Gig: The Films, Bar Academy Islington, 15 december 2006.
So, this gig was kind of a random decision to attend... the tickets were cheap, I was in town anyways, and the idea of catching the kooks’ opening act on the recent leg of their european tour at a tiny venue didn’t seem like a bad deal to me (afterall, the noisettes, brooklyn, and second sex were brilliant opening acts for them in paris this spring).
The bar academy, however intimately small the venue may be, was like a commercial, overpriced, polished version of la flêche d’or and the crowd reflected that - slightly pretentious, slightly underaged OR old and pervy (very few joined me among the in-betweens :S ) It definitley wasn’t my scene on the night and unfortunately, the music didn’t make up for it...
If there ever was a band that is not ready to headline, The Films must be it. Their sound wasn’t necessarily bad, but there was just no edge to it, nor to their performance. The little jumps, the ‘rolling-on-the-floor-while-still-playing-my-guitar’ bit have been done before, have been seen before, and only show the complete lack of originality of the band. Despite my numerous brushes with mediocre gigs over the years, nothing ever really prepared me for the complete blandness of this particular gig.
The question that did arise from The Films’ little 35 minute attempt at a headlining show was: does american indie pop/rock work? Yes, The Killers are fab and we all know it, but apart from them, american bands never seem totally sincere when they attempt the typically british indie sound and image. Or maybe that is exactly the problem: the killers seem to have their own take on the indie rock rhythms and beats while many others from across the pond just sound like they are trying to be something they are not. It’s a shame really, because american bands do not need to copy the likes of the libertines or arctic monkeys to be popular over here. Like, look for example at the strokes, cold war kids, clap your hands say yeah, BRMC, death cab for cutie, scissors for lefty, we are scientists (trust me, I could keep going for a while...) – all brilliant bands who deserve all the success and critical acclaim they have received in europe because they, in their own little ways, bring something new and unique to the table.
The Films are proof that indie-sounding guitar riffs and the accompanying image of bed-hair and skinny jeans do not guarantee note-worthy music. And oh my god, learn that just like not all girls can pull off wearing skinny jeans, neither can all guys in bands!!!! If there ever was a band that is not built to wear skinny jeans, The Films must be it. So drop the wannabe image, get over the fact that you are from colorado and south carolina, not leeds or manchester, and produce some original material and I see no reason why you couldn’t be headlining another european tour sometime in the future... I will make sure I catch you at la flêche d’or should that happen.
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