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Belle and Sebastian on a boat

Started by king_tubby, December 05, 2018, 11:54:41 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

kngen

QuoteALL DEPOSITS AND PAYMENTS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

If there was one demographic I'd feel pretty safe in fleecing without putting my physical well-being in danger, it'd be B&S's fanbase - or possibly a Sarah Records reunion cruise. As opposed to, say, a Skrewdriver and Pantera 'Back from the Dead ... on a Boat' jamboree.

Caveat emptor, my cardigan-wearing chums.

popcorn

I've just watched the trailer for God Help the Girl to remind myself about that film and jesus CHRIST.

CaledonianGonzo

Given that they seem to be pretty popular across Europe I suspect the demographic of this - if it goes ahead - will be far more lithe and sexy than you may imagine.  There'll be 10 Scandinavian sunbathers for every pasty Brit in a cardie.

mojo filters

Quote from: purlieu on December 06, 2018, 04:55:50 PM
They certainly were at one point, but these days they're still aiming for 'multicoloured '70s pop', aren't they (I haven't heard those three EPs from earlier in the year)?

I still have a lot of love for the shy, shambling B&S of the '90s but seem to like them less and less with everything they do. Stuart M came across as a bit of a prick in some of the official site's Q&As a while ago and that began to put me off him.

As for this boat thing: an extortionately priced music festival on a boat which will be attended by rich fans only and no refunds? No thanks.

I wouldn't characterise any of the Q&A responses I've read as unnecessarily rude. I do think the band shouldn't bother answering so many dumb questions with appropriate frankness.

Since fans know how unusual it is to get such access, I'm amazed how many absurdly awful questions manage to make it through the process. In addition, if a question has been asked + answered already in interview, stop wasting their time!

I think in general Belle & Sebastian are evolving nicely, if not perfectly. Look how after they seemed to lose some of their original magic on Fold Your Hands Child, they came back with two brilliant storming evolutionary albums that stack up very, very well compared to the first three.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress and The Life Pursuit really propelled them forwards, whilst continuing the refinement of their stagecraft. I love the rambling cosy nineties vibe as much as the next big fan, but they were writing songs in the studio their live shows could not do full justice to.

I'll concede Write About Love was patchy. Stuart subsequently admitted his contemporaneous hard work on God Help The Girl impacted his contributions to that album.

However although I found it bitterly disappointing on release, after seeing them tour it a few times (especially after being treated to a few gigs with string sections and the London Contemporary Orchestra) I've been able to enjoyably revisit Write About Love.

There are some proper modern B&S classics on there, in particular I Didn't See It Coming and I Want The World To Stop. I also love the eponymous Carey Mulligan duet, though that seems to be slightly contentious amongst some other fans.

In addition it was noticeable that their live performances continued to improve. Even though they're still doing the annoying everyone switches instruments every few songs thing, they've refined it so as to be far less ramshackle and intrusive on stage, improving the flow of their sets.

Girls In Peacetime was another nice step forwards. I don't like all the tracks, and was annoyed that they always played lessor songs such as The Power Of 3 and The Party Line when touring, presumably in some misguided attempt at intra-band democracy.

Overall though that album gave B&S fans everything. From their modern baroque synth pop epic Enter Sylvia Plath, the anthemic Nobody's Empire, and the classic B&S Forever Changes vibe on the brilliant bonus track A Politician's Silence (though the latter really deserved to be on the regular album, as non-vinyl buyers have to get the expensive Japanese CD for those 4 bonus tracks, though they are on the Rough Trade promo CDs too).

The new EPs have some great tracks, for example the fantastic We Were Beautiful, some fine, some average, plus a couple of weak ones. The staggered release schedule only made sense from a marketing point of view, as all the songs were recorded and mixed beforehand.

I think it's easy to look back at early B&S EPs through a rose tinted lenses. Yes they are brilliant, whilst Push Barman is probably the greatest compilation album since Hatful Of Hollow - but going back to the individual early EPs, you realise not every song is as amazingly strong as Legal Man, Dog On Wheels, Lazy Line Painter Jane etc.

