This just turned up on John's MySpace page:

John Foxx plays at the Luminaire

The John Foxx & Louis Gordon 't-shirt' gig will be at the Luminaire, London on Saturday November 24, 2007 (www.theluminaire.co.uk). The venue won UK Live Venue of the Year at the Music Week Awards recently and has been Time Out's London Live Venue of the Year for two year's running. Entry is free on a first come, first serve basis if you arrive wearing a From Trash t-shirt. No advance tickets will be made available but we will sell some on the door at 8.30pm if there's room for any more people.

More on his blog.

I got the t-shirt, but chances of me being there are looking rather remote

I dont know if I'm going either.Its a long way to go to risk not getting admitted.

I'm more tempted by the ICA one but we dont know what John will be doing there.

There better be room

I thought it was "T shirt = Free entry" NOT T-shirt holders ONLY??? And does this suggest there might not be room even for everyone WITH a T-Shirt???????

London's generally out of the question for me... too far then too expensive once you start looking at accommodation etc.

Shame!

It'll certainly be a rather unusual looking gig with the crowd all dressed the same!

Additional info from the venue website:

Floor limit including staff and bands is 275.

if i could make it to that gig , which sadly isn't very likely , i would dare to come with a "from trash" t-shirt that i've designed myself & see , if they would let me in - for free or not ! ;-)

p. s. : i've jus' noticed that this was already my 100th posting here ! ;-o

WHAT??? 275?
That's a small gig, guys.

Were only 250 T shirts printed then?

Including the 100 left at Townsend records!

Better wear your shorts guys, it'll be a warm 'un!

Thanks Alex for posting the information from John's Myspace page. I guess I'll have to start queuing on the 23rd to be guaranteed a place in the venue LOL.
Joking apart I wonder how many T-shirts have been sold?
Really looking forward to this concert.
Regards
Peter

YAY! At last!

I've booked accommodation for a long weekender already!

Right, I have a t-shirt. I thought that this guaranteed me entry to this gig. Is this correct, or are there more t-shirts sold than the venue's capacity? I am literally staying down the road from the Luminaire, so I hope to be at the front end of the queue, but I'm concerned that even people with t-shirts could be turned away.

Is there any official clarification on this?

See some of you there!

Sarah B

Ok - seems perhaps I over reacted. Humble apologies.

I blame Alex for only posting here half the press release :p (just kidding!)
SHould have looked at myspace myself of course!

It seems there are indeed still 100 T shirts available for this gig, which means there must be room to fit in everyone who has one.
Sorry if my immediate reaction caused confusion.

I am still rather amzed though at the low numbers of shirts that have been sold.
My naive impression was that they would be snapped up just like that.

Lesson 4.7 - never assume.

Apologies again

Really looking forward to it, and the ICA too. A busy year for JF.

mongrel

I too cannot believe that so few t-shirts have been sold.

That said, I'm sure everyone that goes will have a stormin' night!

Sarah B

As someone who has the slight misfortune to live oop t'north, I was never going to buy a t-shirt to gain entry to a gig which was most likely to happen in London. If I am unexpectedly down south in late November then I'll queue for a ticket or forge a t-shirt (easily done), but frankly I don't know what I am doing from day to day, never mind seven months hence.

Damn. Just checked the Luminaire website and Mark Eitzel is playing there just seven days from now.

Curse this northern exile.

such small clubs / venues are always the best places to have "a great night out" ( & in there too , of course ;-) - yeah ! :-)

so enjoy it , if u can go , fellows ! :-)

I agree with the sentiment about smaller venues.

Just a bit surprised that for a one-off gig with this 'once in a lifetime' performance of audience selected tracks they have not chosen somewhere bigger...

I've just bought the t-shirt, so roll on November.

"Roll on November"

Sounds like a new seasonal deodorant!


....sorry......

…with essence of bonfire and fallen leaves. :p

Hmm, sounds good –  I'd buy it!

"Roll on Summer" would have to be a combination of creosote and freshly cut grass.

And cow dung!

We too!
Thank you Alex for posting this great news!!
It's a long way from Hamburg - but not too long for a gig of John!!!

We are hoping to meet you all there!!!

Andreas and Michaela

Absolutely right Olaf!
I prefer the smaller cubs too. It's a more familiar atmosphere.
If I remember right, the 93 feet east in London was not bigger than this club - I assume.

And the gig was GRRREEEAAAATTT!!!!!!!!......

Fantastic news!

It's a long time to wait, but it will be worth it!

I was talking to Louis after the Coventry show last year and he was talking about disused tube stations for a possible venue....

Wonder what happened to that?

H

"So if you want to go, the advice is to
buy a T-Shirt in advance and get there early!"

Erm - I don't wanna be arsey, but if I'm coming up to London to see John play (especially if he's gonna be playing 5 wierd songs I'll never get to hear elsewhere), I'd like to be guarenteed admission!
Can't we get tickets?

After intially saying I wasn't going,I've ordered a T-shirt for my brother & we will be there

The price of the T-shirt is virtually what I'd expect to pay for a ticket.
Looking forward to the T-shirt gig. To be guarenteed a place I shall arrive early.
Peter

Yeah I'm not complaining about having to wear my ticket (!?), just that if there's a big queue, I may not get in?! If I miss John singing "Golden Green" etc I will cry

Actually the price of the ticket has gone up since I got mine at the Coventry gig last year.I'm sure I paid £12.They are more like £15+postage now.But I'm not complaining.My brother probably will when he realises

I shall not be a happy bunny if I get turned away from the gig, because it's full, even though I will be wearing my ticket. I always assumed that having a ticket, guarantees you entry to a gig. So this should mean that everyone who has bought a genuine From Trash t-shirt, will get in.

I'm also a bit annoyed that some people are considering making their own t-shirt & try to get in for nothing.

if u are talking about me here , i can assure u that i was only joking in this case , as i can't go to that concert - no matter , if i have & would also wear the original or a self-made t-shirt then !

anyway ... it would indeed severely spoil my belief that mr. leigh is treating his fans very fair & good , if a person , who's wearing the original t-shirt & even travels a long(er) way to that special gig will be refused to get in after all ! :-o

fyi : i've even mentioned on an o.m.d. fanforum that i think that this t-shirt gig will be a next to perfect example of how fair fans can be treated by an artist , so i sincerely hope that mr. leigh won't let any genuine fan down in this case !!!

No it wasn't you who I was referring to Olaf. I know your comment about it was a jokey one. I just hope people don't start being cheapskates.

I'm concerned that someone wearing a home made shirt will get in & a genuine t-shirt ticket holder won't, because the gig is full.

Mark Henson

Many of us fans seem worried about being let down and not getting in to the gig even though we have an official t-shirt.

When I bought the t-shirt, I understood that you were guaranteed entry to the gig, but now I'm having doubts.

Is there anyone (Robin?) who can clarify matters, please? We just want to know that we are definitely going to get in...

What would happen, for instance, if (by no fault of your own) you arrived slightly late, due to travel problems etc. Would your place have been taken by someone who had bought a ticket on the door? I think that would be a real disappointment.

Sarah B

Don't want to tempt fate here - and please remember I love John dearly - but guys, for electronica's sake, we're not talking about The Rolling Stones playing someone's village hall. I can't see for one minute that there'll be no room at the inn, John's very popular but criven's flip, he's not about to sell out Madison Square Gardens for a week. There's only been about 200 T shirts sold!
Cheers

well ... jus' read this info over @ http://www.theluminaire.co.uk/cnt/index.php?cnt_id=19&parent_id=6

about "CAPACITY
Floor limit including staff and bands is 275.
Here's how it breaks down:
We reserve 25 for staff, house guests, bands and crew, leaving 250
If you're a promoter or agent, 250 is your operating limit. If you want to sell 250 tickets, fine, but that leaves nothing for guest list. How you balance it is up to you."

not much space left , if only 50 more t-shirts ( = ticket to get in , if i understood things correctly in this case ) will be sold until the gig & all 250 people with t-shirts will come , which isn't very likely , but still ... i think that original t-shirt owners & wearers should indeed be GUARANTEED to get in 1st to be fair , before other people will have their chance , in my honest opinion !

