Posted on 12/14/2005 9:45:47 AM PST by raccoonradio
For a band that’s made its reputation with controversial stage shows and radical politics, the Living Things sure seemed tame Monday.
A lackluster show at T.T. the Bear’s Place did nothing to bolster the St. Louis-bred rockers’ buzz. It certainly didn’t help that lead singer Lillian Berlin’s vocals were inaudible for the entire set.
The problems weren’t solely due to the woeful sound. The Berlin brothers, who are at the core of the Living Things, seemed to be mailing this show in. There was none of the band’s usual antics: no burning of President Bush photos, no dominatrix dancers masquerading as the vice president. There wasn’t even much revolutionary rhetoric. The only pageantry came from Lillian Berlin’s ”Spinal Tap”-like rock star grandstanding. He has Mick Jagger’s serpentine slither down cold.
Showing some old-school showbiz savvy, Berlin let his band start without him on the opening salvo, ”Bombs Below,” making a grand entrance from the side door in an impossibly tight matador suit, his bare chest exposed. With the band sounding tight and polished, the tune’s punishing drums and insistent riffs instantly caused fists to raise in rock salute. But without audible vocals, any message was lost. For all the crowd knew, Berlin could have been singing about puppy dogs and ice cream and not the Iraq war.
While the hit ”Bom Bom Bom” was well-received, the crowd eventually lost patience and grew agitated with the miserable sound quality,shouting ”We can’t hear you!” between tunes and shooting nasty looks at the stressed sound man.
Berlin shucked the top half of his suit midway through the set, opting for the Iggy Pop-barechested look to the delight of the girls bunched near the stage. Not that Berlin had any intentions of staying front and center. He spent as much time carousing with the audience as he did onstage, taking full advantage of his microphone cord’s length. Had any sound been coming from his microphone, this might have been a bit more effective.
At the insistence of a passionate fan, the band reprised its opening tune, playing ”Bombs Below” for a second time in 20 minutes. As soon as the tune ended, the band left the stage, stunning the audience into silence with its abbreviated set. The band was coaxed back for a short encore of ”On All Fours,” but there was nothing left to be salvaged. The Living Things were done, leaving audience members shaking their heads in disappointment and bewilderment.
he he he!
>>Had any sound been coming from his microphone, this might have been a bit more effective.
Probably a blessing in disguise
>>stunning the audience into silence with its abbreviated set
"Ha ha ha...ever 'ave the feeling you been cheated?" --Johnny Rotten after last Sex Pistols show, '78 (?)
I'm glad they left here.
>>But without audible vocals
Hint to lead singer: turn on "on" switch of mike next time
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