The last gig I went to... I've never been to the venue, at least not in the last 16 years or so, and certainly not since it's been 'Uncle Alberts'. It's one of those town centre bars where you go as a run up to nightclubbing, frequented mostly by rock kids on their way to 'Sumo' rock night as far as I can tell. It's decorated sort of like an old fashioned living room, with mirrors and naff old pictures, with a ratty old lampshade hanging from the ceiling.
It was an unusual venue for someone as big as Paul Smith, singer of internationally famous band Maximo Park. But Paul is from Billingham, near Middlesbrough, and he decided that the day he released his new solo album, 'Margins,' should take him back to his roots on Teesside.
The night itself was a sellout, but that didn't seem to make the venue crowded, which was nice as a punter, no mad crushing, and for me, being only 5ft 2in, great because it meant I could see and wasn't stuck behind a 9ft tall brick shithouse who wouldn't move! I took my place at the front barrier, only a few feet away from the star of the show. To my relief, we didn't have burly security men stood in our way either, which was refreshing, and made for a relaxed atmosphere, with no black jacketed goons sneering in our direction.
Paul came across as confident, witty and incredibly cool, despite obvious nerves about his latest venture's launch, and his performance was warm and relaxed, with funny little comments between songs. Due to the album not being heard before by most of us, there were no singalong moments until the encore, when he performed chilled out solo versions of Maximo Park songs Monument and Apply Some Pressure, which had the whole crowd softly singing along, followed by rapturous applause and cheering. Despite the mostly unfamiliar set, the audience were keen, attentive and considerate on the whole, the hush was quite amazing during the quietest songs, while we listened to Smith's contemplative, romantic lyrics as he spilled some quite intimate thoughts and emotions through his music. The new material is not too far away from the quieter side of Maximo Park, so it will certainly appeal to most MP fans, I certainly enjoyed the evening immensely.
Downsides of the evening were the PA system not being very good, Paul and his band requested sound level adjustments on a number of occasions, which didn't seem to be possible, and there was a constant buzzing from the speakers, like when you turn up crap speakers too loud. It was a real shame, especially as many of the songs were quiet, it could have killed the atmosphere if it wasn't for the fact that Paul is obviously very popular with his Teesside comrades, who all came away seemingly happy with the performance. It was a pity that Paul couldn't have stuck around for half an hour to sign some posters and CDs, we were all keen to congratulate him on his new album, but he left quite swiftly after the performance. Still, all in all I had a very enjoyable evening with a very talented Teessider, which can't be bad...
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