I am sure that I am not the only person who will be paying for travel and accomodation for this gig.

Providing the t-shirt wearers get in then that's fine, but it would be a bit costly if we were turned away. I guess I should be ok as I'm staying local to the event, but maybe other people may not.

Cheers

Sarah

Well I guess it's simple - if there's too many people turn up, John & Louis will just have to play their set twice

I have bought a ticket for a gig, though it be in the form of a T-Shirt, but if I have travelled all the way from East Yorkshire, which will have cost me best part of £60 before the hotel room I have reserved, then get there to be told that I have made the journey for nothing, I will not be a happy chap & with others in the same boat the venue could well have trouble on their hands.

I hope that the number of T-Shirts made will have reflected the size of the venue correctly, after all, you don't sell enough tickets for Wembley if you are only playing Hammersmith Odeon.

The quicker this matter is officially resolved, the better as there seems to be a fair bit of confusion, anger & frustration, with good reason.

You are right...
We have to pay a lot of money for flying and hotel. We will bring my crowbar with me - so We can be sure to get in.

I'm not sure where the confusion is? I thought Rob's latest metamatic update mail (01.05.2007) was pretty clear - if you're there early and wearing the shirt, entry is free. 'Tickets' will only seem to be sold (a) after 8.30pm, and (b) only if there is room available in the venue.



The Luminaire, which recently won the "UK Live Venue of the Year" at
the Music Week Awards and has been Time Out's "London Live Venue of
the Year" for two year's running, has been chosen to be the venue for
the 'T-Shirt' gig where entry is free if you arrive wearing a "From
Trash" T-Shirt. Admittance will be on a strictly 'first come, first
served' basis as tickets will NOT be made available in advance, but
tickets will be sold on the door at 8.30pm ONLY if there's still room
in the venue for more people. So if you want to go, the advice is to
buy a T-Shirt in advance and get there early!


Look forward to seeing you in the queue at 7pm!

so 7 p.m. means "early" for u , but what does this rather spongy term "early" means FOR SURE in this case ? :-o
an hour before the venue opens its doors ... or half a day before ... or WHAT EXACTLY ? :-o

i'm sorry , but i actually hate such terms as "get there early" , which has NO DEFINITIVE MEANING @ all - in my honest opinion ! :-/

a clarification is due in this case , please !

An interesting point Olaf. Sorry you hate the term, but I guess early is whatever you want to make it. I think it all depends on a number of things; popularity of the act, demand for 'tickets' (but let's not get too hung up about what that is defined as here), how much importantance you personally put on wanting to see the show, the day of the week, where you're coming from and, perhaps, venue size. The possibles are limitless.

John is, by Uncle Stevie's defintion, an 'underground' artist, so although he is surely 'popular', in overall terms his popularity (at least sales wise) is likely to be comparatively small compared to major acts. Arriving 'early' to get a good spot near the stage to see, say, the Rolling Stones at Wembley is likely to be different to getting a good spot to see Chas N' Dave at your local pub.

Secondly, demand for tickets. As this show has been advertised but only 200 shirts so far have been sold, based on the fact the Scala last year was only about half full when he went on stage at 9.45, I think you'd agree that it's safe to assume there is not going to be masses of people queueing at the door for cash tickets, even if they were available - and certainly considering that 'walk up' sales in the UK are quite small for established venues due to the general availability of internet sales.

So, as for 'getting there early' for this one, again if you want to see it, you'll make a judgement on what early is for you. But I reckon 7pm is 'about' right given that doors open at 8.30pm. It's a different type of gig and will see John perform stuff that he either has never done or hasn't done for years. If people choose not to get there 'early' to make sure they won't miss that, then there's no way defining 'early' is going to make any difference.

All the best


EG
x

okay ... once again i take your word for granted , e. g. ! ;-)

Thing is,
if the main issue is venue capacity,
then it's probably gonna be those most unhappy of god's creatures, "bouncers", who decide who is getting in.
I'm sure many forum members know that "bouncers" are quite sadly often unreasonable neanderthal mentalists, who generally decide you are "giving them hassle" if you so much as attempt to talk to them in words of more than 3 syllables.

well ... i jus' hope for all the people , who'll go there that the club has received its quite good critics not only for what is happening IN the club , but also for how well the door policy is handled there by the "bouncers" , as this is indeed a very important point also in my opinion !

Having no fear of adventure,i plan on going there as well...
Though i might Trash [from] the door being left out at the moment surpreme.
Might be a good opportunity to drink a lot instead :p

greetings!
fons

John Foxx and Louis Gordon will now be playing TWO shows on Saturday the 24th of November at The Luminaire in London. The 'free' T-Shirt gig will be a special matinee performance at 5:00pm. Their set will include the Top five requested songs, along with a couple of other surprises...

The second performance will be at 9:00pm and is going to be a ticketed show - which means that you will NOT get 'free' entry wearing a From Trash T-Shirt. Tickets are £8.00 in advance or £10.00 on the door. The Top five songs chosen by you will again be featured along with a couple of changes to the set.

We've decided to do this so that if anyone cannot get in to the matinee show (wearing a From Trash T-Shirt) because it is FULL when they arrive, we will take their names, put them on the guest-list, and guarantee them entry to the evening show.

Therefore, please DON'T turn up at the evening show expecting to gain 'free' entry because you are wearing a From Trash T-Shirt unless we've confirmed that with you earlier in the afternoon.

The ticket prices have deliberately been kept lower than normal for the evening show so that anyone who wants to make a night of it can come along to both performances.

Rob

hats off to all involved people , as this is actually wonderful news for all fans of john & louis ! :-)

i jus' have to find a way to be there ( @ one of these two shows @ least ;-) & make it an early xmas present for myself then ! ;-)

thanx a lot & cheers for the info , rob ! :-)

Great information indeed, thanks for informing us
99% sure i will be going now!

greetings,
fons

Hee hee, glad I moaned now! LOL
Thanks John.

I just hope the 5 top voted songs aren't just one's he does all the time like "Underpass", "Burning Car" etc etc LOL

Great news.

Much better news, I'll be happy to make a day of it now.

Why is the evening show showing as "sold out" on John's myspace page? And why, when you click on the gig, does the info say "Cost: £8 adv. Tickets from: www.wegottickets.com"??

Adrian

It's £8 for the night show because,well,thats the ticket price
The matinee gig is the free gig,always was

You don't get it. We were told that tickets for the evening gig would only be sold on the door, and only after it was known how many would be available, priority being given to t-shirt wearers who couldn't get in to the afternoon show.

Nope!,not as I remember it,the afternoon gig is the free one,if too many people turn up a portion of the tickets for the evening show will be held back for the 'dissapointed' fans,those not 'secured' at the afternoon show will be made avialable to anyone who wants one.
Therefore,the demand for free ticks and the demand for the night gig probaly does mean it's sold out...just now!

Just my take on what has been stated.

just (skim)re-read the posts above and the thing that jumps out at me is £8 in ADVANCE or £10 on the door

Just discovered that the evening show is now sold out, & I was expecting to get a ticket on the door (I did this in case I bought one early then didn't get in to the first one, in which case I would've bought two tickets for effectively the same gig) but now if I don't get into the T-shirt gig, I won't get in at all, so I may not bother now, unless I can get a ticket on ebay or something.

Two tickets are available on e-bay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250179375282&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=015

Which went for £43, I bid, but got beaten by a quid.

Gutted for you Dave. I have a horrible feeling the same thing happened to you for the second pair of tickets as well

Is there any chance that this gig might be recorded? I think there are those of us that can't be there who would pay to hear the five songs. Me, for a start.

