Venue:
The Met, Bury
Date: 24/11/2017
What is it with gigs and start times?. I scoured social media but the only message from Bury Met was ‘8pm’ which seems early but sure enough – the lights go down and it turns out China Crisis are going to be their own support so we get two sets. The first being a run through some deeper cuts, album tracks and some new stuff saving the big tunes for the 2nd half. It’s a pared down version of the band, Gary and Eddie are joined by an excellent Sax and Keyboard player with everything else sequenced, but as we’re reminded this is a more authentic recreation of their synthpop roots.
Gary Daly makes sure that nobody gets restless waiting for the hits by walking us through each song with probably the funniest and warmest between-song banter I’ve ever heard at a gig. He has the audience in stitches, describing the early days of the band from their humble beginnings in Kirkby Merseyside to their appearances on Top of the Pops and of course Pebble Mill at One. There are some priceless anecdotes – the one about Marc Almond and the Prawn Cocktail being my favourite and some gentle ribbing at the expense of their contemporaries The Human Leage and OMD. There’s also a heartfelt tribute to the late Walter Becker. It all feels very relaxed and informal and the band break down the barrier between themselves and the audience which is a great way to introduce the less familiar material. A couple of new tracks from the excellent new LP ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ are particularly striking, the title track in particular as good as anything they’ve ever done and goes down a storm. There’s something quite delicious about having someone telling hoary old anecdotes in a Kirkby accent, and then playing all these immaculate, beautifully crafted songs.
The audience are now nicely warmed up for the 2nd half, where they effortlessly blast through the hits and it’s one of those lovely, celebratory shows with much community singing and overhead handclapping. (it was being filmed – I really hope I’m not on camera).
The set closes with a majestic ‘Christian’ (which reminds me of that TOTP repeat recently where they look like schoolboys who’ve bunked off for the afternoon and somehow blagged their way in). They encore with a sublime ‘Here Comes a Raincloud’, a song sadly as prescient today as it was in the Thatcher era, and also a promise they’ll be back next year with a full band playing ‘Flaunt’ and ‘Working with Fire and Steel’ in full. Count me in. I go to a lot of gigs, and I’m accustomed to Indie bands mumbling apologetically through their set but sometimes it’s nice to hear a proper Pop band just having fun and going out of their way to engage and entertain. An absolutely joy from start to finish.
The audience:
I’ve not been inside the Met since my college band played on this very same stage in 1990 and wow they’ve really spruced it up. It’s now a top notch Arts centre, great sound, really nice space, really impressive and all medium sized towns need a place like this. Perfect. The audience are mostly, unsurprisingly, of the 80s vintage but not all – and everyone seems to be into it and enjoying themselves.
It made me think..
I’ve been doing a lot of catching up with China Crisis. I’d previously not got much further than the singles, but some of posts and discussion on this site led me to investigate the first 3 LPs via those excellent 2CD reissues. The Walter Becker assisted ‘Flaunt the Imperfection’ in particular was a total revelation and I now see the band in a whole new light. This is quality songwriting up there with the best, sophisticated pop like Prefab Sprout, Scritti, Blue Nile, Danny Wilson etc.
China Crisis and the Human league as contemporaries? I think not.
Yes they were/are Bri. They were/are around at the same time.
Edith will back me up. They were never contemporaries.
Yes they were/are Bri. They were/are around at the same time.
I think Bri is taking the same attitude to the word “contemporary” as he did to the word “thence” earlier on.
Oh really? China Crisis was 1979/80? Fuck off with your synth pop revisionism. You obviously weren’t there.
Charming!
Yes, HL were around about 3 years before CC but as we’re talking nearly 40 years now…I think we can say that they are, overall, contemporaries.
During the 80s, they both had their biggest hits at roughly the same time.
You’re not fucking flying that by me. I was there.
Who else are you going to lump into the category of contemporaries? Just because of overlap?
It’s quite a big overlap though isn’t it? Human League were undoubtedly synth pioneers and all that and hugely influential. China Crisis perhaps less so and they appeared a bit later – but if there was a “hits of the 80s” compilation featuring songs from both of them, no one would bat an eyelid – why? – because they were mostly operating at the roughly the same time, especially when they hit their straps and started having fully-fledged success.
