New Model Army

[rabid]

Will raise a beer to his memory when watching them at The Avalon mate.

[timespeedsup]

To be fair my mind was elsewhere a lot of the time when they were on at Bearded. I've always been a fan but I was really determined not to miss them in memory of a good friend who died about 7 years ago in uncertain circumstances. He was a massive fan, followed them everywhere sleeping on floors, in squats, vans wherever and I know he would have been down there on someones shoulders - clogs and everything! I was gutted he wasn't there but I managed to put thoughts like that aside and honour his memory as best I could with this old and broken body.

[rabid]

Aw, sorry didn;t realise. & you appeared to be enjoying it, so had no idea. Yup, raised glasses Friday 4 weeks.

[guypjfreak]

To be fair my mind was elsewhere a lot of the time when they were on at Bearded. I've always been a fan but I was really determined not to miss them in memory of a good friend who died about 7 years ago in uncertain circumstances. He was a massive fan, followed them everywhere sleeping on floors, in squats, vans wherever and I know he would have been down there on someones shoulders - clogs and everything! I was gutted he wasn't there but I managed to put thoughts like that aside and honour his memory as best I could with this old and broken body.

[Tomska]

Hmmmm. Afraid I'm going to have to be the dissenting voice here, and it's not just my naturally contrary nature.

I used to be one of the sad bastards that hitched around the country with a kitbag going to all their gigs in the late 80s & early 90s. They were a great band back then. They did take themselves a bit too seriously, but they put on a hell of a live show.

I saw them last month for the first time in a few years (since the Glastonbury Other Stage set a few years ago I think) playing to a couple of hundred people in Reading and it was all a bit sad to be honest with you. The edgy, punky sound is gone - much more of a straight American rock style now, not least because of the loss of Rob Heaton on drums (RIP), and because of their rocky new guitarist (the Vagabonds violin was done by the guitarist in a very RAWK stylee). Justin looks a bit like an elderly witch, but I won't hold that against him. The performance was a bit lacklustre, but to be fair it was midweek in Reading. But they insisted on playing over half the set from the last 3 albums, and I'm afraid that was the big problem - they're a bit crap. The last properly decent album was Impurity, and that was nearly 20 years ago. Hopeless Causes was OK, but the last few have been pretty woeful.

I guess they may do more of a greatest hits set for Glastonbury, but I wouldn't count on it - Justin's a stubborn bugger and honestly believes in the quality of the recent tunes.

I dunno - maybe I'm just a jaded old git. I really wanted to enjoy it, buut it was all a bit flat. The Avalon Stage should be a good venue for them and there will be a lot of happy, drunken old faces to help them along. I'll probably pop my head in on my way from Mos Def to the 24-hour fields, but I won't be expecting too much...

[cran]

Nice post Tomska

I don't think any of us that have been praising the recent shows would pretend that it is as good now as it was back in the 80s and 90s, so I don't think you are being particularly dissenting.

My main reason for being so chirpy about their recent tour and bearded theory set is that I've seen a lot of bands that I liked when I was younger playing again recently, and they have been mostly disappointing, so I suppose that I have been a bit over the top with gushing praise at actually seeing an older band perform like they still meant it and weren't just there for the cash payout, mind you NMA never went away really....

Agree that the drum sound is not as good as it was when Rob was still with us and there is a rockier edge to the sound, which is not altogether my cup of tea...

Still it's nice to see this thread being reasonable and well rounded rather than the usual "I like this", "No it's shit, you're a dick" that there is so much of on these boards. Not that I don't like that mind, I love a good slagging as much as anyone!

Still gonna be down there waving and stomping along, balls to Gorillaz!

[jameshunt]

Hmmmm. Afraid I'm going to have to be the dissenting voice here, and it's not just my naturally contrary nature.

I used to be one of the sad bastards that hitched around the country with a kitbag going to all their gigs in the late 80s & early 90s. They were a great band back then. They did take themselves a bit too seriously, but they put on a hell of a live show.

I saw them last month for the first time in a few years (since the Glastonbury Other Stage set a few years ago I think) playing to a couple of hundred people in Reading and it was all a bit sad to be honest with you. The edgy, punky sound is gone - much more of a straight American rock style now, not least because of the loss of Rob Heaton on drums (RIP), and because of their rocky new guitarist (the Vagabonds violin was done by the guitarist in a very RAWK stylee). Justin looks a bit like an elderly witch, but I won't hold that against him. The performance was a bit lacklustre, but to be fair it was midweek in Reading. But they insisted on playing over half the set from the last 3 albums, and I'm afraid that was the big problem - they're a bit crap. The last properly decent album was Impurity, and that was nearly 20 years ago. Hopeless Causes was OK, but the last few have been pretty woeful.

I guess they may do more of a greatest hits set for Glastonbury, but I wouldn't count on it - Justin's a stubborn bugger and honestly believes in the quality of the recent tunes.

I dunno - maybe I'm just a jaded old git. I really wanted to enjoy it, buut it was all a bit flat. The Avalon Stage should be a good venue for them and there will be a lot of happy, drunken old faces to help them along. I'll probably pop my head in on my way from Mos Def to the 24-hour fields, but I won't be expecting too much...

[Mardy]

This is interesting stuff. I've probably not seen them since the early 90s, adn it'd be a shame if they've reverted to a more rocky sound, although those does seem to be what has happened to a fair few bands from them.

I dunno, I only saw them 8 or 9 times between about 1988 and 92 or so, so I don't know if it's still my bag, but like Tomska says, maybe I'll stick my head in if I'm not wrapped up in something elsewhere.