old folks you think?

went to one of the Straitjacket Fits reunion tour gigs?

14 May 2005

Christchurch was at The Civic which has slipped dramatically in terms
of vibe and general nice times since the departure of the most recent
good manager.

So there I am at the door trying to persuade the "nice" security staff
that it was OK to let me keep my ticket that said "Straitjacket Fits"
on it for reasons of nostalgia and posterity and what do you know?
they wouldn't let me.

Caught the last 3 songs from Die Die Die who were majorly impressive
and sounded fat, clean and defined.

The usual three-quarter-hour-band-changeover later and up stepped the Fits.

To me the Straitjacket Fits beauty is in that space between the mids
and tops where the discordant screech is an undefinable mysterious
thang and to not be able to hear any of that was heartbreaking.
Pushed right up to the 'mosh pit' area before they ended.

It helped a little but overall I just wanted to go home and listen to their
CD on headphones for a decent fix.

One interesting thing I noticed when I was brave enough to be up the
front was that the band members all seem fully aware that they can
pull faces, wear silly hats, in short do anything they like because
it's clear to see that all eyes are on Shane Carter - in fact the
bassist almost looked relieved.

no-one was watching him as he chatted away with the rest of the band.
Shane looked totally in his element being adored and is definitely still the
most sexual performer I've witnessed (in a non sexual arena - if you can
call it that!) rubbing his knees together in what looks like slightly repressed
desire round the mic stand and ... am I allowed to say pulling comeface?

Still an enjoyable night out with mates and hopefully we'll get the
opportunity to see these guys again oneday.

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