Now available, this is a video and audio collection of an acoustic set performed by Mr Smith and Mr Urbanowicz for the Era Zero show on MTV Italy. I just looked at the setlist again and it's a pity that they've grown tired of playing the song An End Has a Start, which I imagine is just inevitable if you play it night after night after night. Familiarity breeds contempt, as they say. At this stage it had only been released officially for about 2 weeks, and so it was yet to be battered into the band consciousness to the point where they no longer wanted it to occupy any real estate in there. In spite of that, it was and still is a very popular song. To cite Radiohead again, this was the kind of situation that inspired them to write My Iron Lung.
I remember reading an interview with Robert Smith of The Cure years ago, where he said that during the tours around their Pornography album he came offstage in tears every night. He was able to step back into the mood of each song so completely that he couldn't help but be affected by it all over again. As much as nobody wants public displays of self-flagellation from the bands they love, there is something extremely alluring about watching somebody really feeling what they're playing to the point where they're affected emotionally.
They leaned away from certain songs during the In Dream campaign, such as Two Hearted Spider, Like Treasure and When Anger Shows. You wonder as the next campaign for VI OLENCE begins if the absence will have made them more appealing to play again? That's probably the eternal problem of being in a band and playing live; if you include rehearsals, promotional sessions and touring then you may have played a certain song a thousand times. Flip the coin, though, and this may be the first and only time a fan in the audience has ever heard it live which is a great experience for them. I would suppose that the decision to include or exclude certain songs is a balancing act that will probably always leave at least one party either frustrated, bored or just plain upset when the lights go up. It probably gets worse the more new material you write too, with the older tracks still being demanded by the hardcore faithful. For example, as good as they are I imagine that having to play Bullets or Munich which are over 13 years old must be a chore at times.
Anyway, back to the point of this post which is of course the Era Zero set. As I mentioned earlier, there's a definite sense of everything still being fresh here. I love the intimacy of the two of them just sitting for 27 minutes bouncing off each other acoustically, and watching these two musicians exchanging micro-gestures and flashes of interaction. The videos were originally released as separate clips by MTV Italy but I've put them all back together for a smoother ride.
As sad as it is that Tom and Chris making and performing music together is a thing of the past, thank goodness we actually got a chance to experience it at all. For Mari, the Italian Pop Kids and all you other cool cats, enjoy the music ;)
I remember reading an interview with Robert Smith of The Cure years ago, where he said that during the tours around their Pornography album he came offstage in tears every night. He was able to step back into the mood of each song so completely that he couldn't help but be affected by it all over again. As much as nobody wants public displays of self-flagellation from the bands they love, there is something extremely alluring about watching somebody really feeling what they're playing to the point where they're affected emotionally.
They leaned away from certain songs during the In Dream campaign, such as Two Hearted Spider, Like Treasure and When Anger Shows. You wonder as the next campaign for VI OLENCE begins if the absence will have made them more appealing to play again? That's probably the eternal problem of being in a band and playing live; if you include rehearsals, promotional sessions and touring then you may have played a certain song a thousand times. Flip the coin, though, and this may be the first and only time a fan in the audience has ever heard it live which is a great experience for them. I would suppose that the decision to include or exclude certain songs is a balancing act that will probably always leave at least one party either frustrated, bored or just plain upset when the lights go up. It probably gets worse the more new material you write too, with the older tracks still being demanded by the hardcore faithful. For example, as good as they are I imagine that having to play Bullets or Munich which are over 13 years old must be a chore at times.
Anyway, back to the point of this post which is of course the Era Zero set. As I mentioned earlier, there's a definite sense of everything still being fresh here. I love the intimacy of the two of them just sitting for 27 minutes bouncing off each other acoustically, and watching these two musicians exchanging micro-gestures and flashes of interaction. The videos were originally released as separate clips by MTV Italy but I've put them all back together for a smoother ride.
As sad as it is that Tom and Chris making and performing music together is a thing of the past, thank goodness we actually got a chance to experience it at all. For Mari, the Italian Pop Kids and all you other cool cats, enjoy the music ;)
The Setlist
1. Bones
2. Bullets
3. Racing Rats
4. All Sparks
5. An End Has a Start
6. Munich
7. Smokers
stream it here
MP3s
1. Bones - download here
2. Bullets - download here
3. Racing Rats - download here
4. All Sparks - download here
5. An End Has a Start - download here
6. Munich - download here
7. Smokers - download here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
