Tonight
is a good night for me, I get to see a band that
came on the scene back in 2000, a band that are
unlike most in, sound, look and actions. A band
that can alienate its audience’s but at
the same time appreciates all they do for them,
a band that in all respects is unique and one
that I couldn’t wait to see live.
Now I will note that there were two support bands
tonight, but I didn’t see either, I could
tell you that it was because I was late getting
to the venue, but it was because I didn’t
want to see Taking Hayley. I have no problem with
them on another night, but I think they really
do not fit in with Mindless Self Indulgence’s
style, they’re not similar at all, and why
this may be great for some people I think it really
spoils the atmosphere off tonight, as it mixes’
random electronic craziness, with some emo/rock
and for me that’s not a good mix. So with
that I’ll jump straight into the main band.
Mindless
Self Indulgence, take to the stage with drummer
Kitty coming out on her own and starting a drum
beat, then bassist Lindsey comes walking out slowly
to huge cheers, then guitarist Steve Righ’
strolls onto the stage thrashing his guitar and
finally Jimmy Urine, takes to the stage running
to the front screaming “shut me up!”
which is the name of the song the play first.
It’s hard to watch, let alone take photographs,
off MSI as each member does something different
all at the same time; for instance at one point
Jimmy is jumping across the stage, Steve is sat
at the front and Lindsey is doing her infamous
back bend (where she leans back and plays bass
whilst in a n shape), I was rather disappointed
I missed a chance of getting a photos of this
but with so much happening, at once it’s
understandable. Most bands when they perform will
make your eyes
wander to the one person who is doing something
different, but with MSI it’s like a contest
between the members to see who can get the most
attention, some may say this is counter constructive,
but it makes for one hell of a show!
They follow Shut Me Up with Mastermind, Stupid
MF and Animal all flowing great into one another,
with just a brief pause in the middle whilst Jimmy
asks the crowd who each member of the band is,
showing how much fans love the band, as they all
scream the names off each member without batting
an eyelid. Towards the middle off Animal, we photographers,
are asked to leave the pit, as our time is up,
whilst doing so Steve is sat on the edge of the
stage, and as photographers walk out he swings
his foot at
the them, catching one or two on the way out,
all with a grin on his face which to me suggests
that he is having fun, as security can’t
decide what song we are meant to leave on and
are shuffling us out during a song instead of
at the end which means the crowd can now see the
band without anyone in the way so he plays up
to this by jokingly mocking us as we trundle out.
Once we’re all out and packing our things
up, Steve walks out from the barriers after us
and starts playing his guitar in the middle of
us, with hardly anyone noticing, it’s a
strange moment as all the rest of the audience
is transfixed on stage whilst all the photographers
are panicking to get our cameras unpacked so we
can get a photo of him stud in the middle.
The
rest of the show continues with the normal antics
off, standing on amps, jumping off the drums and
not staying still for a second, whist in between
songs Jimmy talks to the crowd, at one point he
says “Spoiler alert, you are going to die,
you all have two things in common you all love
Mindless Self Indulgence and your all going to
die”. He continues to talk in between songs
like Issues, Cocaine and Toupees, Never Wanted
To Dance, Bring The Pain and Capitol P, by saying
things like “We are better than your parents,
we are better than your teachers, we are even
better than your best friend. As I will always
tell you, that you are a Fucking ugly person.
“ after this he plays a game off, Cosmetic
Surgery or No Cosmetic Surgery, where he walks
in front of the front row saying weather he thinks
they need surgery or not. He also asks the crowd
for clothing throughout the set, asking people
for ties and make up so he can look pretty, to
which plenty of lipstick gets thrown up on stage,
then both Jimmy and Steve pick it up and start
plastering it all over themselves. Jimmy tells
the crowd “none
of you will be famous, no matter what Lady Ga
Ga says. You will only get your fifteen seconds
of fame, on this stage” he then jumps into
the crowd and grabs a guy to say a few words before
they play Faggot, the guy doesn’t really
say anything audible, but it’s funny never
the less. They start to play Faggot, during which
Steve sees someone dressed as a tiger and asks
them to come on stage, and during playing the
song both him and the tiger lie down on the floor,
and swap glasses whilst messing about.
There are so many other things that they did tonight,
as well as play some amazing songs, that it’s
hard to fit them all in but here’s a list
of a few others; Jimmy played the audience like
an
instrument, splitting them in too and giving each
a different word to shout, they recorded a message
for London telling them how much they suck, they
proclaimed they were a Christian band and got
the crowd to join them in a prayer “dear
god, we are the beautiful people in a room full
of ugly assholes”, Jimmy got the crowd to
chant “for a faggy guy, he’s pretty
manly”, Jimmy stripped off his top and showed
his ass to the crowd, and also throughout the
show Jimmy told the crowd, how they all sucked
and how they should go and give them money on
kick-starter for their new album.
They ended their huge set off 21 songs with Straight
To Video, which went into a version of Master
Of Puppets as the band left the stage, just leaving
Steve lying on the floor, thrashing at his guitar.
After a few minutes he got up and decided that
seeing as they had 15 minutes left he would get
the audience to take part in Black Country’s
Got Talent. He got a girl on stage who couldn’t
do anything so she got kicked off, the 2nd girl
tap danced whilst he routed through her purse,
the 3rd girl who looked about 12, sang The River
by Good Charlotte, which went down well, so he
let her stay on stage and hang about with Jimmy
behind the drums. Finally he had two topless blokes
come on stage who did somersaults, they then went
to
climb the amps which meant security cut the show
short and turned off the mic’s and lights
whilst the two lads came down. After all this,
the band came back out and came out into the crowd
where they had photos taken and signed merch for
fans on their way out.
All in all tonight is unlike any gig I’ve
ever been too, MSI on stage, work their areses
off to perform and play well and put on a great
show. If you didn’t know what MSI where
about, then I’m sure you’d not know
how to take the gig, with the band shouting at
the fans, telling them they suck and asking for
new clothes, you might think they were up their
own backsides and complete idiots, but it’s
when you see the love they show for the fans coming
out and thanking them personally and by playing
a long set, it shows that they care and that they
really appreciate the support shown for them.
So next time MSI are in town, go and check them
out (now you’ve read my review and know
what to expect) and you will not be disappointed!
Mindless Self Indulgence 5/5
Review By James Daly
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