What songs did you all vote for? Or is that secret?

aye, when are the 5 songs gonna be announced?
Or is John keeping it a surprise for the night?

I'll be gutted if people voted for "Underpass" lol

Or Burning car

Peter

Or Plaza!

I cant even remember what I voted for now or if it was discussed on here or TP.I'll have to check my sent mail items...

well I trust John will be bold and
not bother counting songs that he always plays in his live sets anyways!

But I've heard of "fan" gigs like this before, where fans get to vote for their fave obscure things to be played, and they end up just voting for the ones that always get played anyways!

We've decided not to announce the "Five Songs" ahead of the gig - keep the suspense going a little while longer...

However, I will say that none of them have been played live by John and Louis before...

Rob

Only two weeks one day to go.
I can wait a little longer.

Peter

YAY! sounds good

ONLY 11 DAYS NOW!!!

Rob, do you know how many T-shirts were sold until yet?

I'm curios which songs makes it in the end...

Why would someone pay £43 for two tickets when they can buy two t-shirts for £30??

A

Is there not a danger that people with t-shirts will not be able to get into either show? The evening show has been sold out for quite a while so it is highly likely that the earlier show will be over-subscribed. Just hope there is enough spare capacity reserved in the latter show to cater for this potential overflow (not a personal concern as I cannot make it).

Certainly, tickets are going on e-bay for a healthy price. Following the £43 pair, another pair went for £52 and another pair currently at £21 with 11 hours to go. I think it is the same seller for the latter two sales, so someone is making a healthy profit. :rolleyes:

As an 'infrequent' visitor to London at best, can anyone give me an idea how long the tube journey takes from Waterloo to Kilburn on the Jubilee line?
Is this the best route from Waterloo to the Luminaire which seems quite, er, 'interesting' to get to?

Hi Martin,

Yes, that's the best journey - straight from Waterloo to Kilburn on the Jubilee Line. It takes no more than about twenty minutes once on the train. Kilburn is in Zone 2 of the underground network - so, a one day Zone 1-2 travelcard is £5.10.

Hope this helps. All the best.




EG

It's going to be a long week - I couldn't get a room at the Black Lion, but was recommended it's sister pub - The Windmill in Cricklewood - but couldn't get hold of them. So, I decided to just catch the very long last train home at half midnight. On checking train times today, the wonderful rail services (or whoever's running the show this week), have cancelled the last two trains on Saturday Night, so the last train's at 10.30!!! Luckily, have now contacted the Windmill and (I think) I've booked a room. I hope ol' chisel cheeks knows the trouble we're all going to - anyone else staying at the Windmill?
Cheers

Hi Craig

I am close to giving up for similar reasons.
Apart from some complicating personal circumstances and about 10 skwillion other things to do, it turns out that Engineering Works are taking place between Winchester and Woking this weekend.
Trains from Southampton are being diverted via Havant and Guildford and this involves two changes in a journey that takes now over 2.5 hours!! Even by catching a train at midnight I won't be home until 3am.

I'm glad on this occasion that I've decided to stay over night. The last train back for me on a Sat is 23.45 due to ongoing engineering work.

A few weekends ago it took me over 7 hours on a Sunday from Sheffield to Hemel door to door due to engineering works but for the weekend of the Leeds concert on the Sunday from Sheffield it only took 4 hours. Engineering works are a pain in the a**e RANT OVER
Peter

I bloody hope not. A

Hi Martin,
I am still waiting for confirmation, but you could kip at the Windmill with me if you want? Let me know,
Cheers

Hi Craig,

I just booked up the Windmill for Saturday night. My wife Jo can't make it so I do have a spare T-Shirt and ticket for the evening gig, so if someone wants to buy me a few beers you're welcome to them! (although I do want the t-shirt back after the gig!)

Kind offer Craig, thanks.

But I don't do overnights away from home

It'll be nice to see you again Richard

Peter

I didn't get a ticket for the evening show, & it's a long way to travel to possibly not get in, even though I essentially have a ticket (as a T-Shirt).

This has been very badly planned & I won't be going to any more JF gigs as a result.

I'm really sorry to hear that you think that - but every effort has been made to ensure that as many people as possible will get to see these shows.

Seventy tickets for the second show have been deliberately held back so that anyone who comes to the matinee with a From Trash T-Shirt and can't get in because it's full will be added to the guest list for the evening show.

By 5:00pm on the Saturday we will know how many tickets are left for the evening show and they will be put on sale from 8:00pm onwards, priced at £10.00 apiece. So, if anyone's still interested in coming to the evening show then please give the venue a call after 5:00pm as they'll have a better idea of how many tickets will be left.

Doors for the evening show are at 8:00pm and the performance is set to start at 9:00pm. The venues phone number is 0207 372 7123.

Both shows will feature quite a few songs (including the Top Five as voted for by subscribers to the Metamatic News E-Mailing list) that John and Louis have never performed live before and may never again, so it is going to be very special indeed!

Rob

Thank you Rob for all your effort and time spent on this. Looking forward to a wonderful evening.

Peter

Hi Richard, will be great to see you again - it's been a long time since Sahara Nights - I'll be instantly recognisable, I'll be wearing a 'From Trash T-Sh...' oh. Glad you're staying at the Windmill, someone to stagger up the road with.
Cheers

I found out last night that, due to a family matter, I now cannot attend this Saturday.

I am so &^%*&%*$&^% about this!

Sorry to hear that Garry.
You'll be missed.

Hopefully though on Saturday it should be like a family get together all ardent JF fans in the one place.
Peter

Cheers Peter,

Hopefully I'll see some of you in Dec at the Cinemascope exhibition.

I hope you all have a great time on Saturday!

Hi Richard

Nice you come to Luminaire too.
It will be great, meeting you again after 4 years!

SEE YOU ON SATURDAY!!

Andreas

Hi to Andreas, Peter and Craig
Has it really been 4 years since the Sahara Nights?.......frightening
Will be nice to catch up and have a few beers......oh I almost forgot and see John Foxx twice!

The writing has been on the wall for a couple of weeks now, and the faff with the trains has only emphasised the point.
I'm a great believer in 'reading the signs' and these have conspired to shout in capital letters.

So many things going on for me right now that I have decided NOT to attend the Luminaire shows. Thanks to everyone with kind offers, but its so not-as-simple-as-that.

I would really like to make my ticket available to a worthy cause (and I don't do eBay) so perhaps someone from the forum looking for an opportunity could email me and I will 're-allocate' the receipt.

Sorry to hear that you're not coming to the Luminaire Martin but I can guess where you're coming from.

Peter

Hi Martin,
Tried ringing you earlier, it's a shame you can't make it, but needs must I suppose. Hope all's well and will catch up in 2008! (or on the forum sooner!)
Cheers

Life is sometimes hard Im MAKING THE EFFORT.

Thanks for that - really helpful.
You make it sound like attending the gig is an obligation?

Excuse the double post

What do you mean ?

My previous-but-one post appeared twice.
I edited the second one

Bad news you cannot come to the gig, Martin.

I will post the surprise I told you about, in case I'm back in Hamburg again on Tuesday.


See you all tomorrow, guys...

Cheers, Andreas

Have a great time tomorrow, everyone!

Wish I could be there...!! :rolleyes:

Same from me. Have a great time. Look forward to the reviews

Enjoy yourselves, folks, and spare a thought for the non attendees.

Well I'll be there at the matinée show tomorrow - think I'll be wearing a few extra layers beside by T-Shirt in this parky weather though!!!

The site clock seems to be an hour out

You know, I'm still a bit disconcerted by this whole T-shirt thing - I dunno who's idea it was in the first place, but I do wish both shows could just have been ticketed! ... I'll hopefully make it to Kilburn some time shortly after 4, T-shirt at the ready, I just hope that means I get to see the gig!

