Hope of the States @ Cockpit
By Gavin Miller£50 is the price currently being offered for Chichester's newest (and probably only) post rock group's first EP, the epic 'Black Dollar Bills'. And on hearing the actual track, both recorded and live here tonight, it's worth each and every penny.
I don't like being late for gigs, but tonight I was, and as a result, only managed the tail end of support band Razorlight's set. As it turns out, it really didn't matter, because from the few songs I heard, it wasn't mind-blowingly fantastic. Just another NME page filling average band playing NME hyped average songs. What surprised me was that they were actually supporting Hope of the States, a band that sound so different and so much more memorable than Razorlight. The only reason I can think of is record company politics standing in the way of putting together 2 bands that sound even fairly similar. After Razorlight's by- the- numbers punky noise finally ends, we wait only about 30 minutes before Hope of the States take to the stage backed by their intro tape.
Said intro tape consists of weird noises, over which a girl talks about something to do with the American presidency- I was so excited about seeing Hope of the States, I wasn't paying that much attention. What I was paying attention to however, is the remarkable movie show the band put on before, during and after their set. Behind the static drum kit, a movie of an old typewriter hammers the words "welcome to the Hope of the States music and picture show, Leeds Cockpit 7th October 2003". With that kind of attention to detail, I knew this was going to be something very special indeed.
The first few tracks go by with the kind of effortless ease that only certain bands can exhume at will, a band so adept at playing live, it's easy to see why Sony went nuts for them earlier on this year. Their playing is so tight as a unit tonight, they make even the best live groups around look like amateurs.
The track titles on show tonight highlight their fascination with subjects mainly to do with America at it's hypocritical worst- the beautiful ferocity of aforementioned über single 'Black Dollar Bills', the sing-a-long stomp of 'George Washington', the absolutely brilliant single-in- waiting 'The Red The White, The Black The Blue' and the set closer, and new single 'Enemies/ Friends'. In between songs, the enigmatic frontman Sam always has a bit of banter with the audience, which is a good thing I think- it helps to cement a good atmosphere, and at the same time not managing to distract from the fact that they are the people playing the songs. It certainly makes for an enjoyable experience anyway.
The movies play a big part tonight, matching the songs word for word, note for note. Accompanying tonight's set are super 8 video footage of an American parade, with people dressed in old costumes, the 'Black Dollar Bills' music video, very effective images of war, footage of two crabs fighting, some weird home movies like that guy out of American Beauty would make, and on the last song of the set, the words float onto the back screen in perfect unison with the live vocals. It's all expertly executed and makes the gig that bit more special.
There's a fair amount of instruments on show tonight too- guitars are everywhere, there's a keyboard at the front of the stage, a massive bass, a drum kit at the back, and even a violin is plugged in somewhere. It's the violin that does it for me. Any band who have a professional violinist in their ranks (with the exception of MOR wunderkind The Corrs) have always been something of a curiosity for me.
Canadian 8,9,10-I've lost count-piece Godspeed You! Black Emporer, and Belgian misfits dEUS (yes, it is supposed to be written with a small d) are both high up in my all time favourite bands, and both have violins-a-plenty. Indeed all the instruments are on top form tonight, each complimenting one another brilliantly, all weaving in and out and supporting each other to create a collection of fantastically weird noise. Apparently Hope of the States are due to perform on Top of the Pops, although what on earth a crowd of adolescent teenagers will make of them I really don't know, and couldn't care less to be honest, because from tonight's offering, there is as lot of Hope in these States.
After the obligatory T- shirt purchase, I even met some of the guys after the show, so all in all it's been one of the best gig's I've witnessed in a long old time. 'Enemies/ Friends' is out now on Sony, and an album is expected early 2004. Catch them if you can, they're currently on tour around the UK.
