NME Indie Rock Tour 2007
We saw the NME Awards tour last year and it was great. So I was pleased to be able to go this year and see Mumm-Ra, The Horrors, The View and The Automatic.
Mumm-Ra were up first and were great. They had a lot of energy, good presence on the stage, and well produced sound.
Next up, The Horrors. Quite a challenging listen but there were plenty of fans there. Some critics have been unkind. They were very theatrical with lots of cape wearing, and silent movie style posturing and hand wringing. The next big thing, or a bunch of self-indulgent posh goth boys? You decide.
The View had recently released “Hats off to the Buskers” and had charted with “Same Jeans”. The crowd were familiar with the songs. One song was marred by technical problems (fixed by the guy on the left giving his monitor a sharp kick).
The Automatic went down very well, playing all their familiar songs and slipping in a cover of Talking Heads’ Life During Wartime.
It was a great evening. I enjoyed Mumm-Ra best because they were so enthusiastic and their sound was so polished. The Horrors were a spectacle, well supported by their fans. They have good grass roots marketing – they handed out a fanzine, badges and compilation CD to people in the queue outside. One Horrors fan was interviewed for TV in the queue and said the other bands weren’t his thing, that he might leave after the Horrors’ set. The View and The Automatic were both good live and it was a great to hear so many recent chart hits in one night. The gig was being filmed by Remedy Productions for Channel 4, I hope to catch it when it’s broadcast.