Hope to see some of you tomorrow!
Wishing all a great time

greetings,
fons

Hope to see all that are going at the gig.
Really cant wait now.

Brian

Maybe if they repeat the idea, the t-shirt gigs can be in the summer and maybe a scarf/sweatshirt/glove or even umbrella gig for the winter!
It's meant to be freezing tomorrow, so most will probably have a t-shirt on over layers of clothes- thought-does the t-shirt have to visible or just has to be worn?

Just getting myself together for the drive to London.

Looking forward to the gigs and to seeing some of you folk there.

I ordered an extra t-shirt earlier in the week but it hasn't arrived, which means I can go but my mate can't :-(

I wonder if they'll accept a receipt as evidence of t-shirt-ship??

So... no-one on a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connection giving us the news between shows then? :p

Hope everyone has a great time tonight at the Luminaire.
Looking forward to all your comments.

Just got back from The Luminaire and am posting this shot taken at the "T-Shirt Gig". Couldn't make the evening show so looking forward to hearing if the set-list was changed in any way. Need sleep so will leave it to those who attendd both to post reviews and more pics.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m195/lieutenant030/Luminaire1-1.jpg

I have quite a few pics & some video of a song I didnt recognise.I'll put them up later.
I only went to the first gig as well.
Dont think any of my top 5 were played.

I am dying to hear the set list(s). Someone on ultravox.org.uk said that Europe After The Rain and Dancing Like A Gun were played but they weren't sure which were the five tracks - presumably you know Rob?

Hi was there for first show only. Dancing and Europe were played: two of my faves!
How was second show?

Can't wait to find out the five songs.
I have my own 'guess' (which won't be the ones I voted for :rolleyes: ) so I'm dying to see the set list.
There are a few 'obvious' ones (of which these are two) that must have been great to see

i did wonder how they would 'identify' the Fans Five in a setlist that was always going to be varied and contain 'unusual' live tracks...

Also Miles Away, Concrete Bulletproof, and Shadow Man
Both shows identical.......

Oh also Camera, Sailing on Sunshine, Uptown/Downtown.........

1st track was a fantastic version of Swimmer 2. Europe After The Rain was played as was Dancing Like A Gun. Another of the "Top 5" was Miles Away. Considering only 2 tracks from last night had been previously performed live I'm struggling to remember what track I'm missing. Shadow Man perhaps?

Sounds like some interesting songs were played - I hope we can get to see a full setlist.

Looks like a few fellow Midlanders were in the capital yesterday! Thought I saw Sarah B in the crowd? Hope you all got back ok!
H

SarahB was there.

I have a picture to post of me,Sarah,Tessa & Peter (Metalbeat),which I will post later.

They also played Sailing on Sunshine & Neuro Video.

Maybe Concrete Buttletproof is the one I didnt recognise.I dont have 2 of the albums.

Concrete.... was on "Shifting City". Recognised Sarah from her avatar. Didn't recognise any others. Will have to introduce ourselves at the next one, whenever that may be! H

Really enjoyed both gigs.
Kind of made sense that no Metamatic stuff got played as the audience would be mostly those who saw the Metamatic concerts recently.
From memory, most of my top 5 were played either during the Metamatic gigs or yesterday.
Dancing Like a Gun, Miles Away and Europe After the Rain I'm 99% sure were on my list so it was great to hear them.Judging by John's reaction at the of Europe After the Rain I think that might become a regular in future.Of the newer material, Making Movies is really growing on me.

I'll put some Youtube clips up later tonight.

Ok,just put my photos up from yesterday afternoon.

http://home2.btconnect.com/mateybloke/PhotoAlbums/album_1196008029/

The non JF & Louis picture is of Tessa & SarahB of Spectral Response (& the forum),Peter (Metalbeat) & me holding the camera.

Kerry was on the far left,I accidently chopped him off.Sorry Kes.

It was a bit of a challenge as usual to take pictures with all the strobe lighting (thank you Mr Curran! ) but despite this I got a few good ones.

Nice to meet Tessa & Peter for the first time & SarahB & Phil again.

I'll post some videos later.

I'm guessing John & Louis had done the older tracks like "Europe" in a revamped style?

Thanks for posting the pictures Brian, so many great ones there, as usual. You got some really good ones of John

Europe sounded quite normal.
The others I thought were pimped up with electo style.I'd never heard Shadowman or Concrete so I wouldnt know the difference.

Cheers Alex,let me know if you want any for Quietcity.

Cheers! There's a few I could certainly use around the site, but if you fancy writing something to go with them, you can even have your own page!

So there was guitar? Or rather guitar on dat or midi?

I kind of envy you not having heard Shifting City. You've got a good album to look forward to hearing! They're the best songs on the album as far as I'm concerned, but he's played the rest live, so I guess it was their turn. The album versions are kind of minimal, beat-heavy tracks.

I couldnt hear guitar.John did have what looked like a Micro Korg as part of his kit.This is new.
SarahB pointed that out to me (she recently acquired one)

I have video of Neuro Video (the vocals are out of sync with the music compared to Sideways,dont know if this was by accident or design),Shadowman & Concrete (if thats what it is,I recorded it all because I thought it was a new track )

Kerry took more video than I did.Hope he did Europe.

I started to upload some but Youtube has gone down (or I've broken it )

Cheers Alex.I'll see what I can do.

I got Europe After the Rain video clips from both gigs for those curious on that one, so will put them up later tonight.
So it was a Microkorg then, the little vocoder mic made me think it might have been one of those.

I was hoping to have sorted some pictures out by now - but with one thing and another...

Anyhow, the set list for both shows last night was as follows...

01. Swimmer II
02. Making Movies
03. Camera
04. Uptown / Downtown
05. Europe After the Rain
06. The One Who Walks Through You
07. A Million Cars
08. Miles Away
09. Dancing Like a Gun
10. Neuro Video
11. Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible
12. Shadowman
Encore
13. Sailing on Sunshine

Although the set list was the same - the second show was (I'm reliably informed) about eight minutes longer.

A big HELLO to everyone I met up with - what a great night!

Oh, and the Top Five songs were (in no particular order): Camera, Europe After the Rain, Miles Away, Dancing Like a Gun and Shadowman.

I'll try and get some of my photos up and on-line in the next day or so.

As ever, I'd be very interested to hear from anyone out there who either took some photos or would like to write a review of this show (or any other shows for that matter) for the (soon to be revamped and expanded) Media Archive Section of Metamatic.

Rob

Thanks for posting the setlist Rob - some interesting and surprising choices.

I would have bet good money on "The Garden" being in the top 5! Just goes to show you can't predict anything!

Most excellent - what a great show!!
Both sets were the same?
so now I'm wondering whether the second one was better, given the 'warm up' of the first show?

I had predicted 'Gun', 'Europe' and 'Miles Away' but 'Camera' is a real bonus. I even voted for it myself!!!
One or two of the others seem (to me at least) surprising choices - esp 'Sailing on Sunshine' to end with..?

I'd say Shadow Man was a surprise vote (fine, fine choice tho - Andreas must have been ecstatic!! - like Alex (and I'm sure many others) I was convinced the set would end with The Garden, which would kind of set the scene for the album sometime next year.

Superb stuff John and Louis - and thanks everyone for filling us all in with the details of a night to remember

I'd be very interested in seeing the results of the Poll to see what else was popular but not played.

Yeah, no problem - though I'll probably only post the top twenty, 'cos after that it all kinda levelled out with most songs in Johns catalogue getting one or two votes each.

Anyhow, despite what I said earlier, here are a couple of shots from last nights show...





Enjoy...

Rob

Thanks Rob for adding the photo's.
I had a brilliant night. It was so nice to be able to meet with some new forum members and of course it was nice to the see the some ol' faces that I've known for a long time.

The set list was a surprise to me but not knowing what to expect gave the evening an element of surprise.

