BELLE AND SEBASTIAN
Belfast QUB Mandela Hall 21st December 2001
The last time I saw Belle and Sebastian (Shepherds Bush Empire 1998) they had a bad case of nerves and the audience had a bad case of impatience, so the whole thing ended up being a bit of a disappointment really. Tonight, things are very different. This intimate venue and wildly enthusiastic audience, combined with a band that are very much in the Christmas spirit, adds to a surprisingly fun Belle and Sebastian show.
I've had a bit of a bumpy ride with Belle and Sebastian lately. I had been a huge fan but I wasn't that impressed with the last album 'Fold Your Hands Child' or the single 'Jonathan David', but recent single 'I'm Waking Up To Us' was a great return to form. To be honest, I was expecting a similarly disappointing show like that London gig three years ago, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The fact that absolutely everything they play is received with adulation from the crowd helps things greatly of course!
I know it isn't going to be an ordinary show when they open up with 'Here Comes the Sun' as a tribute to George Harrison, and over the next couple of hours the covers just keep on coming! It isn't all just seasonally inspired silliness though, as they seem aware that as this is their first time in Belfast and people want to hear a lot of their own songs too. Backed by a string section, they play a lot of their very best songs - 'Me and the Major', 'Fox in the Snow', 'Dirty Dream 2', 'the Boy with the Arab Strap', 'The Model', 'I'm Waking up to Us', 'Legal and 'Dog on Wheels'. They even do their own arrangement of 'O Come, O Come Emmanuelle'. Did anyone else notice that they changed the lyrics of 'Me and the Major' from "he remembers Roxy Music in 72" to "he remembers Stiff Little Fingers in '78" ?
As for the cover versions, there were so many I lost track of them. Clearly if anyone bootlegged this show, Belle and Sebastian collectors are going to be lusting after it. I'm sure they play Squeeze's 'Cool for Cats' when I'm at the bar, then they get someone from the crowd up to sing Lou Reed's 'I'm Waiting for my man' who was so good that it's difficult to believe he wasn't planted there. However, the icing on the cake is their full-on triple guitar version of Thin Lizzy's 'The Boys are Back in Town', which manages to be completely note perfect and very funny at the same time. I don't think I'll look at Belle and Sebastian in the same light ever again!
Although anyone expecting a 'straight' Belle and Sebastian show may have been let down, it certainly seemed like the audience went home very happy. I've a couple of minor reservations. One is that Isobel's posing was very annoying, the other is that they still play far too quietly. I have to say that I would have enjoyed it a bit more if they'd cranked it up just a bit more, but this happened the last time I saw them so I guess it's just the way that they do things. Overall though, as I said earlier, this was a surprisingly fun show. Simple as that.