In terms of the boaty weekender, I suspect the post above is correct. I'd not really thought about their popularity in Europe having such a big impact, plus exchange rates will make it relatively less expensive for Scandinavian type folks.

Sadly still too pricey for me, and simply calling it the Boaty Weekender doesn't make it any more like the classic Bowlie event. Thankfully I've got great recordings of a fair bit of their great set at the latter, though my quest for the full gig at the same quality goes on...

CaledonianGonzo

I never need to hear Perfect Couples or The Power of Three ever again, but The Party Line is a banger.

purlieu

Quote from: mojo filters on December 06, 2018, 07:48:38 PM
I wouldn't characterise any of the Q&A responses I've read as unnecessarily rude.
I can't remember much now, but I recall Stuart coming across as far too spiky for some reasonable questions.
QuoteI think in general Belle & Sebastian are evolving nicely, if not perfectly. Look how after they seemed to lose some of their original magic on Fold Your Hands Child, they came back with two brilliant storming evolutionary albums that stack up very, very well compared to the first three.
I've always enjoyed Fold Your Hands Child (not as much as the first two, admittedly), but I don't really like anything after Dear Catastrophe Waitress to be honest. The Life Pursuit is maybe my least favourite album of theirs. The early stuff has a certain uniqueness to it that I don't get in over-produced glam rock and Stevie Wonder homages.

The last three albums have basically all had two or three songs I've really liked on them, but the rest is just a very long way from what I actually enjoy. I've only heard a couple of songs from those EPs, but didn't particularly enjoy either and realised it was probably time I moved on. I can appreciate growth and change and moving towards a more live-friendly sound (in many ways they're a reverse images of groups like XTC and Talk Talk, who I find far more enjoyable after the point they stopped touring), but in doing so they lost just about everything I enjoyed about them in the first place.

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: mojo filters on December 06, 2018, 07:48:38 PM
Sadly still too pricey for me, and simply calling it the Boaty Weekender doesn't make it any more like the classic Bowlie event. Thankfully I've got great recordings of a fair bit of their great set at the latter, though my quest for the full gig at the same quality goes on...

I might just be able to help you with that, although I can't promise anything. I'm pretty sure I had a tape, possibly from the mixing desk, of the entire Bowlie set although it's highly possible I threw it away during a house move. It definitely had Landslide and the (2?) Stuart David songs on it because that's why I borrowed it from a friend (and subsequently never got round to returning it).

king_tubby

During that Bowlie set I was downstairs with about 50 other proper cool people watching Godspeed.

LOSERS!

holyzombiejesus

Why did you go to the festival? My friend did the same although we 'got him in free'. I found my programme recently and it was such a low key thing, especially compared to later ATP events.

Did anyone go to Bowlie 2? That was fucking rubbish.

king_tubby

I went because the line up was great, a load of people I knew were going, and because the whole concept of a festival where you didn't have to shit in a portaloo and spend all night awake in a tent cos some stoned trustafarians were shouting 'BOLLOCKS' was a radical concept at the time.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: king_tubby on December 06, 2018, 10:29:05 PM
During that Bowlie set I was downstairs with about 50 other proper cool people watching Godspeed.

LOSERS!

According to B&S themselves - well, Stevie specifically - Godspeed were a bunch of arrogant twats who behaved as if the whole thing was beneath them.

LOSERS!

king_tubby

That may be true, but who were the post-rock apocalyptic soundtrack anarchist visionaries and who were the creepy indie bedwetters?

So think on.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

It'll take me some time to fully absorb that.

kngen

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on December 06, 2018, 06:32:03 PM
Given that they seem to be pretty popular across Europe I suspect the demographic of this - if it goes ahead - will be far more lithe and sexy than you may imagine.  There'll be 10 Scandinavian sunbathers for every pasty Brit in a cardie.

