Pivot @ the Oxford Art Factory
Supported by Kirin J Callinan - he was different, unusual. I actually found him to be quite entertaining, though it felt like he and his band may have not had many gigs before, if you know what I mean. It was kind of a cross between Boy George, Joy Division, Placebo and I don’t know what. I found it amusing when he couldn’t get the guitar strap on properly just before he needed to play a song and he screamed into the mic “freakin strap” or something like that. Dave said that it reminded him of a scene in 24 Hour Party People where the Hacienda has just opened and they have booked these odd avant garde indie bands to play but there are hardly any people attending.
Next up were Fabulous Diamonds - they were OK, sometimes the vocalist sounded a bit like Sinead O’Connor lite which wasn’t bad. The music was instrumental (keyboards and drums) and minimal. Wasn’t really paying attention at this stage as the room was filling up and getting crowded.
Finally Pivot came on (I’ve seen them about 4 times which is quite an effort for me - it must mean I like them a lot). They played mostly new stuff which was quite interesting. They seem to have got into a psychedelic, electronic with guitars style (sorry Matt, I am terrible at describing music). My favourite band member - the one who holds his guitar like Sting, now does some vocals as well. It was more like primal screaming with fx over it. I really like their podcast which seems like a mood board for their new album ‘O Soundtrack My Heart’. You can check it out here: http://www.pivotpivot.net/ Honka Princess came along too but she had a nap near the end.