Review: Red Ponies in Hockey Arena in Stockholm /April 1990

[pieter]

found a review on a website: David Mccomb and The Red Ponies, supporting Hunters and Collectors. Do you remember anything Graham?

LIVE ALL OVER AGAIN


When I saw Hunters & Collectors the first time, supporting Midnight Oil in a hockey arena in Stockholm in April 1990, I came away disappointed. H&C radiated unhappiness, weren't very tight and seemed intimidated by the size of the venue. I've always thought they just had a bad day back then, and so expected this gig at the rock club Gino in Stockholm to be much better.
It was about an hour or so to go before the gig would start when I arrived at the venue, so I checked out the place and studied the H&C set list on the stage floor. I asked the doorman if there would be any H&C merchandise for sale. "I think so... but I think that it'll be after the gig", he replied. About 9.40 p.m. I put myself near the centre of the stage, about three metres away from the stage. Crap dance music was being played over the PA system.


DAVID McCOMB & THE RED PONIES


The support act was David McComb, former singer/songwriter/leader of Triffids, and his band The Red Ponies. The Triffids used to be quite popular in Sweden (in fact, their live album was recorded here and is titled "Stockholm"), and I think a lot of people were curious to hear songs from McComb's debut solo CD "Love Of Will", which like H&C's "Demon Flower" had been released just the week before here. Personally, I had never really heard Triffids' music, so I didn't know what to expect.
McComb and his band entered the stage. The crap dance music was still being played over the PA system, but McComb gave Gino's DJ the evil eye and (finally!) the music was turned off. McComb's band featured a guitarist, a keyboardist, a bassist, a drummer, a crazy violinist and McComb himself on vocals and rhytm guitar. The guitarist (who also played pedal steel guitar) looked like a Biochemistry professor but was very talented. (I have later found out that his name is Evil Graham Lee, and that he too used to be a member of the Triffids) The award for the hippest stage presence, though, went to the "crazy" violinist. If you can imagine a spasmic person high on various drugs playing frenzied violin solos then you've got a good idea of what he was like...
Anyway. McComb & The Red Ponies played 12 tracks, mainly from his new album but also a few Triffids tracks and also covers by Velvet Underground and Leonard Cohen/Phil Spector ("Memories"). I was very impressed with the songs and McComb's voice, which is brilliant, and decided to check out his solo album. Very good indeed. McComb and his band finished their set at 10.45 p.m. Blinds were rolled down and roadies began working on the stage (behind the blinds).

SET LIST:
1. Unmade Love
2. Clear Out My Mind
3. Setting You Free
4. In The Pines
5. Image Of Love (?)
6. I Can't Stay No More
7. Lifelike
8. Raining Pleasure
9. Memories
10. I Want To Conquer You
11. Sign Your Name (?)
12. How Can I Help But Love You

[Cassiel]

Thanks for that, Pieter.

The award for the hippest stage presence, though, went to the "crazy" violinist. If you can imagine a spasmic person high on various drugs playing frenzied violin solos then you've got a good idea of what he was like...

That'd be Warren Ellis, then. Never heard the word before, but 'spasmic' sounds about right. I remember the first time I saw The Dirty Three. I was blown away by this amazing noise. Afterwards I could barely speak. Finally i turned to my future wife and said, 'That was fucking amazing. I never knew a violin could do that.'
She nodded. 'Yes, but I wish he didn't spit all the time,' she said. Well brought up lass that she is.
At that gig he did one of his rambling introductions to a song. I can't remember the exact text, bit it was something like: 'One summer I went back home and it was, like, fucking hell, everyone round here is dying. All my friends were karking it, good friends too, people i loved, not just fuckers you've never met.  Fuck, it was a crazy fucking summer. It was intense fucking depressing and i didn't know what to do so Iwrote this song and here it is and it's called 'This Summer they're Falling like Fucking Flies.'

I always wondered if one of the flies was David. It was around that time.

[glee]

Warren is a very talented and wonderful person and was very close to Dave. There are some pics of that particular tour on the main site. There's also a recording of the night Warren broke his violin during Memories. Most likely the night after the gig reviewed. The year is 1994 not 1990 and biochemistry has never been one of my strong points. But point taken.
Yep Dave may well have been one of those Warren alluded to. 

[pieter]

looked like a Biochemistry professor but was very talented.

Look at it this way:
Biochemistry is one thing, but very talented musician another

[Johan]

So what is the VU-cover? And what are Image of Love and Sign Your Name?

[Urpal]

Sounds like the reviewer had Warren down as a combined biochemistry/music scholar

[Adam]

At that gig he did one of his rambling introductions to a song. I can't remember the exact text, bit it was something like: 'One summer I went back home and it was, like, fucking hell, everyone round here is dying. All my friends were karking it, good friends too, people i loved, not just fuckers you've never met.  Fuck, it was a crazy fucking summer. It was intense fucking depressing and i didn't know what to do so Iwrote this song and here it is and it's called 'This Summer they're Falling like Fucking Flies.'
I always wondered if one of the flies was David. It was around that time.

Yep, this put me on a trundle around my Dirty three experiences.  I was either at that show or at another where Warren said something very similar.  And I now remember, and am annoyed I'd ever forgotten, I once saw them when Warren did dedicate a song unambiguously to David.  I can't remember the spiel but it was about David.  I've got it in my head that the song on that occasion was 'Sues last ride' but that doesn't make sense really, it seems much more likely to have been this one.  Either way, the title of the song was changed for the evening to 'It's a fucking bummer that you died'

[mich]

I went to see a concert from the same tour, on April 27 in De Vooruit in Gent, Belgium.
I was there with an Australian girl who stayed in Belgium for a year. She knew Hunters & Collectors but had never heard of David McComb or The Triffids before. She said that down under H&C where very popular and that they played in big stadions !

I don't remember that much from the concert anymore but still know I was in a real euphoria of finally seeing David live.

[gsalmon]

I was there too in Gent, 11 years ago. What a great concert! The songs I still remember from that set are the covers: "Memories", "How could I help but love you", Prince's "When you were mine", "Foggy notion" & "What goes on" by the VU.  And a brilliant "Inside of me" (has always been a favorite of mine off "Love of will").

Are there any sound board recordings of gigs (Triffids or Red Ponies) available in your archives, Graham ? And if so, any chance of making them available to members of this forum one way or another?
Maybe the benefits could help to keep this wonderful site going.   Just an idea...

[TowerOfSong]

At that gig he did one of his rambling introductions to a song

Believe it or not, I once stumbled across a website entirely devoted to Warren's mad between-song raves...No Dirty3 music there, just spiels!

[glee]

So what is the VU-cover? And what are Image of Love and Sign Your Name?

Image of Love must be Trick Of The Light, I'll think about the others.
Foggy Notion and/or What Goes On apparently

[glee]

If you're fans of Warren's you really should hear him singing with his Dad on WJKS. It explains a lot.