Run Wild: An Account of the Oakland Massacre
Arrived at the HJK Arena after driving morning and afternoon from Palm Springs (roughly). Myself, Brian (Biznotic Love Trapezoid), and his gf Rina eventually met up with my wonderful gf Stephanie, her friend Lucy, and the following NOOLers: Jeff, Allan (Green), Ian, April, etc. Al Jarvis and Johnny Giles turned up after some time once we were inside, and Al presented me with a Vikings pin that was the absolute envy of all who saw it. (Thanks again, Al!) Sam (The Happy One) was there wearing a lovely ski coat to hide his audio recorder, though I didn’t properly meet him until the next day at Coachella.
Chemical Brothers went on far too long. Should’ve ended after Out of Control and Temptation/Star Guitar. Barney was watching from the wings during Out of Control, which made me hope that he’d come out to vocalize a bit, but then I remembered that there were no autocues set out yet. Not much crowd activity during the Chems…lots of people standing around looking bored, reminded me of PFD (and not just because of all the Asians in the crowd). Way too much strobe lights but nice lasers. Worked my way up against the front rail, directly in front of Hooky’s mic stand before NO came on, so I was all ready for the set as follows:
SLC: An unexpected song for an opener. Played slower than usual. Dedicated to Ian Curtis. Got a decent response from the crowd, but not as much as the next one.
Love Vigilantes: Once Barney broke out the melodica, I was dreading Your Silent Face, but guessed that it wouldn’t be so early in the set (if at all). This was a wonderful treat and really got everyone worked up. Played very well, if memory serves me.
Regret: It was Regret. That’s all that I can say. Good song, huge reaction. As it is when it was.
Hey Now What You Doing: Barney said that Phil came up with the riff for it, though someone near me shouted out that it was R.E.M.’s riff. Then Barney endeared himself to many (especially myself) by saying that if it was this hot at Coachella he’d have to storm off the stage like Morrissey, the big poof.
Krafty: Sounded very good live, but the wobbly bit could’ve been wobblier. “Quite a fun track, quite optimistic.” Stephanie’s friend Lucy had worked her way up to the rail beside me by this point. I looked back to see Jarvo, Johnny, and the others bouncing around like mad about 10 feet back.
Transmission: Hooky dedicated it to someone who gave him a Factory CD the night before. Was hoping for Sunrise when I heard the opening sustained synth from Hannett’s version. The song sounds great live with that added to the mix, better than in 2002.
True Faith: “I’m not as young as I used to be…then again, neither is anybody,” says Barney. A dance track for all the “disco bunnies” in the audience. A bit weak performance on this one, I thought. No topical Michael Jackson references on this one either.
Run Wild: Barney said the last song took us up and this one would take us down. Boy, was he right. When he announced it, I couldn’t even remember what the hell “Run Wild” was until the opening chords...then I slapped my forehead and reluctantly started singing along. Maybe it was because I misinterpreted his comment about “chords with suspenders” as being something about colored suspenders. Barney said that apparently we could ask for our money back (his personal guarantee) if we thought it was shit since it was the first time they’d played it live…but that would mean losing my prime spot in front of Hooky. Otherwise….
Jetstream: Not one of my faves from the new album…until hearing it live. Hard to judge this one until you’ve seen it in person. Much more raw and powerful. Been stuck in my head ever since.
WFTSC: Great song as always, even if Barney said they’d play another new song to “bore the asses off” us. Too bad no one else directly around me seemed to know the lyrics. In fact, I looked around and was the only one in my immediate vicinity singing along to every song. Oh well…they can’t all be…
Bizarre Love Triangle: Barney finally admits that their vice has been either jumping around and playing like shit or playing well and not jumping around. So he asks which we want and decides on jumping around…too bad karma caught up with him for the years of bad dancing and he ended up ripping a foot ligament during this one. He introduced BLT as being about a relationship between Hooky, Steve, and Ian Curtis that they’d all rather not talk about anymore. Barney’s comments were all very witty tonight. Never seen Barney dance around so damn frantically before…he was spinning all over the place like a helicopter at points and finally ended up lying on the floor, gasping for breath (no doubt due to the hurt foot).
LWTUA: Barney comments that Hooky starts this one, and Hooky lazily walks over and says that he likes to take his time, in bed as well as onstage. Thankfully no loud “COME ON!” yelled in the middle of it.
Temptation: “House music all night long. Where did it all go wrong?” Despite Barney missing his first lyric cue on this one, it’s a definite crowd pleaser. Too bad he didn’t sing “Oh, it’s the last fooking time.” Afterward, Barney offers the crowd some of his wine but says he doesn’t think it’ll last too long if he did. Then he proceeds to lead the band in singing “If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.”
Crystal: After all the shouting for it, this track finally comes out. Very nice performance of it. Strange to hear it at the end of a set instead of the beginning. Hooky started it out by sitting on the speakers, swinging his legs with his back to the audience for a while.
Blue Monday: (Encore) No surprise here, but I WAS surprised at how well it was played. They actually seemed into it, and played it with a hell of a lot of energy. Hooky was beating the fuck out of the synthpads (and his bass with the drumstick) at the end and even a sampled Kylie made an appearance during the long instrumental ending. I caught Hooky’s drumstick, but so did some other guy and everyone around him said that he was the one that Hooky was throwing it to, so I figured it wasn’t worth punching the fucker in the face over since it would probably bring down a lot of friends onto my head. I hope you enjoy the drumstick, you fucking cunt.
Overall, my first NO show was a fucking riot. Easily one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Being upfront directly in front of Hooky was a thrill. Lucy agreed with me, though she came out saying that Hooky was fucking hot and wondering why she’d never posted on NOOL before (not that we all have crushes on Hooky or anything). At least Hooky pointed and made faces at me since I was the only one in that small section who was singing along to every damn word. Now that he’s not tethered to a bass cord, he can roam all over the stage and it’s damn entertaining. He was standing up on the amps at various points and generally being a fucking hero. Now I know where the bass god status comes from. Never seen NO rock so hard before…even Barney’s mad dancing was great, not too many whoops, he kicked over the mic stand and even seemed about to throw his guitar at one point. Too bad there weren’t more lights on Steve since he was in the shadows most of the time. I was a bit disappointed to not hear EGG, This Time of Night, or Thieves Like Us after the strong rumors, but Love Vigilantes almost made up for it. Another complaint: RUN WILD? What the fuck?! But okay…absolutely smashing show. A good time was had by all when the final tally was done (as Brian and I thoroughly dissected every bit of stage banter, missed cues, and setlist details during our all-night cannonball run back to Palm Springs in our bright yellow Mustang). Even the Cure fans like my gf and Lucy said it fooking rocked (best non-Cure show ever, and I’ve been at the Cure show she considers her best). Definitely worth the cannonball run. Special thanks to all those I met, including Sam for taping the show (I can hear myself in the bootleg shouting for “Dreams Never End” after True Faith). And so it goes….
[This review also posted in the live section of the site.]