This is only my opinion but I was a tad disapointed that both sets were identical but I won't let that spoil what was a very enjoyable occasion and it was nice to be able to meet John afterwards even if was in the passage behind the stage and of course Louis in came into the bar area to plug his new album.

Peter

It was great to be told that there were 70 tickets held back with less than a week to go!

The train fair from Hull to London was £41 return in October, when I got this news, I thought I might come down anyway...

The price was now £97 return because it's classed as "last minute"

So I decided not to bother.

& to think there have been people paying silly money on ebay because they believed the show was sold out. I bet it wasn't even half full.

I will no longer be posting on here. I shall avoid these "gimmick" events in the future & have already thrown away my T-Shirt as this whole thing has left a foul taste in my mouth.

The other thing is the fact that it had been mentioned that the set lists would be different, which was another one of my reasons for wanting to attend both shows. Yet another facade.

Thanks Rob,

I can just make out my forehead behind John's keyboard LOL!

Short clip of Shadowman from the 1st show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOqtIFUIhWY

Enjoy

Extremely sorry that you feel like this ! However your input since last December has hardly been scintillating. Can you let us have your address so we can send you a t-shirt to replace the one you inadvertently threw away .. May I also give you the telephone number of Hull Trains or GNER to complain about the rail ticket price.

A lot of people work hard to make this sort of thing happen so think about what you type.

Best
Chris Curran
Lighting Designer for John Foxx

Concrete,bulletproof,invisible

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjWhg5H07o8

The idea wasn't perfect, and it hasn't worked out for you, but give them credit for trying something new. Clearly everyone involved put in a lot of effort and the show was a good one.

I invited along a Foxx virgin and he had a great time. He especially liked "Camera". Like other people, I didn't recognise CBI, and I was surprised there was no "Garden" - it would've been the perfect encore. I guess they're saving it up for the next tour!

Happy to get my hands on a couple of Louis' CDs (see my comments in the other thread) and shake his hand. A

Neuro Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zow1khTLfBY

That's all folks.

As someone who lives in the same neck of the woods as you I do sympathize but it must be said that Hull's lack of proximity to London is hardly John Foxx's fault, and neither is HullTrains' and GNER's extortionate ticket pricing structure! Nevertheless we have been lucky enough to have had two relatively close-by gigs in the last few months, namely Metamatic in Mcr and TCM in Leeds so it's swings and roundabouts.

Now the T-shirt gig is over and done with, I am left wondering just what was the point? When it was announced I thought that maybe the gig was going to be videoed for release and the T-shirt thing was to have an audience of obvious Foxx fans - I think Morrissey once did something similar. But in the end the shenanigans of what happened if you couldn't get in the first gig and whether or not you could get tickets for the second gig just seemed to be unnecessarily complex and it destroyed what remote chance there ever was that I could attend.

Perhaps someone could explain the rationale behind it? Otherwise, in future just book a gig and charge money for tickets - it seems to work most of the time.

Transport and accommodation prices etc, all formed part of the reason why I was put off/unable to go to the gig. I'll admit I thought it just seemed so 'typical' that the gig had to be in London, so I knew there was a slim chance I'd be able to make it anyway. It would surely have been easier for some of us had it been somewhere a bit further up the country - but this may not have been possible. There's so many things to take into account when putting on a show, especially a one-off.

That said, I've still got my t-shirt and intend to see John again when I can.

Although I couldn't make the Metamatic tour for other reasons (which was frustrating), I'm simply more than grateful and appreciative that John returned for Leeds to do TCM, which was something I thought I'd never get to see.

So one great gig this year is more than enough to keep me happy. I guess those of you who have managed to see John several times are just plain lucky!

Well, it was good for me. So we were promised a slightly different second set - it was so good in the end I was perfectly happy to see it twice.

Everyone had clearly made a huge effort, the venue was great, the sound was excellent, it looked good. Loved JF's use of micro-korg and vocoder; and the tunes were fab. Splendid.

Clearly pretty tired after giving his all for not one but two shows, JF still came out to chat, which is always much appreciated.

No gripes at all, I had a tremendous time.

mongrel

Maybe two slightly different sets proved to be too ambitions, perhaps technologically. It would make sense to focus on just one great set and make it sound as good as possible, which by all accounts was the case.

I'd be interested to hear which songs you thought worked best?

How did John treat his vocals for "Camera"?

I thought Europe After The Rain and Dancing Like A Gun worked very well live.

Peter

I'm surprised neither of those two tracks had been performed live before. It must have been nice to hear tracks from The Garden. "Walk Away" last year was so good.

Both shows were fantastic - the music had incredible energy, and the fact that there were so many 'new' songs performed really made the shows special.

Yeah, it's about time more tracks from TPOE and last year's albums were played live.

I believe John used a little vocoder to treat the 'Camera' vocals - however I have very little technical knowledge, someone on here may have a better idea of how that worked.

Sounded just excellent, though.

mongrel

Well, that wasn't necessarily my thinking - by saying 'new' tracks, what I actually meant was older material that was new in the context of never being played live before, or at least for a long time. Although what we all want an artist to play does depend on personal choice I guess, I thought the older material was a revelation on Satuday - I'd far rather some of the older work was revisited over hearing newer album material.

I think it's important to get the balance right between the old and new. I guess in John's case so much of his back catalogue hasn't been played live and it's good to be able to push Underpass and Plaza etc aside, in order to give some of the others an airing.

Mornin' all

Glad to hear (most of) those who went had a really good time! Really annoyed that I missed it, as 'Europe After The Rain' 'Miles Away' and 'Camera' are all-time faves - maybe at a future gig eh?

Looking forward to meeting up with a few of you next week!

There was sampled guitar on the backing for Europe After the Rain, y'all, just the same stuff that's on the original...

I would like to put in my view on the shows. I had a great night (possibly somewhat down to the fact that I can't remember some of it, and Richard quite literally became 'Lord Lost' at about half one in a pub on Cricklewood Broadway! - Nice to see you mate, hope you got back OK). I do appreciate that it must have been difficult to put on such gigs and sympathise with all those involved when they read angry postings etc.
However, I would quietly like to say that I was a little bit disappointed the sets were the same (an extra 8 minutes or not). The reasoning is that I had extra expense of staying in london overnight cos of train cancellations, when I could have seen the matinee gig (which was AWESOME!!!), had a few beers with the usual suspects, and still caught my last train home. I made the decision to buy a ticket for gig two because we were told there would be set changes - and I did not want to miss out. Also, I may have decided just to go to the evening gig and make a night of it, to allow others to go to the first gig. I wonder if some people would have come to the first gig if they'd have known?
Quite simply, why say the gigs would be different if they weren't going to be? Why not be honest and say they'll be the same? In Britain we have to put up with enough PR spin elsewhere, I don't expect it from JF.
This all said, I'm not throwing away my T-Shirt, and will be attending other gigs in the future, but I feel sorry for those folks who may have made more of an effort if it had just been one large T-Shirt gig in the early evening.
Here's a thought - we've made 500 official T-Shirts, let's find a venue that could hold that amount. Or, just ticket it as someone else has said.
Anyhoo - nuff said - great night, great gig(s). But no more spin, please.
Cheers

Well, Robin's already given us the set list so you all know what treats we got to hear!

I made the matinée show. The Lumiere is a nice venue, takes it's music seriously ("The is a music venue, not a pub! If you talk during the bands, we will tell you to shut up!" say the notices )

I do think tickets would've been simpler than all this T-shirt caper, but never mind - I got in anyways

As usual, John had his full stadium light show and massive PA, and tried to let that provide the atmosphere for the show rather than engaging in any between-song on-stage banter.... given that the audience was only a hundred or so hard core fans, I'm not sure this was quite the best way to vibe up the occasion and get us excited, but never mind Frequently the lights were so bright and the stobes flashing so much that I quite literally couldn't see John or Louis despite them being only a few yards in front of me, and I just had to shut my eyes!

