Sunday, December 11, 2011

Adam Ant - Vicar St, Dublin, Nov 25th 2011

This is a post with a difference, in that there is no mention of running or how my training is going. Instead, I'm going to review the Adam Ant gig that I attended on November 25th.
Before I start, just a bit of background into my 31 year obsession with all things Adam Ant. It was in 1980, that I first saw Adam & the Ants on TOTP performing (miming) "Dog Eat Dog" and from that moment I was hooked. Later that year, I bought the "Kings of the Wild Frontier" LP in Central Milton Keynes' long-gone Virgin Megastore. I wasn't allowed to go and see the "Prince Charming Revue" in 1982, apparantly I was too young at 14 to go to London,on my own! So, I had to wait until 1995 before I saw my hero in concert at the Shepherds Bush Empire, London as part of the "Wonderful" tour.
I only found out that I had a ticket for the Vicar St gig, 20 days before the event. How come? The ticket was a birthday present from my lovely wife, Louise who had apparantly booked it 6 weeks before. I was over the moon as I thought the chance of seeing Adam in concert again had passed me by.
November 25th finally came around and before I left the hotel, I 'put on a little make-up,make-up'and headed into Dublin city centre. Vicar St was only 15 minutes walk away and at 8pm I found myself jostling with lots of Antpeople at the merchandise stall. The venue itself is small and intimate and has a capacity of around 800, so the chances of getting a good spot amongst the crowd was pretty high.
Around 8.20pm, the support band Georgie Girl and Her Poussez Posse took to the stage. 4 girls with attitude all playing their own instruments, a great sight in these days of The Saturdays and other indenti-kit girl groups. The band reminded me a little of Kenickie and they seem to have the same sense of humour when they stormed through a version of "Addicted to Love". 30 minutes later they left the stage to great applause...Georgie would be back later as one of Adam's backing singers.
The next 15 minutes seemed to go on forever and with the venue nearing capacity, I positioned myself to the right of the stage and waited...
The lights went down and the first few bars of "Plastic Surgery" caused mayhem in the crowd and this was before Adam had even appeared. A minute or so later, there he was no more than a few yards in front me, jumping around the stage...I was ecstatic. I love "Plastic Surgery" so this was a great start and this song, over 30 years old is more relevant now than it ever was...the way it ridicules those who mess around with their looks..."clean your face with Mr Sheen"
Adam and the band didn't stop for breath as singles, 'B' sides and album tracks were performed with gusto including "Beat My Guest" (all time fave 'B' side), "Zerox" and "Ants Invasion". The backing singers appeared just as "Stand & Deliver" started up, following soon after, a real surprise as "Puss 'n Boots" was given a rockier edge, during which there was a bit of banter between Adam and the two backing singers.
Adam seemed to be having so much fun and was really enjoying himself. He seemed quite humble when he introduced "Kings of the Wild Frontier", the crowd felt this and gave the song a rapturous reception. In the next 30 minutes, a few early songs were performed - "Whip in my Valise", "Never Trust a Man with Egg on his Face" and "Cleopatra", oh and a new song "Vince Taylor" was squeezed in.
Hour and a half in and there was no sign of Adam wanting to stop and 4 classic punk 'B' sides blew the roof off - "Christian D'Or", "Lady", Fall In" and "Red Scab"...BUT then it was all over, or was it? Surely, there would be an encore? We all shouted Adam's name, clapped, stamped our feet and then he returned to give a punk edge to Marc Bolan's "Get It On" and "20th Century Boy". There was still time for one more song and it had to be "Physical (You're So)"...the song that seems to have ended all Adam's gigs from the year dot.
This had been one of the greatest nights of my life, it was everything that I hoped it would be and more. Can't wait for the new album in 2012 and I will jump at the chance to do this all over again in an instant.

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