I know I’m probably the second-to-last-or-so person on the planet to hear Neuro Video (hiya Martin! Morning Steve!) but I just had to say something.
And before I start, can I just rant at the few who would rather a live photo on the front, than the artwork that accompanies this release? Just two things my friends;
1) You would not get this beautiful attention to detail from any other artist. You’ve never had it so good and,
2) If you want to see where this live album photo malarkey leads to, take a look at the original sleeve design horror for Numan’s Ghost album – the horror. The horror.
Anyway, back to the noise. After the faithful to the original opener of Swimmer II we get a trilogy of locked rhythm and grooves with Making Movies, Camera and Uptown/Down
Making Movies goes about its taut and steely, bleepy business until it gets to the break. And then it goes all Kraftwerk berserk; full-on robots with lasers. Obviously I enjoy listening to Foxx’s voice but the break on this track is worth getting lost in that you kinda hope the vocals don’t come back and you also wish it would go on a bit longer – forever perhaps. But the break in Making Movies is just the tip on the glacial synth-noise iceberg.
Because Camera f*****g rocks. I’d love to write something more elaborate than that but some things are best put frankly and simply. But being me I have to elaborate so - Camera really f*****g rocks. It’s the breaks y’see? The break does all sorts of things, sounding like Europe Endless is one of them and gets a gold star for that alone, but it’s the dazzling interplay between man and heavily sequenced machinery, and the drums kicking in, and the noise of the crowd that elevate this beyond gold-star status.
Uptown/Downtown keeps the momentum going with Louis having little need to switch off the button marked ‘Kraftwerk ‘77’ (that’s a thought – wouldn’t it be great to have a button marked ‘Kraftwerk ‘77’? Imagine the possibilities!? “Tired of tedious soaps? Liven up episodes of Eastenders with the RONCO ‘Kraftwerk ‘77’ remote! Instantly transport Walford to the hostile alien quarries of Kent in Blakes 7! Traffic Jam? Imagine the freedom of an Autobahn with clear blue skies…” etc, etc…). And the beat goes on, lost in a warm rhythm whilst strolling down the avenues. The crowd give it some again too, adding an extra glow.
Europe After the Rain is a welcome surprise, and I’m reminded that this is the T-shirt gig that I couldn’t attend and feel a small pang of regret because this is my favourite Foxx track ever and I really wish I’d been there. It’s a very faithful live version too and I hope it re-appears in future shows.
More death defying dizzying electronic madness on The One Who Walks Through You which feels so brief it’s almost Punk. A Million Cars sounds like a million cars – all warm metal, lights on, revved up and raring to go. Miles Away sadly, doesn’t rev up and go – and I have to remind myself that everything else has gone wonderfully, spectacularly right that it wouldn’t be a live performance if something didn’t go awry somewhere along the way.
Dancing Like a Gun like Europe After the Rain is very faithful to the original arrangement and must have been great to sing along to if you were there. I’ve a soft spot for all The Garden material as it’s my favourite Foxx album, and over the last few years, minus one or two tracks, he’s almost performed the entire album live (there now follows a brief hint to Messrs Foxx, Gordon, D’Agostino, Chris 1, Chris 2 and Malins;) *cough* AHEM! I SAID ‘THE WHOLE ALBUM! LIVE!’ (subtle hint ends).
Neuro Video drifts in beautifully – a warm, shimmering version that should have been on the Impossible album. It always sounded warm, worn and plaintive and here it’s been given a stronger ambient presence that reflects the plaintive, questioning in the vocal. The haunting refrain of ‘How did we come to this?’ now really contrasts with the almost cold, surgical answer of ‘NEURO. VIDEO’.
And it’s great to reflect on all this, and I could do for hours, but there’s a reason the term ‘bangin’ was invented, one was probably to stop people like me reflecting about plaintive vocals and haunting ambience and other niceities, but another reason for the term ‘bangin’ is Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible and Shadow Man – which together are almost seventeen minutes of full-on electro-stomp madness. There’s really not much more to say about Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible and Shadow Man – they do the job they were brought in to do; kicking in the doors of subtlety with big drums, thunderous bass and vocoders – and how we love vocoders, big drums, thunderous bass and seventeen minutes of full-on electro-stomp. Go on – get your head kicked in by bass boom and robots – it’s gorgeous. Stupid people pay silly money for this kind of therapy and you can have it all if you just turn the volume UP.
Sadly, all good things must end, Foxx returning home by autobahn to his native Alphaville and Gordon – home by transit van up the M1, M6, M60 and then to bed. The encore then is a happy, glowing Sailing on Sunshine – a welcome singalong at the end of what must have been a fantastic night.
I’m not saying this album is the greatest live album ever (because as everyone knows, Slade Alive is the greatest live album ever), but as a document of a ‘F*****g great night’, which is what it is – it works.
Gazza
They were out of their wrapping on the train on the way home and played the following day. 
