The Bluetones - Norwich UEA, 20 May 2000 It's been a few days, but the Bluetones concert at Norwich on Saturday night was fantastic (my 5th concert of theirs this year!). I drove up with some people from the famous, "rabid" (quoth Melody Maker) Blue Army up the the University of East Anglia, and we could hear the sounds of Bloodbubble as we walked towards the Union building. Since the doors were open and the security were nowhere in sight, we walked right into the soundcheck. ;) A friend waiting outside told us we missed them play Marblehead Johnson and Putting Out Fires, two songs they haven't played live in about 2-3 years! d'oh! But we got to hear a Webb Brothers cover, Slackjaw, Last of the Great Navigators, Tigerlily, Zorrro, and a bit of Unpainted Arizona before they left to lounge backstage. It was odd to see them in their casual gear as oppposed to the suits, and even odder to see Eds in a Reni hat, conjuring up the Stone Roses ghost! As with the soundcheck, the doors to the backstage area were wide oipen, so we went back to the door and chatted with the band a bit and got things signed. It's getting weird now that the band are starting to recognise me and not be surprised at the accent... we had a few hours to kill so we got a few pints upstairs at the Union pubs and watched the end of the Chelsea/Aston Villa FA Cup Final match, and Richard, Adam, and Mark were all in attendance, being recognised by absolutely no one in the crowd (Mark won a big heap of money since Chelsea won, too!). Right, so the concert itself: Crackout were the first opener, and they were utter SHITE. bad, bad punk, and the bassist only used one string the entire set, concentrating more on flipping his hair in and out of his eyes and concentrating on the layyyyydeeeezzz (who couldn't give two shits about him). Dark Star were significantly better, but not brilliant (it was hard to tell since anything would've sounded good after Crackout). neat fairy lights all over the set, and a drummer who played like the muppet Animal with huge whiteboy dreadlocks ("I didn't know Korn were playing..."). By the time the Bluetones came on, the lagered-up rugby lads who were watching the match all day decided to come down front and clobber everyone in sight. Not quite as bad as a Nine Inch Nails pit, but still what you wouldn't expect from a nice, sweet, Bluetones crowd! I thank the match for contributing a large percentage of dumb people into the audience, with the rugby lads being matched brain-cell for brain-cell with the 14 year old bimbos equally in attendance. Case in point: before Slight Return, Marks says "Right, some people call this our hit... this is Bohemian Rhapsody". and the girls actually scream back "No, it isn't!!!". argh. and they say Americans don't understand irony. But overall, the concert was great despite the rugby lads trying to lick my neck the whole concert. I haven't heard Unpainted Arizona yet in all my shows, and Mr Soul was particularly energetic. They had visual screens up again like on the last tour, but the words on the screen during Zorrro were changed: they pointed out each of the band members with arrows, then instructed the audience at different times to clap, sing along, kiss, hug, and lick. Only some people didn't stop.... Down at the Reservoir was dedicated to "the idiots", and the Webb Brothers song was added into the setlist at the last second. They didn't quite pull it off (it sounded a LOT better in the sound check), and I think the crowd was mainly just confused by it. Overall, a really good gig (but not as good as the Maida Vale one, nothing can top that), and the got a fantastic crowd reaction, so I've high hopes for the chart success of Science and Nature. ************ American news: Their manager Neil has said that they're planning a US tour of America, definitely including a Toronto show, for October. yipppeeeee! ************ I got a setlist but relinquished it to a friend who's never gotten one despite numerous tries. She copied it out for me: Zorrro Unpainted Arizona Last of the Great Navigators Solomon Bites the Worm The Fountainhead Slight Return Bluetonic Mudslide [with Eds being the mysteriously low backup voice!] Tiger Lily Keep the Homefires Burning Mr. Soul Basement Song Down at the Reservoir Autophilia Are You Blue or Are You Blind? ----- Slack Jaw Blood Bubble (Webb Bros' cover choon) If... melissa, still trying to see them 10 times in one year... ;)