All pictures on this page are copyright ©2004 of me (settings got messed up, too bad).
Check out:
07/01/04 - 4AD, Diksmuide
Nomeansno (CAN)
4/11/04
Vaartkapoen, Brussels
Set List: Give Me the Push / Sex Mad / Dad / The River / Body Bag / Teresa, Give Me That Knife / The Phone Call / Some Bodies / I Can’t Stop Talking / ??? / Angel or Devil / Humans / silly jam / Rags and Bones / The End of All Things // 1st encore: Land of the Living / It’s Catching Up / The Jungle // 2nd encore: The Day Everything Became Nothing / Now / Joey Ramone song / Beat on the Brat
The cover of the recently released compilation The People’s Choice shows a picture of some sort of dressing room graffiti that says “Nomeansno - how old are these fucken granddads?”, and I can indeed imagine that’s what a young punk who’s in touch with them for the first time might think. Although they’ve added a few pounds, display nothing but grayish tones on their head or even sport a brand new moustache (John Wright), they’re still a bomb on stage. Because they weren’t touring to support a new album (it’s been four years since One, though), they probably considered it an opportunity to pick songs from their entire career. Whereas most gigs have their focus on the latest release (with a few of the audience’s favorites thrown in), yesterday’s show proved what a great catalogue they have to pick from, as one highlight followed the next, making the show one huge, relentless energy blast of 120 minutes (the set list basically consisted of each song on the newly released compilation plus seven others). Which is not to say that it was a string of speedy punk tracks, because for each “Teresa,” there’s a cut like “The Phone Call” or “Land of the Living.” What did remain, though, was an incredible intensity level. For the full two hours, these guys played as if it was the last show they’d ever do. From the second song onwards, the sweat was dropping to the floor, and the band’s dedication was enthusiastically received by an audience that seemed to consist of nothing but hardcore fans as there were a lot of people singing along during a lot of the songs (what’s better than screaming “DIE, DIE” during “Rags and Bones” – Jesus, I make this sound as if they’re just an average “I hate you and I hate the world”-band … well, they’re not. Not really).
Kicking off with the huge bass intro and brutal dynamics of “Give Me the Push,” the band immediately showed everything it has up its sleeve. With such a peculiar sound as theirs – centred around bass and drums – it’s particularly interesting to see the band’s interplay, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that all three members are staggeringly good musicians. Rob Wright alternates macabre, crawling bass lines with explosive freak-outs, guitar player Tom Holliston switches from straightforward chord bashing to chicken scratchin’ and all kinds of fret abuse in a split second, while drummer John Wright, well, he’s simply incredible. If I were a drummer, I’d make a shrine to honour him. Not once settling for the conventional style you’d see at most other gigs, the man is a machine blessed with super powers. With his versatility and astonishing work on the toms, he’s one of the very few drummers out there who can make their drum kit sound like a lead instrument without necessarily begging for a solo (which he rarely does). Instead, he offers you some of the tightest (“Sex Mad”), hardest swinging (“Now”) and head-spinning (“The River”) drum parts you’ll ever hear. Anyway, after “Give Me The Push, “ the band harkened back to the ‘80’s with the insane punk-funk of “Sex Mad” (with all three members sharing vocals) and that brutally intense depiction of domestic violence, “Dad.” After a detour through “The River” (man, those circular drum patterns aren’t human!), the band returned to earlier material again with the sinister “Body Bag,” and the manic stop & start-antics of “Teresa, Give Me That Knife” (the phrase “aural hand grenade” was invented to describe songs like this) during which they didn’t even miss one beat. Next up were the grotesque hopelessness of “The Phone Call” (and that break “You call this living? It’s HEEELLL!” was incredible), a completely fucked-up version of “Some Bodies” that discouraged the musicians in the audience to pick their instruments up again for a week, and another schizophrenic blast I hadn’t heard before. The band then added “Angel or Devil” and “Humans” from The Worldhood of the World (which, apparently, is a popular album among fans) and closed the set with early classics “Rags and Bones” (always a highlight) and the descending bass punches of “The End of All Things.”
What’s a Nomeansno-gig without an encore? Right. So the band returned with the understated “Land of the Living” (the set’s calmest song) before switching to the hard-hitting “It’s Catching Up.” Then they played “The Jungle,” and though it’s never been a favorite of mine (the studio version at least), their hypnotic interplay lifted it to the extremely high level of the songs that preceded it. The second encore (hey, it was the last gig of their tour!) was the final icing on the cake: not only did John Wright announce the groove-punk of “The Day That Everything Became Nothing” in Dutch, like he did on the Live + Cuddly album, they next proceeded to what might very well be my favorite Nomeansno song ever: “Now,” a hilarious, catchy, hard-rocking masterpiece that switches from style and rhythm so effortlessly and fluently that I’ll make you forget all the other stuff out there. During songs like these, when the three members share vocals and wit and manage to direct all their energy into that one perfect mould, they remind you why you love them so much. They may have been around for more than twenty years, but their dedication hasn’t diminished one single bit. When they rock, they rock so hard that Ritchie Blackmore would piss his pants, when they swing, they reduce about every rhythm section I’ve ever seen to bystander status, and when they combine all their strengths into one song (and I haven’t even mentioned the anthemic hooks, magnificent lyrics, hilarious stage banter) and show you why they’re still relevant, you realize they’re one of the best live bands you’ll ever see. It’s not that I’m the world’s expert, but I’ve seen my share of concerts, and when I see these guys at work, I cannot but tell myself they’re kings in their own league. Even though the Joey Ramone-tribute and a chugging cover of “Beat on the Brat” (fortunately not as slow as the studio version) were something different from the rest of the set (straightforward three-chord punk usually isn’t their thing), the verdict has got to be that Nomeansno is probably the best live band I’ve ever seen. The previous two times were already magnificent, but this time around they were phenomenal.