I really enjoyed the choice of songs - when you have ALL of someone's albums, and know all the tunes well, it's a delight to hear a broad selection rather than just the same old "hits" setlist. CAMERA and UPTOWN/DOWNTOWN are particular faves of mine.
I could tell that this was the first outing for most of these, and things were a little rough round the edges at time (some of the vocoding went a little haywire, and John always manages to come in singing in the wrong place in at least one song ;-) but I actuallY LIKE this as it is what live music is all about Moreover considering the amount of never-b4-played stuff in this setlist, the arrangements were actually remarkably polished and detailed. "Swimmer 2" was pretty much unchanged; Dancing Like a Gun and Europe After the Rain had just the right degree of pimping up to make them fit in the set without spoiling the feel of the originals... shame no Ultravox or Cathedral Oceans material, but that's democracy for you ;-)
John was in fine voice (all those high notes on Europe, for instance) and seemed well game for extra silly vocoding
My main eyebrow raising with these gigs is still the old "what's played and what's on the backing?" chestnut? ... cos, right, look: in MILES AWAY, you know the snaggerty snappy bass riff (or clavinet riff it was, on the original, perhaps)... for example when it goes "...i'm looking back from miiiiiles awaaaayyyy..." and there's that's snappy bass line under the soaring vocals and Odyssey? Well I watched Louis' fingers on his bottom Yamaha, and he was "playing" that with great panache... and then he moved his fingers off the keyboard to do something else for the last bit of the riff, but it kept playing without him!! :-) I couldn't work out if he was just miming playing it, or was he playing along with it on a much quieter lead sound that I couldn't hear, or.... ? Me and my Miss Pain friends at the Metamatic show were beginning to cheekily suspect that John and Louis tend to just mime playing certain exciting-looking riffs and lines in places, when they're actually on the backing, cos it'll look cool... cos we'd keep seeing those parts continue on after in the next bit when their fingers were no longer on the keyboard ... but maybe Louis' just programmed sthg really elaborate so that the parts punch in and out all the time between live and backing (bloody seamless submixing of levels if so!)
Yours in all good humoured skepticism in Brighton
Feline1

PS John "giving it loads" on his "odyssey" sound in Swimmer2 was a joy to behold...

The idea behind the T-Shirt gig was quite simply that we wanted there to be a 'special' show. There were a number of ways we could've done this, and by making it such that you could get in for nothing if you were wearing a From Trash T-Shirt seemed to be the most fun.

We were all amazed that a few people reacted against this - and so an extra gig was added to alay everyone's fears that they might not be able to get in if the venue was full by the time they arrived. In all fairness, this was highly unlikely as there was no way that everyone who'd purchased a From Trash T-Shirt would've been able to come along because of a variety of reasons - travel costs, prior commitments, etc.

So the second show was ticketed and the price was kept deliberately low - only £8.00 - so that people could come along to both shows if they wanted.

I totally agree - but it just didn't get as many votes as Camera, Europe After the Rain, Miles Away, Dancing Like a Gun and Shadowman. It was certainly a popular choice though (I'm fairly sure that it made it into the "Top Ten") but with two other tracks from The Garden (three if you include Swimmer II) then perhaps it was felt that material from other albums should be performed instead.

As it was, of the thirteen tracks that were played on Saturday only two had been previously performed.

It would be nice to think so - you never know...

Rob

Oh come on Rob - Foxx HQ was 'amazed' that some people were worrying they might travel across the country (or even from overseas) to attend a gig, and might not be able to get in to it...?

Great pictures, thank you Rob
I like John's double face!

I'll certainly be interested in seeing a top 20.

(Having said that, I can't remember now what my choices were, but I think they included The Garden, When It Rains and The Falling Room.)

No, we understood that some people would be concerned (hence the decision to add the second show), it was just that some reactions were so extreme. We always said that getting into the T-Shirt show was going to be on a 'first-come, first-served' basis, and so it would make sense for anyone who was going to be travelling any distance to have arrived in plenty of time. As it turned out there was absolutely no need for anyone to have worried, as everyone who travelled to London got to see the matinee show.

As I said before, it was highly unlikely that everyone who'd purchased a From Trash T-Shirt would've actually been able to come along because of a variety of reasons - travel costs, prior commitments, etc.

Rob

For personal reasons I chose not to attend the T-shirt gig.
React to that as you will (and thanks to email, several people have ) It wasn't a case of not making the effort, it was an exercising of personal choice in hectic circumstances.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's feedback, photos etc and sense that the whole event was an triumph. This forum is THE PLACE to get a real buzz of Foxx, and I'd like to thank everyone for their contributions to that.
Fears over getting in etc etc proved entirely unfounded and the organising seems to have gone very well.

More people need to show more faith in those that put these shows on instead of just knocking because it doesn't work out for them.
Compliments to Steve, Chris, John, Louis, Rob, Steve, Mike and everyone else etc - in no particular order.

It's easy to criticise - how few of us could have actually made a better job?

For the record, 'Dave' was offered a free ticket courtesy of myself to the show, but it was at too short notice and he couldn't take advantage.. Show ticket obviously, not rail ...

Looks like it was a great couple of gigs judging by the setlist. I was also surprised 'The Garden' never made it either, but at least it was still voted for in some degree.

I think fans used their votes mostly for tracks they had never heard live before and so this turned up the some what suprising results.

Even though I couldn't justify going, you have to hand it to the team for putting on two shows in one day - one free* and the other at such a low price, I can't imagine how or even if John and Louis made any money out of it!

I always viewed the idea of this show as a special show for the fans as a labour of love from John and Louis (and everyone else involved).

Too much overblown criticism will result in this kind of event not happening again.

I feel sorry for those who had problems concerning the event, but yes lets keep it in context to what was a successful few days. Remember what happened with the last good news of 'Metamatic's' release. :rolleyes:

Again Rob I'd like to thank you personally for time and effort that went into organising this special event along with others. I'm certainly glad that I went. I was amazed just how quickly the day flew by from the moment I met Shadowman at Euston station.

It was fantastic to see so many John Foxx fans in one location and be able to chat with them.


The queue started to form about 15.30 outside the Luminaire. A couple of people passing by asked what we were queuing for. Someone joked drugs. When we got into the venue I was surprised how small it was but it was quite cosy. The ceiling was quite low. I was worried if Louis started to jump up and down he'd bang his head. I managed to get a place near the front.

John came out on stage about 16.05 with Louis and straight into Swimmer 2 which set the atmosphere for what followed. OK there were a few minor errors but it has already been said "that's live music"

It was over too quickly. We were asked to leave the Luminaire about 20 minutes after the show and we went back to the Black Lion and awaited the second show.

For the second show I stood nearer the stage and again while waiting for John I chatted to several people. The one good thing about the Luminaire is the backgrund music was at a comfortable level and it was easy to converse while waiting without having to resort to shouting.

Not much I can say about the second set but it was still as refreshing as the first.

We hung arond after the show and I managed to chat with John and he's having a deserved rest until the new year.

Craig I hope you have fully recovered

I know a lot of effort went into arranging this event. It's difficult to know what would happen until the actual day. Even with everyones fears about not getting in, I felt it turned out extremely well.
Peter

Yes and what happened with the EV forum last year - ie when it got closed! The Metamatic forum has enjoyed a largely good and mature first year, so let's keep it that way.

I wouldn't say that the criticism has been either excessive or overblown (well, maybe in one instance.) A few people, myself included, expressed reservations about the entry format and how it would/did put us off attending.

To do this is not to detract from the quality of the event or diminish in any way the excellent efforts of all involved with these and other gigs which I have been able to attend.

Oops double posted

][/QUOTE]Yes and what happened with the EV forum last year - ie when it got closed! The Metamatic forum has enjoyed a largely good and mature first year, so let's keep it that way. [/QB][/QUOTE]

I agree with totally Alex 100%.

It's hard to please all of the people all of the time.

