Sometimes I write my thoughts down.

Argh! Bastard thing just lost my whole post!
*cries into keyboard*

It went something like this...

So, after a painfully uneventful week - come back soon, everyone! - last night I went to see Idlewild. A surprising number of AIM folk turned up - Bob, Mac, Mary, Nance, Lisa, plus a few others who I didn't know but who seemed cool. Plus Laurent, Elly and Nigel for good measure :) Went to 'Spoons first for a chat, which is always good.

The support act, Sons And Daughters, were, as their name might suggest, 2 guys and 2 girls (no idea if they're related!). They had a strange, indie rockabilly kind of sound - sort of like some of the Pixies' early, more drawn-out stuff, with simple, insistent White Stripes-esque rhythms (though with a more highly skilled drummer - sorry Meg!). A good, solid live sound, but one that would maybe sound a bit muted and repetitive on record.

Idlewild opened with a rousing Love Steals Us From Loneliness and proceeded to play what I considered to be a damn good set - plenty of material from their best 2 albums "Hope Is Important" and "100 Broken Windows", a couple of surprises (a lighters-in-the-air Bronze Medal and a slowed-down acoustic version of Self Healer from their first mini-album, "Captain") and a Neil Young cover in honour of the great man's birthday. The one disappointment for me, though, was that, ok, their more recent material is slower, smoother and more Snow Patrol mainstream, but they played their earlier stuff in the same way. In particular, during encore closer Everyone Says You're So Fragile Roddy sounded almost bored, and kept running his fingers through his hair as if putting any more effort in would ruin its style. Any rawk yelps and screams here or in songs like Film For The Future were out of the question too.

All in all, if you were a new fan you'd be pretty impressed, and I'm glad I finally got to see them, but I'm fully aware that I've missed their best days. Afterwards, no-one wanted to go to Lennons, but luckily Ben and Al were there waiting for me :)