P.S.: A big, fat fuck you to the obnoxious/drunk fuckers on the front row who thought they could disrupt the show. WRONG.
Nomeansno (CAN)
7/1/2004
4AD, Diksmuide
The Wrath of the Truck Stop Egg Sandwich
Set List: Give Me the Push / Sex Mad / Dad / The River / Body Bag / Teresa, Give Me That Knife / The Phone Call / Some Bodies / Mr. In Between / No Sex / Can’t Stop Talking / Angel or Demon / Two Lips, Two Lungs and One Tongue / Rags and Bones / The End of All Things // Youth / Humans / Joey Had to Go / Oh No Bruno // Now
Barely three months after their previous show on Belgian
ground (at Brussels’ VK), the grey-haired punks were back. The gig was
still one of the People’s Choice-tour, but when you get the
opportunity to see one of the coolest bands a second time around, are you
really gonna worry about a 260 kilometres-drive? 
No,
you don’t, and I’m glad I didn’t. The 4AD is quite different
from the VK, the venue being a small club that holds about 150 people, but
during the gig the place was packed. The advantage of this kind of
gig is that the people know what they come for - every Nomeansno fan seems
to be a hardcore Nomeansno fan - so that creates a bond. Anyway,
the set list was very similar to the one three months ago – the first
eight songs even coming in exactly the same order – but the
band managed to play as if they were doing these for the first time. They
were obviously there to deliver the goods, not by yelling childish slogans
or provoking the public, but just by giving their all instead. Although the
volume wasn’t nearly as crushing as they’d wanted it to be in
the beginning, “Give Me the Push” sounded perfect … until
the power got cut off and everybody stood in the dark. The problem was quickly
solved, however, and the band then tore through a catalogue of 20 years of
off-kilter punk rock, rangging from the straightforward tale of domestic violence
“Dad,” to the epic “The River” (still propelled by
some of the most wicked drumming ever), the ultra-fast, outrageous “Teresa,
Give Me That Knife” and the angular punk-funk of “Some Bodies.”
Another funny thing happened, as guitar player Tom Holliston barely moved
for a few songs in a row and made clear he needed a break: when “Mr.
In Between” (which they’ve never put on any of their records)
was finished, he told the audience he had puke and ran off towards the men’s.
In the meantime, the Wright brothers delivered an astonishing version of “No
Sex” that blew the studio version (from their 1982 debut album) to pieces.
Holliston
had in the meantime returned, told the audience never to order an egg sandwich
in a Belgian truck stop, strapped on his guitar (still pale-faced), and continued
with “Can’t Stop Talking.” The band didn’t disappoint
the sweaty crowd that enjoyed the stop ‘n’ start-assault of “Anger
or Demon,” the early thrasher “Two Lips, Two Lungs and One Tongue”
from monster album Wrong, a brilliant, extended version of “Rags
and Bones” and set closer “The End of All Things,” the audience
asked to fulfil the “angel”-part. While Holliston was running
to the men’s again, the audience was already asking for the band’s
return. When they did, they unexpectedly played their sea shanty “Youth”
(which is only included on the vinyl version of Dance of the Headless
Bourgeoisie), and then offered a three-chord hattrick with “Humans,”
the Hanson Brothers’ “Joey Had to Go” (“A tribute
to one of our heroes, without whom we wouldn’t have been here in the
first place”) and “Oh No Bruno!” As usual, the trio was
called back for a second time and they ended the show with an energetic version
of 0+2=1’s “Now.” Despite the fact that Holliston
looked pretty bad during most of the set, the band delivered an excellent
performance of nearly two hours. Maybe not as good as three months ago in
Brussels, but that show was one for the books anyway. This time around, the
result was merely mortal, but the band’s still tighter, rocks harder,
has more swing, humour, talent, creativity and balls than about 95% of all
the other bands out there, so compared to your average standard punk gig,
the show might’ve been mind-blowing after all. The next bands I’m
gonna see next will have to do something exceptional to live up to
this.
Nomeansno (CAN)
11/07/04
De Bogaard, Geel
That's what they call a 'hat trick'
Set List: Give Me the Push / Sex Mad / Dad / The River / Body Bag / Teresa, Give Me That Knife / The Phone Call / Some Bodies / Mr. Inbetween / Can't Stop Talking / No Sex / Angel or Demon / Humans / Rags and Bones / The End of All Things // Victory / The Fall / Now // Oh No Bruno / Today You Love, Tomorrow the World / Two Lips, Two Lungs and One Tongue (w/ Shot Down in Flames)
Third gig, third victory. I could go on and on about how great their songs are, how funny their lyrics are, how commanding their dedication and intensity are, how they manage to keep "older" songs so much goddamn fun (even though the set list was almost an exact replica of the previous one), how "Dad" was an insanely fast blast, how John's drumming in "Body Bag "was mind-blowing, how fantastic "Some Bodies" sounded, how delighted I was that they played "Victory" and "The Fall" as their first encore, how the classic middle part of "Two Lips, Two Lungs and One Tongue" was filled up with AC/DC's "Shot Down in Flames" (with supporting artist Ford Pier on screeching vocals), how they came up with the Ramones' "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World", but I'm not going to. What about this:
NOMEANSNO IS THE GREATEST LIVE BAND IN THE WORLD.
Read album reviews of similar or related artists: Nomeansno