Arguably Pulp are contemporaneous to The Smiths but they will be forever placed in the Britpop era.
How is it I have to apologise? I’m not going to let this go unchallenged. There is no way in fucking hell that any one who was around at the time would consider them to be contemporaries. No-one.
What with this outrage and the horror that is the stealth garden waste tax, Afterworders sure do have a lot to deal with.
Brian, the word “contemporary” means “existed at the same time”. Whatever else you want it to mean, it means that.
I think it means more than that,Bob. Sure you got me on the definition?
Well, like most words it does have further meanings but in this context? Nope. It means that.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/contemporary
The simple matter of the fact is the human league were before China crisis. How on earth then could they be contemporaries?
A quick check on Wiki (a lot of work I know) reveals both acts started around the late 70s and CC had their biggest success 84/85, Human League 81-84. Both bands carried on after that with diminishing returns.
Nobody is claiming that CC are better than or equal to HL. Or the other way round. It’s just physical co-existing presence on the “scene” we are talking about.
1979 to 2017
HL – 38 years
CC – 35 years
In the hit parade :
HL – 1981 to early 90s
CC – 1982 to late 80s
Both acts are still touring and a going concern.
It’s not something to get in a tiz about.
I was before you in the world. But on the Afterword, we’re contemporaries.
No! I for one am agree with Bri on this vital matter. It makes me furious that Mikethep suggests that we are Afterword contemporaries when I was born in 1960something and he was born in 1912. Next you’ll be claiming Judith Chalmers and Sue Ellen off of Dallas are contempories. But more to the point, Bob seems far too hung up on the literal meaning of words. As Bri rightly seems to think, they can mean any old thing we want them to at any given moment. Why, even the word “literally” now means “not literally”. I myself have taken to using the word “agree” when I mean “disagree” and “no” when in fact I mean “yes”. As well as “halibut” when I mean “TV licence”.
My sister was born in 1975. I was born in 1978. If anyone tries to suggest she and I are contemporaries, I swear I’ll do time.
And @gary‘s right, of course. I for one think it’s commodious* that certain marquises** gibber*** that teapots**** can have gentle***** seesaws******.
(As should be obvious the words above are meant in the sense of:
*outrageous
** people
*** think
**** words
***** fixed
****** meanings)
When you say “do time” do you really mean “prepare supper”?
And when you say “sister” do you really mean “Bob Carolgees”?
I see you speaka da lingo*.
(*are incomprehensibly handsome)
Bob… here you are on the Afterword. You’re old. We’re all old.
Accept!
Calm down Gaz. We’re contemporaries in the sense that we’re all members of the Massive at the same time. Not that we’re all the same age, that would be absurd. Just trying to help with the China Crisis crisis, that’s all.
(Mike, I’m pretty sure Gary’s joking. And even if he isn’t, I intend to praise his delicious sense of humour anyway due to my carnal obsession with him.)
Sorry, Mike, was indeed joshing. My sense of humour falls into the category that the French knowingly refer to as “pathétique”.
Suck my sock puppet.
Go and talk to your sockpuppet Brian – *Edit* – ah I see you’ve already done that.
Leave my sock puppet out of this!
Your ‘Che Guevara’ T-shirt’s in the mail.
Nicely summarised Dr. V sounds like a great time was had. I’m a big fan of China Crisis from the early days, there was a buzz about them in Liverpool from before their first singles. I haven’t seen them live for years, but this review and the excellent new album have me checking the listings.
Still time to catch them on this tour, think they’re doing some dates at the Cavern.
Yeah I saw those dates but can’t make it to either 🙁
I do remember CC coming 2nd (!) in a best unsigned band contest on a BBC2 music show in 1981 or 82 – “Riverside” perhaps? The winners were “i” from Coventry, who I saw a few times when I was at college there, and they were fantastic, but never even got a record deal…
I saw CC supporting Simple Minds on the New Gold Dream tour (on 6th December 1982, Google tells me – 35 years ago!), and I remember they were already the friendly, banter-y band Dr V describes in his excellent review… I think I’ll be going out of my way to check them out on next year’s tour.
