House, Glasgow – Friday, 21st May 2004
It’s been a while since I’ve been motivated to go to see a band based on one single but that was the case with HOPE OF THE STATES. Quite a few people seemed similarly motivated as King Tut’s was pretty busy for this three band bill. But to the supports first.
We miss half of KOMAKINO so it’s difficult to make any real judgements. But it’s fair to say they’re pretty close to Vines/Ash territory with a frontman who is fond of pulling Craig Nicholls type poses. I wouldn’t run away from seeing them again.
YOUTH MOVIE SOUNDTRACK STRATEGIES are a different kettle of fish altogether and one I WILL run away from if I’m unlucky enough to ever be in the same venue as them again. In 20 odd years of watching gigs, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone quite like them. That is NOT a recommendation.
Playing 4 “songs” in half an hour, you get the impression that they normally play 6 hour sets but were unwilling to drop anything for a half hour gig. So each “song” is comprised of multiple vignettes in radically different styles. Soundtrack is a key word since there are few vocals but really the overall effect is dreadful.
Low point comes in the third “song” when they stop playing and sing acapella style away from the mikes “Stop/Start” over and over again. Remarkably, somehow I managed to stop myself from bursting out laughing aloud. Just.
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Which makes
HOPE OF THE STATES’ entrance somewhat worrying as all six band
members launch into an acapella rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” when they
hit the stage. It is probably an indication that HotS are used to playing in
front of devoted audiences but in Glasgow they meet with a largely stony
response from a cynical Scots audience. In truth HotS never really recover from that start and were something of a disappointment. Perhaps they aren’t the easiest band to pick up on at your first listen and, whilst there were undoubtedly a small number of devotees, the band was preaching largely to the unconverted here. As a consequence audience response throughout was muted. |
The set seemed to veer between 3 distinct song types – the noisy ones with loud guitar and violin interludes, the quieter, piano driven ballads and the poppier songs. I was really open to liking the band but none of the songs I didn’t know in any of these three categories really grabbed me on the night.
The songs I knew fared better – ‘Black Dollar Bills’ worked well and ‘The Red etc’ was a welcome addition of adrenalin. But the gig was a bit up and down. On a couple of occasions it threatened to catch fire but each time the pace dropped and it was clear that large chunks of the audience was getting restless. (A guy standing next to me was doling out abuse between songs.)
The big pay-off should have been ‘Enemies/ Friends’, the song most people were likely to know. But after Sam had asked for his vocals to be mixed up before the song started, the opposite happened. Instead of carrying the song to its climax and ending the set on a high note the vocals actually disappeared resulting in a flat, largely instrumental finale. It was a pretty disastrous climax and up to a third of the audience left before the encores.
The early departees however made a bad decision as the two songs played as the encore, a new one and then ‘Static in the City’, were to be the highlights of the evening. The latter in particular was magnificent even though Sam stopped the song early on to apologise for his vocals. .
The apology was well placed and reflected the main weakness in the performance. The vocals were somewhat dodgy throughout and made worse by the sound mix and, in my view, undermined the whole performance.
It’s also asking a lot of people to endure a 90 minute+ set when you’ve only released 2 singles. But I for one was still positive about the band and desperate to hear the singles on the way home, even if only to remind myself how good they are.
HotS are playing T in the Park in July and, as long as they don’t clash with the Pixies, I will do my best to catch them again and hopefully, with the album out, will enjoy them more.
Images taken from The Red, The White, The Blue, The Black video by type2error.