BLONDE REDHEAD + BLACK HEART PROCESSION + BILLY MAHONIE
London Highbury Garage 3rd June 2000

OK, I've calmed down sufficiently enough to compose this review. In a nutshell, this was a disappointment. I came along especially to see Black Heart Procession and they were limited to half an hour or so and didn't really get going. They do have some superb songs but tonight they were very low key in front of a big crowd, and they can't have done themselves any favours. No-one even half way back could have seen them as they were sitting down on stage, so the shirt and tie sets were lost on most on us I'm afraid! As for the songs, there were a couple of really mighty tunes in there, but mostly it blended into one slow waltz, and they didn't play 'A Light So Dim' either. Oh well, better luck, and better surroundings, next time.
In fact the anticipation of BHP distracted me from Billy Mahonie's set a bit. Lots of new material which carries on from where 'The Big Dig' left off - funky, angular punk rock, and very good it is too. More from them soon, as this was a bit of a stop gap gig.
On now to tonight's headliners, the much talked about Blonde Redhead. Until this show, I had only heard odd tracks from the last couple of albums, and I had no idea that the male guitarist also sang. On retrospect I wish he had sung more, as the Japanese female singer could cut steel with her voice! Their music is broadly No-Wave NY punk (Devo meets DNA) with a bit of late 80s Sonic Youth thrown in. At times it is spectacularly good - I think the Television-esque 'In Particular' is one of the best songs I'll hear all year - but a lot of the time it just grates.
An odd gig then. Blonde Redhead verged on the annoying, and the Black Heart Procession should be as big as Tom Waits on the strength of their records but they aren't going to win any new admirers with shows like this.
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