jolly japes and jiggerypokery

I meant to post this last night but as usual there's a time delay in my world. The Mullet and I had arranged to meet up at the Jape gig the other night in The Button Factory. Richie and the lads have been touring in Germany and this heralded a welcome return home for them. Matty has finally made his move to Sweden where’s he’s set up home. He’d only been living there two weeks when he had to head off on tour again. Thursday night’s gig was followed by a gig in Belfast last night and Derry tonight I think. No rest for the wicked.

I arrived a little early and whilst waiting outside for the Mullet, I bumped into Orlando from Ugly Megan, a lo-fi electronic folk outfit. I’ve only met Orlando a couple of times but he took pity on me, waiting outside in the cold, and he ushered me into the gig. This was very welcome, as the Mullet didn’t turn up for another 45 minutes or so. Once inside I was surprised by the volumes that had turned up on a Thursday evening to check out Richie and Co. Admittedly it’s not that surprising given the overwhelmingly positive response to his Electric Picnic appearance in September. The demographics of a Jape gig have changed extraordinarily over the last few years. Last night the spectrum ranged from secondary school kids right up to some that might be described as elderly gents. I bumped into a few other heads most notably Barry Redsetta (who it turns out actually reads this shite that I write) and Malcolm (who was supposed to send me some accompanying photos for this post. You can however check his photos of the DEAF 2008 Launch Party here).

Rather than mix it with the hoi polloi we headed upstairs to the balcony seats and sat behind Richie’s mother and father. His dad was engrossed for most of the gig and was wearing an ever so proud look on his face. As a father myself I can only guess that it’s strange to watch your son rock out in front of a room full of admirers. Anyway I’ll be discouraging my children from pursuing such a career; a job in accountancy or in the civil service will do them (and me) nicely. Also up on the balcony was that chap Nick Seymour who played bass with Crowded House and produced Bell X1. He seemed to be digging the buzz. The Jape set was made up of most of the tunes from the Ritual album and my personal highlight was when the audience joined in during ‘Phil Lynott’. There’s something quite strange about hearing a few hundred people sing ‘Look. At. The. Fucking. Moon.’ The band and their vast array of electronic instrumentation make a great sound and they seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves throughout the show. Richie engaged in that agricultural style dance that only he can do with such panache. He's the blinkin' dogs.

There's been little movement on the vinyl front. I'm waiting on a few things in the post from different parts of the globe. I also noticed that there's an upcoming release on Rhino Records of a Smiths Box Set. It includes ten of their singles in their original artwork and two other limited ones. I'll have to buy it even though I already have everytthing except the two limited edition ones. That's the price you pay for being a vinyl addict. Or a stupid sap.

In other news I picked up the handy pocket-sized Deaf 2008 booklet that includes a double CD full of tunes from Irish based electronic artists. Definitely worth a listen, it can be picked up in several record stores around Dublin while the stocks last.

Finally, a couple of dates in November to put in the gig diary could be the return of New Zealand band Fat Freddys Drop or even the TV on the Radio gig. Both are part of the Green Synergy weekend and are respectively playing in the Tripod on the 15th and 16th of November. More details over on Drop-D.