Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx And The Maths Interplay tour - XOYO London

What I managed to see of this concert I enjoyed. John wasn't due on stage until 9.55 which meant I'd have just about time to watch all the concert but guess what, the venue were running 1/2 hour late. I needed to leave by 11.30 (Last train). I was less than pleased.

I'm going again this evening - I hope the same thing doesn't happen again.

Tara Busch. She was interesting to watch and listen to. Gazelle Twin, some how I was chatting through their set.

Peter

I was there the same night, a great set by John. I managed to miss my train back to Norwich, but what the hell, it's all about the music and I managed to get home by 7.30am ;-)

I thoroughly enjoyed Tara Busch's set - I've got her album and E.P. both of which get regular play. The Gazelle Twin set was kind of okay, much too dark and wasn't too sure about the paper hats the musicians were wearing.

And John's set. Yeah, it was the business and I enjoyed every moment of it. John really does have a stage presence like no other and I certainly believe that many of the acts around nowadays could learn alot from him. I absolutely loved the use of violin, a brilliant move and for me, it totally worked on every track.

Was very cool to meet Tapio Normall from Finland and of course Rob Harris - really enjoyed the chat with him. And then meeting John afterwards was the high-light as I have followed his music virtually from the beginning and the last time I saw him was with Ultravox in the late 70's. What a gent he is too.

I was going to go to the Foxxgate meeting at the Griffin, but I had forgotten to make a note of the road it was on. I ended walking all the way down Clerkenwell Lane to the Griffin (the wrong one) and found that it was a lap-dancing joint. Didn't have enough spare cash with me otherwise I might have gone for the diversion <sniggers like a schoolboy>.

Took loads of pics but not too many came out very well as my camera whilst good at taking pics in low light, isn't so keen on things that move in low light. A shame as I have a couple of pics of Hannah that would have been corkers had they not been blurred. And wasn't she a looker???!!!

So here's a few pics I took:

1.

Tara Busch, XOYO London, U.K. 25th October 2011 by manof2worlds, on Flickr

2.

Tara Busch, XOYO London, U.K. 25th October 2011 by manof2worlds, on Flickr

3.

John Foxx, XOYO London, U.K. 25th October 2011 by manof2worlds, on Flickr

4.

John Foxx, XOYO London, U.K. 25th October 2011 by manof2worlds, on Flickr

5.

John Foxx, XOYO London, U.K. 25th October 2011 by manof2worlds, on Flickr

6.

John Foxx, XOYO London, U.K. 25th October 2011 by manof2worlds, on Flickr

Great Pictures Neal,glad you enjoyed it.

Brian

Fabulous pics of Tara Busch, Neal. Really like the second photo of John.

Yes great pics neil, as I've commented on flickr. Pity about the Hannah Peel ones though .. (nudge nudge, wink wink)

Wow, excellent pictures, Neil. I remember you after the gig, but we weren't properly introduced. Hope you enjoyed it!

@Brigid: were you the lady waiting to say goodbye to John when the weird bloke was rubbing John's feet?

@Brian,<r. Ilektrik and MemberD: many thanks for your kind comments :-) I want a DSLR now though - lol

Perhaps one support band will be enough - so John could start a bit earlier and no-one have to rush for the last train or tube. I managed to see both XOYO gigs until the end (though I had to run for the tube afterwards) but I saw some guys leaving before the encore. A real shame! 'cause I guess they wanted to see John in the first place - and not 2 support acts before.



The gig's of John and the Maths were brilliant!!! I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks to John and the Maths for these shows.

Great to meet so many forum members again!



As for the support bands: Best band was Xeno & Oaklander for me.

Not great quality but thought I'd share.




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I'm also quite fed up that I had to leave XOYO early. Yes, The Neat were good but really? Supporting two synth heavy electro bands??

Further delays cos Xeno... took an age to set up, and then there was problem with Benge's drum thingy.
Should have just had Xeno... and got them set up from the beginning so they could have started at half eight maybe?

I agree with Andreas that X and O were BRILLIANT as I hoped they would be. A superb live set and I will definitely seek them out again if I get the chance.
Best support act I've seen for years and it was worth the trip to London just for that.

I don't travel well as many of you know, and lots of people in tight spaces is a real issue for me these days. I couldn't get out fast enough, so in a way running for the last train wasn't such a bad thing...

So yes, I only managed 'one gig' but I chose the right one. I'm now officially in love with Liz Wendelbo and dancing to their set with Serafina Steer's hair whipping in my face was an added bonus!

Nice ones John thanks for sharing.



This would seem to be the best documented JF tour Ever!

Here's Ben Hogwood's review of the XOYO shows for musicomh:

http://www.musicomh.com/music/gigs/john-foxx-and-the-maths_1011.htm

Oh, the things we must endure for art!

And here's another glowing review from a fan's blog:
(including a lot of pictures)

http://melmelis.blogspot.com/2011/10/john-foxx-and-maths-xoyo-27th-october.html

More blogging and some nice pics here . .especially of Hannah

Version Crazy

Yes sir, I like it.

Hi all

I've put up some more clips from the XoYo gigs

http://www.youtube.com/tokyohunter

I think the clips from the 25th when I was on the right side have better sound, I was on the left on the 27th,quite near a very bassy speaker.I might edit them together and use the sound from the right hand side night.

