Eximo Joe (sic)

Yeah, last night was fun. having never seen Eskimo Joe in the flesh before, I did not quite know what to expect. Most gigs that I go to now-a-days involve lots of jumping and sweating, so it was quite a change to go to a gig where you stand and sway. (anyone who tried to jump and sweat was hauled away by one of the two security guards who looked mighty bored most of the night). But I have been a fan of Eskimo Joe for ages, but have never seen them live, and only fairly recently actually listened to their new album properly. They are catchy, clean and very easy to listen to. I have always seen them as fresh-faced young whipper-snappers since their cute first song 'Sweater' (which I was hoping to hear last night but to no avail) The night started with Steve Parkin & The Foreign Films, who really went off in front of a decent crowd for a support act. They have a similar feel to the 'Joe' but were probably a little more rock. I definitely recommend them though if you get a chance to see them. The lead singer has a lot of charisma too and along with his little brother they seemed to be having a lot of fun.. After not too long a wait, we were presented with Eskimo Joe. I thought they were a little flat at first. Seemingly going through the motions with songs from their new album, but after about 30 minutes they started to get into it and looked like they enjoyed the crowd (which was pretty decent. Maybe 600?) Once they started belting out 'Older than You' they really had the crowd in the palm of their hands. Kav, the lead singer, has a real presence on stage, and his unique voice lets him hit those high notes with ease. He's not bad on the bass and Acoustic Guitar either... For their song, 'Car Crash', the aforementioned Steve Parkin came onstage and they sang it beautifully together. As they were starting to wind up their first set, Kav called on the crowd to wave their 'lighters' in the air, but to substitute lighters for mobile phones. The result was awesome with hundreds of multi-coloured phones waving in the air and Kav looking mightily impressed. My photo really doesn't do it justice... After this they belted out 'From the Sea', their biggest hit to date and then walked off, only to return and play 2 new songs ('Sarah' & 'New York') and then 'Wake Up' to finish. Top night. Top crowd. Really good atmosphere. I will definitely check them out again some time. I have the band bug at the moment and I think I might go see The Beautiful Girls and/or Butterfingers in a couple of weeks. Anyone interested? I will definitely catch Regurgitator on the 2nd of September though...(Mint Chicks and Snowman supporting!) Oh, and if my repeated links to Eskimo Joe's website weren't good enough hints, go and check out their website cause it's very cool.

Posted by Mick @ 7/29/2005 01:56:00 pm