Luke Haines and Peter Buck played Gorilla on Saturday night, part of a tour to promote the third album in their 'psychiatry trilogy', Going Down To The River... To Blow My Mind. Peter Buck is (obviously) formerly a member of R.E.M., a band who rose to the biggest stages in the world via a series of much loved Southern USA indie rock albums, writing songs that defined a part of the 80s and 90s for many of us. Buck seems to be happiest when playing his guitar- the size of the stage and crowd don't really matter, just show him to the stage door and pass him his Rickenbacker. Gorilla is a small Manchester venue and it wasn't full on Saturday night- and yes, it is pretty incredible to be standing just a few feet away from Peter Buck playing guitar.
Haines has a history in The Autuers, The Servants and Black Box Recorder as well as being the author of an account of the 90s, Bad Vibes- Britpop And My Part In Its Downfall, that is an essential counterpoint to some of the more nostalgic versions of mid- 90s guitar pop. Haines is an outsider, the outsider's outsider maybe, a critic, a theorist, a fan of pop culture but also someone happy to slay sacred cows and launch tirades against conformity. His songs are niche and not a million miles away from the cultural landscape of Half Man Half Biscuit but with fewer jokes- they open tonight with The Pink Floyd Research Group and canter through songs from the three albums Luke and Peter have made together, songs about nervous breakdowns (56 Nervous Breakdowns), nuclear war (Nuclear War), revolutions from the last few hundred years of history (45 Revolutions) and the British army on hallucinogenic drugs (The British Army On LSD), Haines in Panama hat and and glasses with yellow lenses poking sticks in British society and culture, pointing fingers at the establishment, and raising a few laughs as well. To his right Scott McCaughey (an auxiliary member of R.E.M. from 1994 to the end, and in a slew of bands including The Minus 5) plays bass, there's a synth/ percussion player and Patty Hearst lookalike Linda Pitmon plays drums, hard and fast.
Last Of the Legendary Bigfoot Hunters
Buck picks and strums, rarely playing much that sounds that much like his classic R.E.M. sound- Haines and Buck are mining a seam of post- punk, Lou Reed in the 70s, some late 60s psyche and leftfield guitar rock. Between songs Haines entertains and appears to be having a good time, tuning up and then ploughing back into the songs. They finish with The Commies Are Coming and then this one...
... and return for an encore, the psychedelic space rock of Exit Space (The Kids Are Super Bummed Out). It's a good gig, everyone's happy, and it finishes promptly at 10.30 as Gorilla is turning into a club at 11.00, a Manchester Pride after party. My brother and I go to the front bar and have a drink and about 15 minutes later the former guitarist of R.E.M. comes through the bar, on his out onto Whitworth Street and while I wouldn't say he was massively overjoyed at being asked for a photo he did indulge us...
Me and Peter Buck!
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