The Dead Part of You

So last night was the big Psychic TV show at the Paradise. I was pretty excited about it, I didn't ever think I'd see them live. Combined with last week's Skinny Puppy show, IT IS THE WEEK OF OLD SKOOL INDUSTRIAL!!!

Doors were at 7, show at 8, so Eric and I got there for 8 figuring we'd catch some of the opening act, and of course the doors weren't even open yet. When we did finally get in, the balcony was closed and we wound up standing near the back away from the 'crowd'.

Can I tell you how sad it was that this show had such a small turnout? Really, with the balcony closed, the club was still barely half full. Go school yourself in some Psychic TV. I can wait.

Both Eric and I can be freak magnets sometimes, and of course a group of 5 party-jocks come and stand right in front of us. I placed odds one of them was going to shout "Show us your tits" to opener Marissa Nadler [pretty dull]. Upon later reflection, I think they were there for the whole "chicks with dicks" factor the evening had. Plus, they were more like Sweathogs as opposed to party-jocks.

We moved to the other side of the club during the break, positioning us directly under an air conditioning vent, which really wasn't necessary. When Psychic TV finally came on, well - the whole thing just felt really old and kind of sad. They were poorly lit [that's why there's no pictures] and you couldn't see any of the video behind them. From what I could gather it was the usual - images of Christ and graphic gender re-assignment surgeries. You know, they looked pretty good in their matching outfits, and sounded pretty good, but being sober - I just wasn't on the same astral plane as the rest of the room. Bands like Spiritualized, Low or Mogwai do an excellent job of creating a drugged-like sensation in the listener when they play live, where PTV were merely on drugs creating music for people on drugs.

After about an hour, Eric wanted to leave, and I did too. My eyes and skin were burning from the air conditioning, and it just wasn't the freak show I was hoping it would be. Basically, it was kind of like watching an over-the-hill Hedwig. Sad, I know. Admittedly I did have really high hopes for the show, and they came nowhere near fulfilling my expectations. Would I go see Psychic TV again? THE ANSWER IS MORE THAN LIKELY NOT!

However, I did get my first "Missed Connection" out of it.