I saw that Simple Minds tour! – both bands were excellent
Indeed! What I still remember about ver Minds’ performance was the still-unbettered-for-me gap between “final song” and “first encore”, about 15 minutes, the crowd stomping & clapping & chanting the whole time until the band came back on-stage…
Yes, excellent review and summary but why exactly wasn’t I informed this was happening, eh?
Saw them in Manchester a good 15 years ago and they were indeed brilliant with , as you say, warm and funny banter .
Excellent ‘re Kew and have been ego g those reissues for a few weeks now. As the recipient of an Amazon voucher for my birthday I think will be dipping in.
Bury Met has been my local gig since the early 90s and I have been there upwards of 150 times. Unfortunately the refurbishment has been a disaster for my generation. They have increased the capacity by the simple expedient of putting the seats closer together. There used to be 7 seats on either side of the aisle and there are now 8. The legroom has been shortened and in the case of one or two rows it is just ridiculously uncomfortable. In that the majority of music at the Met is aimed at a 50+ age group it has been a colossal own goal. I was there last night to see tom Russell. Any number of people took the opportunity to stand up in their rows until the last minute, and the bar at half time was conspicuously busy with people like me who weren’t having a drink but who just wanted to stretch their legs
The 2 guys beside me were clearly struggling with the legroom and didn’t come back for the second half. I cannot imagine what possessed the Met to do this. Let’s face it, if an airline announced they were reducing leg room and seat width on their medium haul flights you’d think of looking for an alternative carrier
The sad part is that, other than the seating, the Met is in better nick than ever. They have a new sound system and the soundman that they have now is the best they have ever had, which is saying something. Their booking policy is right up my alley. The pre-show dining experience is very good. I still love the Met but I really think the gig-going experience has been badly flawed, and it will get worse as I get older
That’s a shame as I thought the venue looked really swish, sound was great and all seemed lovely. This was mostly a standing gig anyway, although there was a raised platform at the back with a small number of seats – so if the seating isn’t fixed they ought to be able to make it less cramped for fully seated shows surely?
In response to the initial barrage of Facebook complaints the Met said “we hear you and we’ll take action”. “How exactly, other than putting it back the way it was?” was my own unspoken response. The Met has since gone very quiet on this subject. I spoke to someone recently who is well connected to the Met board of trustees who told me they can’t fix it without invalidating the builder’s warranty. The Met continue to appeal for donations every time I order tickets. Since the refurb those appeals have gone unanswered from my household
Thanks for the review. Excellent.
China Crisis live are superb. The banter from Gary Daly is superb. Saw them end of last year and again this in St Albans a few months back. £20 and cheap at double the price.
The “new” album from 3 years back now is being sold at said shows. If you like Steely Dan then you need this album. I’ve posted this before, no apologies for doing it again. The title track from the cd.
That’s a great review @DrVolume I was hoping they’d take a turn to Dublin this time but unfortunately not. Gary Daly is a great raconteur and sometimes hilariously indiscreet. Put that together with the songs & I’m sure that was just a brilliant night out.
Autumn in the Neighbourhood! Did you pick up a copy and if you did, is is any cop? I love the song.
After all that they come across as a bog standard pub group.
This whole thread is laughable. Give me a fucking break. One half hit. If that.
What bugs me the most is not China Crisis per se, It’s the perceived notion of the likes of Bloggers on here that think they have an insight when they have none.Che Guevara t-shirt wearers the lot of them.
Oh I miss this. What a nice chap!
Suck poppet.
(I don’t…)
Jesus fuckin’ Christ! That’s the best clip you could muster for your argument? What was this? An office Christmas party?
Does Gary ever refer to his bandmate as ‘that Lundon’?
On a Daly basis.
Very good! 🙂
This thread puts any possible crisis the western world might now have with the Chinese government in its place. The Afterword was way ahead of the curve on that
Well, crikey. Ol’ Bri got a bit aerated there didn’t he.
Anyway, I saw the Chinas at Bury Met last November and they were excellent. I’m off to see them next month in Manchester and I’m actually really excited about it.
I saw Pete Wylie last night, another funny scouse frontman . Probably a contemporary of the Chinas…
But he was not making records at literally exactly the same time, so you are both wrong and Hitler.
Oh I say!