This 2 gigs were amazing. My favourite setlist so far... and the Hannah's violin works so well integrated into those tracks, and great to hear that live bass by Serafina particularly on Interplay (one of the high points of the night)

Shatterproof is such an electrifying opener, he so means business on that performance! , it's totally captivating.

Great to see so many clips up by everyone, really interesting to see how each venue affects the setup for the band etc, and the variations in performance on each night.

I guess next up is the release of the live dvd from the Roundhouse???

Grump mode: On

It's a shame this gig ended badly in various ways, with both shows being delayed so many fans had to miss part of it by needing to leave early, and obviously with John's accident after the second gig.

Part of me wonders if too much is often being made of these London gigs; ie trying to fit too many acts on to the bill etc, when all everyone really wants is to see John Foxx play live.

Grump mode: Off

I think you raise a couple of good points there , Alex.

As one of the people who had to leave early, I was quite narked by the late start to the show. But these technical issues do happen and sometimes that's just the way it is.
XOYO was especially difficult because of the location and the curfew which presented any soundchecking before 6pm.
I'm not sure that X and O even had a chance to unpack anything...??

The potential for delay wasn't built into the time table

Second it was mid-week, and that's very difficult for a lot of people with jobs, lives etc.... :-(
There didn't really seem much "point" in The Neat being on the second bill (good, tight and prompt though they were)because it inevitably lead to potential for delay. There was only one support at all the other shows I believe - perhaps the Artrocker 'sponsorship' had something to do with that...?

However, I'm in the camp that very much does NOT go to these gigs just to see John Foxx and I chose this gig over Tuesday specifically to see Xeno and Oaklander.
I take support acts very seriously (discovered some great bands that way - eg Rubicks) and actually their performance more than made up for having to leave the venue early.

I do think there is scope for perhaps more 'regional' shows because John does always tend to play in the same cities and they can be difficult to get to if you are not local.
But that said, I expect gigs need to be booked well in advance and I'm not sure how easy that is with the schedule of things.

And John has said countless times that he hates touring, so we can't complain that he's prepared to go on the road at all!
Ironic though that he recently admitted that "he has to go in for repairs" after a tour...Of course he didn't mean that literally, but it was a shame the tour ended prematurely because, if nothing else, Holmfirth was a chance to see John away froma big city and many people expecting to go to that would not have seen him before.

Oh! That's my blog... Odd to see it mentioned here! I only posted a few of the better pics, there are others. Couldn't get any clear shots of Benge where I was stood. There are some quite comical ones where it looks as if Hannah Peel has a miniature 'Benge head' stuck on top of her keyboard! Anyway... thoroughly enjoyed both shows and for the support slots I found Tara Busch to be most enjoyable, not sure how I'd categorise her sound, but I really liked it a lot and swiftly made my way to the merch table pretty sharpish afterwards and handed over some folding stuff for a copy of her CD.

Here's another blogger's review

Paul Wady - Last of The Clean Bohemians

http://lastofthecleanbohemians.wordpress...at-xoyo-london/

Well thanks again glimmer. (OT: Great blog - it was thru your post last year that I discovered that OMITD CD reissue with the original sleeve reproduction.)

Would like to see some of those mini 'Benge-head pics!

Not just XOYO, but an overview of the tour, the band and some thoughts

Extensive new interview:

http://www.electricity-club.co.uk/html/foxxtour.html

Another blogger:

Doin' The Maths

Foxx blogs turning up all over the place!

I notice he mentions the absence of any Foxx/Gordon tracks.

After the York show, I asked John about this, and he said that he really wanted to keep The Maths a totally separate thing from his work with Louis (whom he said he intends to work with again, in case anybody was wondering, as I was). Also I would imagine Louis being a bit unhappy at having John perform their songs without him - logically.

But the absence of any 95-06 material in the set proved just how well the Maths material integrates and gels perfectly with the Ultravox and Metamatic era tracks - in just the same way as the Foxx/Gordon tracks do.

Has anybody heard anything at all about the release of the Live DVD, it would be nice to add that to my Christmas wish list!

I'm afraid that there's nothing new to report at the moment - it's still being worked upon.
I will post the track-listing and release date just as soon as everything's been confirmed.

Rob

Thanks for the update Rob, I'm sure it will be worth the wait

@Gary: it will ;-)

My pictures of Hannal Peel & the Ma.. SORRY.. John Foxx and the Maths at XOYO: http://www.mrnormall.net/johnfoxx/london2011/

Thanks. Great pictures of your evening with Serafina Steer and the Ma...!! SORRY

Yes, great pictures Tapio, your best I think!

Thank you for sharing the photos with us, Tapio.
Wonderful snapshots!

Great pictures as ever Tapio. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Great pics Tapio :-)

I've written my own personal account/review of the JF&TM 25th October gig :-)

Neil Fellowes Weblog - John Foxx and the Maths Gig Review

Hi Tapio. Thanks for sharing your pictures. They're wonderful.

Peter

Yes sir, I do like it.

"I view black shoes quite differently now". Heh heh... little inside joke there