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Auf Der Maur
At Manchester Academy 3 (formerly Hop & Grape)
by Raziq Rauf
Melissa Auf Der Maur’s shift from bassist to frontwoman seems so unbelievably natural. She holds her bass like a lead guitar, thrashing and convulsing like some evil rock-spawn possessed. It’s a wonderful sight. Mixing an undeniable girlish charm with disastrous sex appeal ain’t too easy. I’ve tried it myself. But she pulls it off, waving and greeting her hardcore fans and then back to gripping and pulling that bass around…
“It must be so hot and squishy down there!”
Unsurpringly the début album is played in entirety plus only a couple of extras. But it’s when the songs are played live that you hear the wondrous crunches as the goth-tinged moves are pulled taut and her earthy bellow bites that bit more, losing the soft drawl found on record and gaining an increase in Canadia. One song translated into French? Yeah. It is a sexy language. Learn it.
The singles are clear to be picked out, even in the mass of wonderful songs. The band sound hollow only once, and even then you realise it is only so they can crescendo toward something Desert-filling. They’re no Josh, but it’s all about her anyway.
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Auf Der Maur
saw her in london this week and she was equally fantastic then -
Auf Der Maur
Auf Der Maur - Manchester Academy 3 -12th April 2004
Public transport is a bitch! I hate being subject to it's terms, conditions, restrictions but most of all goddamn delays! Never more so than when I end up missing the bulk of a band's set! Grrrr! So then, all I managed to catch of AMPLIFIER was their last two songs, but that was enough to leave me slack jawed and stunned into believing that we will all be hearing a lot more fom this Manchester 3 piece in the coming months. God Machine-like intensity and incredible volume. If they get as big as the sound they make they will be colossal. Bodes well for the debut album released on May 10th.
Apparently the NME have said that the LIVING THINGS are what Rock n' Roll should be sounding like! Which is probably true. True that is if you have been waiting for a band who look and sound like an amalgamation of New York Dolls/Dead Boys/Lords of the New Church/Ramones. Their frontman was a dead ringer for Joey Ramone from the back of the room, in his skinny black jeans, leather jacket and mop of black hair! They aren't a bad band. They play cock sure rock n' roll with a glammy tinge. But after the more contemporary sounding (and local) AMPLIFIER they received nothing more than a warm reception.
"Everybody's as good as everybody else"
Such diplomacy needn't be expected from a woman fronting her band's second ever headline appearance. Nevertheless this is how Melissa Auf Der Maur dealt with a shout from the crowd of 'Miles better than Courtney Love!" I'm certainly not going to argue with him though!
Opening with album album opener 'Lightning Is My Girl', from the outset it's clear that live this is a sharper and more jagged AUF DER MAUR than on record. Melissa's vocals lose their soft edge and she forms one half of a fearsome rythm section that power through the songs. By the end of 'My Foggy Notion' She is the epitome of a rock goddess. 'Taste You' is sung in French and dedicated to her mother in tonight's audience, whilst The Smiths get a namecheck as well. Well, this IS Manchester after all! A re-arranged 'I Need , I Want, I Will' complete with vocal affects was utterely awesome, while 'Skin Receiver' was delivered with Melissa taking sole vocal duty and handing bass duty over. Some bass palyers might have struggled without their instrument to hide behind; Melissa took to it like a duck to water.
Clearly phased by UK audience reactions, there were too many pregnant pauses between songs. But this at least gave her the opportunity for a bit of banter with the front rows. All in all a confident near debut headline show. And with the prospect of Festival appearences in the summer. That should fill a hole!
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