Peter

You felt strongly enough to say it twice

LOL but Rob, you're dealing with "fans" here. People who are by definition somewhat obsessive and have an avid interest in something obscure that the vast majority of society couldn't care less about. Nutters, in other words ;-)
Personally I think John Foxx fans are extremely nice and well behaved compared to most bands'

On the whole we are a good crowd. Everyone I've met it's been good humoured.


Peter

Yes it's generally a good humoured, mature and respectable place here.

I would expect a generally higher intellect here given the man in question whom we all admire!

I've been on other forums that have been totally the opposite - then there's Numan forums which are in a league of their own for obnoxiousness!!

And I would have to wholeheartedly agree with that...

It's part of what ultimately makes running this Site, this Forum and the Metamatic News E-Mailing list so pleasurable...

Rob

And I've also met some goods friends along the way

Peter

Glad to see you all enjoyed it, you lucky s-and-so's. Just one question. Was it recorded?

Yes, both shows were recorded AND videod - though (inevitably) I don't have any details of when this material will be made available.

Rob

Cool!!

I can't believe none of us thought to ask that question before now!

I thought to ask, but that was all.

'Videoed' this time!

One thing about a John Foxx gig is the unexpected. The T-Shirt gig was always going to be unknown territory and for me added to the build up.

We joined the queue at the computer exchange shop about 3:45, (they had not seen anything like it). Getting in was easy, no over zealous bouncers and I thought the mood inside was perfect.

My favourite was Miles Away, which was definitely different on both occasions!

I always imagined Miles Away would be great live - John's live vocals can have such force!

I sense another 'formatting' issue for us Foxx fans on this side of the Atlantic.

It would be brilliant if a DVD, even if it's just a limited edition, were to be made available.

It would also be nice if Metamatic tour was made available on DVD as well.

Double disc release???
There I go dreaming again

Peter

The venue was great - I hope John and Louis use it again. Compared with the grotty Brum Barfly, the Luminaire was a palace! And everyone was friendly - from the fans outside, to Steve and the doorman downstairs, to the merchandise and cloakroom guys, to John and Louis themselves!

btw, what's the name of the guy who sells the merchandise? A

I always suspected it would be videoed - anyone who I mentioned the gig to always said "John Foxx just wants to make a video of hundreds of fans all wearing his T-shirt, doesn't he?"

Yes, please.

I'll have one of each please!

Thank you very much indeed!

H

Craig,

Things started to get blurred after the whiskey. I couldn't seem to find you when I came back from the loo so headed back to the digs Had a great time enjoyed meeting everyone again Craig, Pete, Andreas, Rob and also meeting Sarah and The Church Puddle for the first time....Thanks to John & Louis for two great performances...perfecto

PS Hope your head wasn't as bad as mine on Sunday Craig!

Hi!

I'm back now!

Just wanted to say what a fantastic time I've had. Great to meet so many of you guys again. Just trudging through the photos!

The gigs were fantastic and great to hear some oldies again. John was as lovely and chatty as ever after the show!

Thanks to everyone who organised the Luminaire shows!

Sarah

Please share them if you can for the benefit of those who could not be there. Thanks.

Sounds like you had a good time Richard. It was nice to see you again. If john ever does Brum again I'll take up the kind offer of crashing at your house for the night.

Hope the hangover wasn't too bad.

Peter

Back in Hamburg again.

I really enjoyed both shows!!!! The Luminaire was a great decision for these gigs!

A big THANK YOU to John and Louis for this great setlist!!! Two of my voted songs were played; Uptown/Downtown and Shadow Man (hee, hee).I told John S.M. is my Nickname and he said "so your name was mentioned very often"...
All songs were fantastic and again, it was worth the travel from Hamburg to London!

It was nice to met some old friends and some "new" people. As it was told here; the atmosphere was very warm and friendly.Richard and Craig - hope you are well now...

Thanks Rob, for the info the shows are recorded and filmed. Saw a guy with a videocamera in the background.

I'm very glad I was there and met you all again. Hope I can work it out for the next show...in 2008?!

Absolutely great!...

Shadowmandreas

There were video cameras on tripods at the Birmingham Barfly,so maybe the Metamatic tour was filmed as well.

As for Maryanns playback problem,this is easily solved if a double sided DVD is produced.Side 1 in Pal format/side 2 in NTSC,all set to DVD Region 0.

I have a few DVDs like this from other bands.This allows the DVD to be played worlwide.

I suppose this would be governed by production costs.

Hello people,

i made it back to Rotterdam as well.
One day later as planned, traffic in London caused me to miss my flight and stay overnight on the floor of Stansted airport from Sunday night up to 4AM this morning.
Had to buy another ticket for a bucket load of money, ending up in the wrong town (Amsterdam) with easyJet instead.
Anyway, despite the travel-delay it was all worth it!!

Both gigs we're great!
The organization was fine...all who disagreed with the way it turned out to be didn't go anyway i guess.

The venue was nice and small, and good sound.
They didn't overdo it with the volume, a big +
John & Louis enjoyed themselves as well as far as i could see...and so did most of the audience

Only got to say hi to Robin quickly, my pictures turned out quite nice btw!

Summing it up, thanks to all who attended for making this a fun experience!

Pictures following soon!
regards,
fons

So was the Cargo gig recorded too? because the back projection footage was a great addition.

I put up a clip of A Million Cars and will put up the others when I get home.{Miles Away/Dancing LIke A Gun/Europe After The Rain)

www.youtube.com/tokyohunter

My take on the T-Shirt gig idea is that it seems to have been done with the best of intentions, I guess based on the feedback it will remain a one off.

John Foxx gigs still amaze me that he can be playing at that level and still be outside the the radar of most people.I guess he will be one of those artists who's body of work will probably outlive that of those more currently "well-known" from the younger ranks of bands.

Well summed Fons and Shadowman. I'm glad to hear that coming from outside the UK made the trip well worth the effort and expense.

One thing I noticed at the end of each set John and Louis gave each other a hug, which I thought was nice. I'd never seen them do that before.

Peter

Anyone fancy a swim?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v8TW0JHqnBk

I see Michael Barker has posted a very clear version of Europe After the Rain

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=E__vh-JqjMU

On the back of this I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posts video clips of John up at YouTube.

Notwithstanding the legalities/moralities etc etc of this, its amassing into quite a collection and gives everyone a real flavour of the live shows.
The sound quality of most of them is not at all bad...

The quality is a lot better before Youtube's video encoders get hold of it.All mine were vga Quicktimes,30fps.If John or Rob or Steve objected I'd be happy to take all mine down.I think all that upload them are providing a valuable service to all the fans.

Its all free publicity at the end of the day.

I agree,there's quite a body of work for Foxxvox & John on Youtube.

I'm more than willing to pay for the official DVD.

The Youtube search index has finally updated.

Making Movies (with weird colours but good sound)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iT04szd_GKY

First one
More to follow

Big thank you for the videos. Just got to watch them (talktalk broadband a bit rubbish for streaming youtube). Especially like the smile from John in Europe After the Rain as the crowd join in the verse.

Thanks for sharing.

You can use the firefoxx plugin - videodownloader to save and play the y outube vids offline with a player like vlc player.
Good for repeat playing

It began with a frost sharper than cheekbones. This, along with the yellow tint from the windows of First Great Western’s 8:55 to Paddington, brought to mind images of long-gone Christmasses that didn’t exist. We were talking about this. I associate Bob Dylan with Christmas, or, rather, the mid-winter that surrounds it. Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, and Modern Times: all Christmas. John Foxx? Not chilly enough. Even Metamatic, with its icy synths, and The Pleasures of Electricity (THE soundtrack to February 2002): there is just too much WARMTH there. I think someone said the latter was a dark record. Well, it is, but the city is fully lit. I should go to London more often. By half 12 I was in the Black Lion, pint in hand, notebook spilling with lyrics for abandoned songs of the future, reading of My Bloody Valentine’s return, and listening to the fabulous In Rainbows (Radiohead), of all things, playing in the pub.

