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Mindless Self Indulgence - 10th July 2008 - Nottingham Rock City
Support - The Blackout
Opening act the Blackout prove that it’s possible to be too enthusiastic, as the Welsh mob tear about the stage, almost tripping over one another in the process (the stage, after all, isn’t that big, and the Blackout consists of six people). Frontman Sean swings his microphone about like a man possessed, as the other band members strike relentless rock star poses and headbang furiously. It all smacks of choreography, and it’s so over the top that you barely notice what the Blackout sound like. However, the Blackout do calm down as their set progresses and, towards the end of their half hour slot, that whiff of forced enthusiasm has thankfully evaporated. Sean has ceased swinging his microphone around quite so much, and they let the music speak for itself. Energy and enthusiasm are great things, but the Blackout are actually much more enjoyable when they tone it down a notch and stop trying so hard. Not that the crowd notice, as the cheers that greet the Blackout are worthy of any headlining act, and remain at that level throughout their set. It seems that, for the moment, the Blackout are a band who can do no wrong.
Headliners Mindless Self Indulgence roll onstage to a rousing, olde-worlde fanfare that’s almost impossible to hear above the screams. The New York quartet may have been almost permanent residents on these shores over the past few months, but it’s clear that we aren’t quite sick of them yet.
While MSI are pretty much guaranteed to deliver an ADD circus of skewed humour, camp punk rock and unpredictability, tonight the shenanigans reach entirely new levels. The tunes are all there - a faultless ‘Straight To Video,’ a snarling and danceable ‘Shut Me Up,’ and the world premier of ‘Bomb This Track’ and ‘On It’ - but it’s what the band get up to inbetween songs that really takes tonight’s show to the next level.
You have to feel sorry for security, as mentalist front man Jimmy Urine suddenly decides it’s a good idea to take a sprint around the venue mid-set, concluding in him leaping behind the bar and pouring himself a Jack Daniels. Not to be outdone, bassist Lyn-Z clambers up on top of the 12ft speaker stack and dives into the middle of the crowd, leaving Jimmy to quip “oh, I didn’t know it was going to be one of those shows.” Clearly, neither did the audience, as people actually gasp in disbelief that Lyn-Z went through with the death-defying dive. When she climbs back onstage, miming “that’s pretty high, right?” the cheers of agreement are deafening.
Bizarrely, when guitarist Steve Righ takes leave of the stage and wanders around the venue mid-song most people are too busy watching the onstage antics to even notice - a sure sign that there’s so much going on tonight that it’s impossible to take it all in. After that, it seems almost normal that MSI should stop the show and refuse to continue until they get £20 from an audience member; drag a girl with a plastic chicken on her head onstage to sing alternative anthem ‘Faggot,’ and encourage the crowd to throw skirts and bras onstage so Jimmy can dress up “like a pretty princess.”
Tonight, MSI are all about crowd interaction. Everything that is thrown onstage ends up on the band members: Jimmy spends half the set with a pink, fluff-trimmed cowboy hat on this head; Steve sports a red feather boa plucked from someone in the front row, and Lyn-Z picks a handkerchief off the floor and knots it around her face, ninja-style. When a member of the audience - for reasons unknown - throws an eye-liner onstage, Jimmy - for reasons equally unknown - decides to colour his face in with it. There is a sense that anything might happen next, and the entire venue is charged with the sort of anticipation that’s never felt at gigs where the band tick off the songs on their setlist, thank the audience politely, and then leave the stage.
In a recent interview, MSI’s manager claimed that what makes them such a great live act is that they always give you your money’s worth, and I can honestly say that £12 has never brought me so much entertainment.
To top things off, after the show MSI re-emerge to sign autographs and pose for photographs with fans, staying out for so long that the fans begin to drift away and security are visibly seething before MSI decide to call it a night.
MSI are currently suffering a bit of a backlash. Every mention of them on forums and music websites draws scathing comments against the band but, regardless of whether you’re in the ‘love’ camp or the ‘hate and want to see die’ camp, it’s impossible to deny that MSI make good on their promise to give fans their money’s worthy, and then some.
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