Pay-TV
in Seelze, Vis-a-vis
pictures by Dani, Martin, and Nini
Let me, once again, start the review with our preparations for today's gig. This time Dani has bought a Badge-it machine to make badges. Very soon she has used all the available material and there are lots of beautiful badges on the picture she has sent me before. One is showing the Pay-TV promotion picture, some are showing the three boys as drawn by Dani, others are showing pictures or just the letters P, A, Y, T, and V. So we decide to style ourselves punk-like with all these badges on our shirts, jackets, bags, and even on Dani's skirt. I have found a shirt with "Monkey boy rockin'" and four monkeys' faces on it during my last visit to Hamm. The perfect shirt for a Pay-TV gig, especially because we replace one of the monkeys' faces with a badge... No need to tell that we are in a very jolly mood on our way to Seelze. Martin has got a badge with Ludde on it and only Biggi starts badge-less
"This is really a surprise", Wolff and Joe welcome us. Jamie is somewhere outside and talking on the phone. Obviously none of them has counted on us, but since Dani lives just 30 kilometres away it feels like having to be here tonight. Joe says he likes our badges and Wolff jokes around that he can't see which of the monkeys on my shirt has been replaced. Dani gives a new gumball machine to Jamie and we consider writing a report from a gumball's point of view. The example for this is given by Jamie's brother who takes pictures of his Wackel-Elvis in front of various places of interest.
Luckily the barkeeper of the Vis-a-vis is from Hamburg and so we manage to get a table right in front of the stage although it has been reserved for somebody else. Great, this will feel like having Pay-TV in our living rooms!
The food is delicious! Unfortunately it is served rather late so we try to eat as fast as we can because it's nearly time for the gig to start. Who said something about "stuffing our faces with pasta" before? That's exactly what we do now. When Pay-TV finally enter the "stage", that is just a corner in the room, the first thing which attracts our attention is Joe's missing tie. And he seems to wear a different jacket but again it's a black one. They start with "A little more time" and they all are smiling happily. I think Joe plays some new guitar phrases during this song and you can feel the double bass in your stomach. Wow, that's a great start! The second song is "Long time coming" which is sung perfectly. The backing vocals are absolutely clear and there's a beautiful reverb in the guitar sound. I like it this way. Unfortunately there are no spotlights to illuminate the stage so taking pictures without a flash is difficult. The third song is the one that changes lena's mood. Martin calls her so she can listen to "Ordinary Girl" in Aschaffenburg. This is the only song in the first set where Jamie plays the electric double bass instead of the acoustic version. lena and I have talked about the text a few days before. In my opinion this is one of the most beautiful love songs ever! Which woman wouldn't love to have somebody who loves the ordinary girl in her? You really should listen to the lyrics or read them.
Thanks to Joe for all his wonderful songs
For "Now and again" Joe uses his capo in the second fret. Has anybody established capos for double basses yet? But they would be really unnecessary... Or for Kazoos? Okay, I'm talking nonsense, I know. Of course Jamie is playing his bass and the Kazoo without any additional help. "There she goes" by Sixpence None The Richer forces Joe to slide his fingers to the bone. Wolff changes the drumsticks from brushes to a wooden stick for playing the Ride cymbal. Afterwards Joe announces: "My little brother Jamie will sing this next song!" But nothing happens, everybody is sitting there rather silently. So Jamie screeches and we join him. "Day are oceans" is played in a very relaxed mood. Joe uses a lot of bendings to let the sound vibrate during his solo which ends with a purposeful feedback sound. Wolff again changes the sticks, this time for a drum roll. So after this song Joe shouts: "Ladies and Gentleman! On the Glockenspiel and the drums at the same time: The Wolfman!"
"Now and again"
Pay-TV are the only band that dares to use two Kazoos
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The Wolfman!
According to Jamie the next song will be named differently on the new album: "Caught me on a slightly better day". But they play it from their first album so it's still: "Caught me on a bad day". This time Wolff uses some sticks called "Hot Rods" which look like a bunch of spaghetti. When regular sticks are too loud and brushes are too soft, Rods are just right. Sounds like an ad? Well, I took the text from one ;-). Later he plays the Hi Hat and a Shaker with his left hand. At the same time, of course! For the eighth song Jamie tunes up his double bass and they start "Emma & Julian" without explaining other possible name pairs. This time there is a reverb added to Joe's voice and again it sounds wonderful. I'm sorry but this seems to be a "The drummer is brilliant"-report again: If you want to change the sound of your Floor Tom so it nearly sounds like a huge timbal you have to push in the drum head with your elbow and play with Mallets. It looks dangerous because you wait for the drum head to burst asunder but it sounds great! Suddenly Joe has got an idea to spice up the song a bit and he changes the text from "an Emma and Julian thing" to "a Jamie and Wolfman thing". The next song is the last one before the three take a short break. Perhaps Jamie wants revenge for his sung affaire with the Wolfman? He asks Joe: "What's the German thing for 'short break'?" - "Kurze Pause." Yeah, the answer is perfectly right but confuses Jamie so he announces in perfect Denglish: "We gonna take a kurze Pause. Is there any other sentence you know in German?" Yes, there is. "Darf ich eine CD kaufen bitte?" The last song is "Safety Line" and there must be a very confusing atmosphere on stage because Joe re-uses some lines from the first verse in the second verse. Jamie has got the final say: "We're gonna be back in about 15 or 20 minutes."
