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S*M*A*S*H/The Orphans - The Buffalo Bar
BUFFALO BAR , Highbury, London (01 Sep 2006)
1 September 2006Well, I was just going to write my usual boring factual gig review, but it was quite an emotional night, so make sure you are sitting comfortably and have some tissues handy!
This was my first S*M*A*S*H gig in 3 months. Yes, 3 months! I think I'd missed 4 - which is totally unheard of for me! The first being due to a clash with the fantastic Ed Harcourt who played in a beautiful church in London, and the others due to a period of debilitating illness. I have a condition which causes chronic pain and fatigue and when flare-ups hit I am virtually unable to get out of bed let alone get myself to any gigs! But, on new medication, and feeling slightly more human, I was really looking forward to seeing S*M*A*S*H play their long-awaited Buffalo Bar gig and feeling quite emotional about seeing everyone again. I was also looking forward to seeing The Orphans again and getting some photos for Jay Marriott as he has set up a Myspace page for them .
Then..... on the morning of the gig, George phoned me from work to tell me he had won two tickets to see The Feeling at London Bridge Vaults that evening. Excellent! (We had been lucky enough to see them the week before at a local 'home-coming gig' in a tiny venue and they were awesome! Just a shame that I had to.... erm, 'sing' or rather crucify one of their songs live on radio in order to win tickets). So, we were really looking forward to seeing them again in another small venue. It was one of those 'T-Mobile Street Gigs' which normally start around 6 or 7pm, so we could go to that and then off to Highbury to see S*M*A*S*H later, still hoping to catch at least some of The Orphans' set. Well, when we got to the venue at London Bridge we were told by the guy on the door that The Feeling were not on stage until 9.30pm so, with S*M*A*S*H due on at 10pm, there was no way we could do both! We thought about it for a few minutes, but S*M*A*S*H just had to come first, so we reluctantly gave up the chance to see The Feeling again, and the promised 'vibrant carnival action' that had been organised, as it was the last of 3 T-Mobile nights. They had jugglers and street entertainers, confetti canons, balloons and party poppers. Just the kind of things that appeal to a big kid like me! We were invited in for the pre-gig entertainment, but to go in and soak up the atmosphere/circus entertainment and then have to leave just as the band come on stage would've been like a kid in a sweet shop being asked to leave just as the free jelly babies are handed out!!!
So, off we went, tails between our legs, to make our way to Highbury. However, our smiles soon returned when we were reunited with 'the boys'. 'Radio S*M*A*S*H' kicked off the evening, with DJ Robster taking his turn. He played his favourite soul tunes, mixed in with some old punk stuff which was great! George passed a CD to him & asked him to play a track by 'little name' a friend of ours who we think is amazing. (Check out 'Myspace.com/littlename2' ) Rob agreed and 'For The Attention Of' was sandwiched between The Clash and Deep Purple. Rob really liked the song, but he said he had expected it to be brilliant as he knows that George and I have such good taste!!!
The Orphans were the first band to take to the stage. It was good to see them again and I think they were much better than when I saw them last time in Brighton. I even recognised some of their songs and I took some photos for Jay. (Check out Myspace.com/brightonboys).
S*M*A*S*H were on a bit later than planned (but we still wouldn't have had time to see The Feeling!) and kicked off with 'Revisited no.5'. I'd requested 'Into You' because it's one of my favourite new songs and I hadn't heard it for a while...... and it was the second song they played. They also played 'Icon', 'Beautiful Like Peace', 'Morphine For The Pain', and brand new song 'Cried At The Time' which brought tears to my eyes. Ed dedicated 'All By Myself' to Russ (newly promoted 'no.1 S*M*A*S*H fan'), as he has not been well recently. I think Russ shed a tear and I was off again aswell! The old faves made a welcome appearance too, 'LLYC', 'Shame', 'Real Surreal', 'Reflections Of You', 'Barrabas', and a surprise (it wasn't on the setlist!) 'Tidal Wave'. Wow! It was a great gig - nice atmosphere, great tunes, and lovely to catch up with the boys and friends old and new. Afterwards we all chatted for a while and then exchanged hugs and said our goodbyes. My friend, big S*M*A*S*H fan, and frequent Forum poster, Ian, from Swindon, was planning to be there but sadly he couldn't make it. Missed you Ian and big hugs to you x There was also a big gap next to me at the front, where 'T' normally stands. It's not a 'proper' S*M*A*S*H gig without you mate and we hope to see you at the next one!
Well, that's it for this time. Thanks for another fantastic night guys and hope we don't have to wait too long for the next one........
Clare xXx