Panic at the Disco

Cold windy damp night and I meet with Owen in the Alma for a good long chat to catch up before making our way to Bambino's for Metamono. I introduce Owen to Jono and am then shunned by both whilst they drool over the analogue synths, wandy thing and sequencers. Probably. I'm sure I could get all that stuff on my phone with some Garage Band type app but I guess that's not the point and I have The Point emphasised with the start of the gig when their mate uses an old school megaphone (not even an electric one) to shout out the Metamono Manifesto. As I'm re-reading Engel's and Marx's at the moment it seems apt and although Metamono's is shorter and less political it's no less strident. The reference to leaving the cake out in the rain and never having that energy again is a portent of things to come and I'm not sure it was in the original Manifesto? Maybe we're in the post Metamono era or at least moving from theory to practical application of the Manifesto. Bambino is a small space and it's pretty packed with what I guess are mainly friends or discerning fans. Or both. They go straight into a high tempo set with little in the way of build up of out and out electronica when I've seen them before. To be honest it's more up my street as some of their more fiddly stuff I find a little too esoteric. So it's straight into foot tapping mode and they fill the room with sound and visuals until everyone's moving and quite a few dancing around including Simon and Jules who have joined us. The sounds are a big nod to 70s electronic straight outta Germany and I guess with the kit they have (did I mention it's all analogue and no digital - read the Manifesto!) that's not surprising. It's mixed with a fresh take on modern dub and dance and tonight they seem to be moving right into that other mid 70s electronic beat that is disco. There is an unashamedly (as Jono tells me afterwards) disco number that whilst hardly has the three boys digging their way back to you babe I wouldn't have been overly surprised to see Donna Summer pop up in a spangly jump suit. It's a pity they don't use mics as a beautifully soaring vocal counterpointing the heavy beats and blippery would go down nicely in my opinion. This sparks a furious debate between myself and Owen about whether disco is great or crap. You'll know my take as I'm an ex YMCA disco boy. I don't mean that I danced to The Village People (tho I probably did if under the zider influenze) but that I frequented the Bath Walcott Street YMCA discotheque which was a fight between punk / new wave and disco / funk. I loved all of it. Anyways I digress. By the time Owen and I have moved onto more intelligent discussions such as him reminiscing about Gabba which I thought was The Ramones but apparently ain't and is early hard core (not punk) the band have moved into a more laid back groove but with a high tempo beat which I would file under Trance if I had it on vinyl and filed my records in a system. So we have the beat moving up a notch and Metamono treat us to a big finale with hands waving in true house style and we're away with the music. Probably the most accessible gig I've seen them play and they sounded great in such a small room. The acoustics seemed to be pretty good considering it's a shop. Afterwards we mingle about chatting to folk before I head off to the rail station. Oh yeah. The panic was that I lost my keys and was inordinately worried about finding them due to things going on which I won't go into here. Keys found back at home of course. It's a nice title for a piece tho - sort of trips off the tongue. Would make a great name for a band.,,

Jono twiddling, Mark's head, Paul's Hawkwind fan coat (damn, I wasn't going to mention that band)