Nobody at our table believes in the 15 to 20 minutes and we are quite right: They are back after 26 minutes. Wolff tunes up his drums and now it's Jamie's turn to change his instrument very often. For "Happy Days" he uses his electric double bass and his moog synthesizer. Joe's guitar solo leads him to the 15th fret - thanks to the fingernail inlays; they make it easy to count. And I'm very surprised that the Snare can sound that much like a shot when played with Mallets. For the second song it is time for the Wolfman to get funky! Jamie plays his electric double bass again and in addition to that he sings the lead vocals of "Sha la la". The drumsticks seem to know exactly what to do; they're bouncing hassle-free on the cymbals even though Wolff's face looks strained sometimes. Now it's time for Jamie to change back to the double bass and to tune it up while Joe starts to play "Everything is happening". I like the mirror-like silver shaker that Wolff uses (even though I have never again seen him flirting with it like he did in the LIVE). Yet the best of this great song is Jamie slapping his double bass like blazes in the bridge. I could watch him doing this for hours, it is so marvellous!
This picture shows the wrong bass but the perfect face ;-)
"Show me what it's like" starts with the familiar feedback sound. This time it is so loud that you nearly can't hear the double bass but nevertheless it doesn't hurt in the ears. Just to point out that not everything is brilliant and there are human beings on stage: Joe misses one tune in the second picked chord. But I must admit that you need to know the song to notice it. Suddenly the Wolfman becomes quite sadistic. He thrusts one of his sticks over the Ride so it sounds like somebody squeaking with chalk on a blackboard. Ouch, that's cruel and really gives me the heebie-jeebies! Perhaps I should stop to write that he's the best drummer ever? For "Why so sad" Jamie has to put away all his basses because he plays his acoustic guitar and his moog there. But even though he has to use one of his feet to play the organ pedals and the Gibson hanging around his neck he manages to dance and show us a rather sexy shoulder motion. For "She said she said" by The Beatles he plays his double bass again. During the part sounding like a three four time Wolff sways left and right what makes me think of Vienna Waltz. He even underlines this impression by using the tambourine to mark the two and the three in the second 3/4-like part.
Why so sad?
For "Beautiful Babies" Wolff uses his whole equipment. Why didn't anybody ever tell, that he's not only playing the tambourine with one and the Glockenspiel with the other hand but also using his feet for Hi Hat and bass drum? Or would this make the brothers' missing multitasking ability too obvious? However, this time Jamie has to slide his fingers to the bone. When they start the last two songs with "Screw that" he's talking under his breath and we wonder what he's saying. Perhaps he misses his brother talking about the groovy bass line first and then adding the drums and finally the guitar? Dani wants to have a post to do some Gogo-dancing at it and I must admit that I would join her because the rhythm is wonderful for this. It would look strange, two girls dancing while Joe sings about choking another one. For "Monkey boy" Jamie has to use his double bass again and so Wolff plays a really long but brilliant drum solo to give Jamie enough time because, as usual, these two songs are played as one.
Hardly any concert can take place without encores. The first one is Dani's wish: "Desire" by U2. "We have a homepage. Www.paytvmusic.com or www.wolfmannaked.com which will take you to the same place." No, it won't, just check it out. Wolff plays another great solo. Then he throws his stick into the air and catches it again. When Joe asks him to do it a second time, he misses the stick so Joe can grin and say: "I know it was beginner's luck!" Joe and Jamie also play cool solos and I long for the mouth percussion part which is the funniest thing they do. Again we are taken deep into the jungle where we can listen to monkeys, but obviously a sheep has got astray and can be heard here, too. Martin, Dani, and I are not even able to shout something as a reaction to the sheep because we are laughing so hard and nearly falling off our seats. The second encore totally makes me melt away. Jamie plays and sings "Hear me now". Unfortunately some people are talking very loudly so we all start to "Shhh" before we get back to enjoy. It is my third time to hear this song live - and it's the best performance on it I have ever seen. It sounds wonderfully relaxed and Jamie plays it completely perfect on his acoustic guitar. After about the first half Joe and Wolff join Jamie and assist him with some tender guitar lines, a very gently played shaker, and some mellow cymbal sounds. Wow! When Joe announces "We're gonna do two more songs" we all start to scream happily. The first one is "Have you seen this man" und the second one "Country Roads". It's amazing that about 30 people can be that loud when they are partying.
After the show the barkeeper gives us the Pay-TV posters and of course we ask the band to dedicate them to and sign them for us. Because the bar is rather empty I can use the opportunity to talk to Joe about guitars. Remember? I still want to buy a new acoustic guitar and so we get into a long (and instructional) discussion about guitar brands, guitar stores, the effect of different strings on the sound, or that it might be better to buy an old guitar. Later Wolff and I talk about the advantages and disadvantages of knowing much about harmonics. I keep my opinion that it might be better to compose based on what you feel and not based on what somebody wants you to do. Furthermore it will be very interesting to try to compose using another instrument than you normally do. Yes, this is highly academic but I want to keep it in mind.
When we finally come home it's very hard to fall asleep so Dani and I watch our pictures and talk until the early morning hours. There are many beautiful memories for all of us which make this wonderful evening even better.
If you could hear me now you'd run away ;-)
Ingredients for this report:
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Setlist:
A little more time Happy Days Encores: |
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Outtake:
The paper scissors stone(d) losers.
Would you let one of them drive your car???
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