Fuck it, I'm sold! Anyone fancy sharing a cabin?

Janie Jones

^We don't wear cardies on boats. A nautical-themed pashmina or GTFO.

This Guardian article on the death of the package holiday mentions the B&S cruise. 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/07/package-holidays-fun-foreign-instagram-weather

CaledonianGonzo

Quote from: king_tubby on December 06, 2018, 11:06:12 PM
That may be true, but who were the post-rock apocalyptic soundtrack anarchist visionaries and who were the creepy indie bedwetters?

So think on.

Poor man's Mogwai, when the real deal are gonna be on the boat drinking pina coladas off the coast of Sardinia.


Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: icehaven on December 06, 2018, 10:07:55 AM
Yeah, I wouldn't touch this one with yours, mate.


Is that actually legal? Surely if an event is cancelled there's an obligation to refund tickets, you can't simply say no refunds or there'd be an entire industry of unscrupulous 'organisers' raking in cash for events that were never going to happen. Beyoncé's playing in my garden next Saturday, £50 a ticket, no refunds though.

I think if you booked it on credit card you could probably get it refunded with buyer protection like other holidays that go bump.

buzby

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on December 08, 2018, 02:20:01 PM
I think if you booked it on credit card you could probably get it refunded with buyer protection like other holidays that go bump.
Sixthman Festivals is owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines, which despite it's name is a US company, and that's the standard conditions on cruise cancellations in the US apparently - on a normal cruise the percentage cancellation penalty varies depending on how long before departure it's cancelled:
For All Cruises of Six Nights or Less (Excluding Suites):
86–76 days prior to sailing: Deposit or 25 percent of the fare (whichever is higher)
75–61 days: Deposit or 50 percent (whichever is higher)
60–31 days: Deposit or 75 percent (whichever is higher)
30 days or less: 100 percent
For Suites (Excluding Mini-Suites) on All Cruises:
119–106 days prior to sailing: Deposit or 25 percent of the fare (whichever is higher)
105–91 days: Deposit or 50 percent (whichever is higher)
90–61 days: 75 percent
60 days or less: 100 percent

You have to buy Sixthman's own insurance policy to get anything back n the event of a cancellation, apparently (with an additional premium for Cancellation For Any Reason cover).

king_tubby

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on December 07, 2018, 04:53:30 PM
Poor man's Mogwai, when the real deal are gonna be on the boat drinking pina coladas off the coast of Sardinia.

Dude.

CaledonianGonzo

Just joking. I don't like Mogwai much either.

king_tubby

They've still got Buzzcocks on the line up, which is optimistic.

Icehaven

Quote from: king_tubby on December 11, 2018, 08:54:18 AM
They've still got Buzzcocks on the line up, which is optimistic.

I thought about that the other day when I remembered this thread and seeing Buzzcocks on the lineup page, and the cynic in me (which is most of me) was wondering if, as others have said, a lot of takers for this will probably be from the Continent anyway where news of Shelley's death might have made the news less than it did here, so they're just going to leave them on there for a while and hope a lot of the potential audience don't clock until after they've bought tickets.

king_tubby

That's the kind of shennanigans Barry Hogan would be fully on board with.

SteveDave

It's the perfect opportunity to bury him at sea. Or indulge in some Weekend At Bernie's style antics.

Crabwalk

Norman & Raymond's Teenage Fanclub have been added to the line-up. Still won't be touching this with a barge pole.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: thecuriousorange on December 06, 2018, 01:47:09 PM
You've heard of Elf on the Shelf, here's Twee on the Sea.

i love you for this

king_tubby

Buzzcocks still on the line up on the website, which is shoddy.

ajsmith2

Quote from: king_tubby on January 08, 2019, 09:46:42 AM
Buzzcocks still on the line up on the website, which is shoddy.

Has there been any official announcement about the future of the band though? I have a horrible feeling that Steve Diggle is planning to continue on without Shelley...

king_tubby

Oh no. No no no no. That will not do.