People arrived. Warmth. Peter, Andreas, Michaela, Craig. Meeting Richard for the first time. Then Sarah and Tess and Mr No and Gem, Rob of course, Natalie, and numerous others. Great to see you all! After a brief long queue, and discussions of bespoke gentlemen’s undergarments, we were inside. What a great venue! Friendly, cosy, and intolerant of talking while bands are on. Perfect! Both sets were brilliant, the latter better but only by several pints. I have just checked my submission of 5 tracks: none were played – I guess I’ll just have to form a tribute band. And yet, I could swear I’d actually voted for Swimmer 2, Europe After the Rain, Dancing Like a Gun, Camera, The One Who Walks Through You, Miles Away and Neuro Video. And the old favourite Making Movies, one of the best B sides ever, did I detect a sneer in John's voice? John talking to himself? “YOU’RE always making movies, that’s really what YOU do” whereas I’M a musician and singer and I like making electronic noise with my young apprentice, Louis Gordon. Thanks to all who organised this event.

The morning came and almost went, Tom Waits no cure for a hangover. Seasick sailing on sunshine. Only fresh air, mineral water, and getting lost in the so clearly shifting capital city can do that. Building work and decay. The weight of organisation and chaos, the structures of civilisation and history. Ten thousand ways. Why only ten thousand if there are a million cars? The lyric intrigues but is somehow true. Morning Glory (one of my votes) was Hyde Park’s earworm. Everybody’s Sunday best.

Tokyohunter you are my new best friend! (I should read the firefox instructions more often).

The Million cars video is the first for download. you did really well to keep it so steady, it looked a real crush up front, except for when one guy really started to rock out towards the end and a small clearing formed for him to dance in!

I like to think a reference to the road chaos we're in. Thanks for the reveiw, I'd forgotten just how cold the wind was standing on Kilburn High Road, yet the night whas very pleasant at 10.30 (after the gig walking on sunshine!)

Two small clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RjSQhOmOgg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gve-Nxh0Y7s

Adrian

No-one Driving: Thanks!
I've got a 6 clips up now.(2 more tomorrow)
www.youtube.com/tokyohunter
Glad you sussed out the Firefox plugin - very handy.
The dancing/enthusiastic guy near the end of the gig, yes I remember him, he spoke to my sister at the end of the gig, said it was his first John Foxx concert and loved it.

Hi Mark I enjoyed reading your post and the way you summed up the whole event. It was nice to meet you along with loads of others from this forum.

Thanks to everyone who's put clips on Youtube. I will watch them later today.

Peter

I think it's great that we're now at a time when you can go to a gig then watch clips from it the very next day or even hours later.

Hats off to you Mark for a superb review.
Will I come to regret not meeting up with you on Saturday? You have a good way with words and your turn of phrase made me smile.
Love the references and inferences that drift across the corners.

Add this to everyone else's input, and I really feel like I was Almost There.
In technocolour [sic]

A big THANKS for all the video clips!

Very kind and nice service!!!


Mark: Great review of the gig! It was a real pleasure to met you again along all the Others!!

See you again next year...

Andreas

Ah - yeah that was the one I really missed: he didn't sing MORNING GLORY!

Next time...

And I think it's great that I can experience the gig, even though I could not attend.

Thanks to all who shared their clips and photos.

Thanks as always to everyone that put up clips, photos, reviews etc.

And some more
If they need to be bigger say so please.

Thanks Fons for the lovely pics. I was one of the last people to chat to John in the passage way. I wonder if he was going to come to the main area but got stopped there and decided to stay there.

Peter

Great show!

Thanks everyone for posting here their account of the shows, the pics and some excellent videos.

This is only the beginning...

Keep it up John!

Chris

Hi!

Thanks to everyone for sharing their pics/reviews. Brian - great pics! We do have some nice pics, some taken as stills from video footage, which include some fantastic 'action' shots of John and Louis during 'Concrete, Bulletproof, Invisible', complete with some real cheekbone revealing moments!

I'll have to get something set up so that I can share them with you. I just haven't had time to be on the internet much this week.

I'm sorry that some of you spotted me at the gig, and I didn't speak to you. I really don't know everyone that was there from the Forum, but please, for future gigs, if you see me and I walk straight past you, just stop me and introduce yourself! I'd have loved to have met those of you who were there!

Still, it was a fantastic day and my MicroKorg has been put to some serious use after seeing John use his!

Best wishes

Sarah

Europe after the Rain.....what can I say

Fantastic

Keep on shooting guys

H:)

Last set for today

Enjoy,
fons

Ah, that close-up of John is FANTASTIC!!

Hey, great pics, Fons - thanks for those. I can see me in that last crowd shot! Fame at last!

Sarah

Yup,great pics.That must have been the 2nd gig.
because I cant see me.

Great shots Fons!!!

Thanks a lot for posting them!!

I'll provide them in full quality at a later date...hang on

Greetings,
fons

Great Pics Fons

Peter

Chiming in rather belatedly, but posting for posterity - if the T-shirt gig was something of an experiment then perhaps all opinions are welcome...

I approached the gig as something of a 'cheeky bonus', in Mighty Boosh speak, you could say. Living near enough to London to be able to turn up and if it proved too busy and had to be turned away, no harm done. Transport to Kilburn for just after four, I took a wrong turn - and bumped into a fellow Foxx fan (hello James!) who had clearly done the same. To the venue, a surprise to find the queue still present and correct, bemused locals still asking 'what's 'appenin' in there today mate?' The queue moved and we were all in. Inside the venue, it was great - I like smaller sized venues the best, so this was ideal. Another pleasant surprise was to bump into an old friend from many other previous gigs, Foxx and non-Foxx (hi Andrew!)

The pre (and post) gig sounds were great - a steady playlist of long gone electronic classics and could-have been classics (at least IMHO), The Normal, Suicide, Fad Gadget, Duet Emmo, Thomas Leer/Robert Rental, , AC Marias, Gina X Performance - good stuff. Just after 5 I think, John and Louis took the stage and the show commenced - there's been plenty written already, I can't add much other than to opine that I felt the selection of material was great, a nice variation. Stand out tracks for me were the selections from Sideways - to me, Sideways is a favourite, it seems to have fallen out of a crack in time - it was really recorded in 1982, it is the album that the original Endlessly would have been from had it crashed into Metamatic during the recording sessions - and 'Sailing On Sunshine' is a good example of what I mean, some kind of psychedelic techno mashup. 'Neuro Video' was good to har live too, and I've now returned to this as a favourite this past week. 'Miles Away', 'Europe After The Rain' and 'Dancing Like A Gun' were all wonderful surprises. The set closers from 'Shifting City were souped-up juggernauts of sound, 'Concrete, Bullet Proof, Invisible' and 'Shadow Man' - great stuff.

After the afternoon show, we went downstairs to the pub (joined by another newface, hello other Ian!) - and a good chat until the time of the second show - at which point I had to leave. But a great afternoon and a nice treat.

The downside has been reading from people who could not attend due to the uncertainty of the entry requirements or cost. Unfortunate and I hope it hasn't proved too disappointing - but it was a special event, making it all the more memorable for me.

Nice report glimmer fix!

I enjoyed the shows too. It's great to read the comments of other people and share our thoughts on this way.


Cheers,Shadow Man

More pictures!

Some pictures can be seen at my friends site, www.electr-on.pl

John Foxx - Luminaire / London 24.11.2007

Hope you like them as well, I personally like the one with the 'green microphone' (#3) the most
Greetings,
fons

Hi Fons

Thanks very much for sharing your great photos.

I can't believe a week has gone by already!

Sarah

I've finally gotten hold of Kerry's videos & pics.
Here is camera:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivazS7sdBEU

More to come tonight.

Brian

Dave/ Harold. I live in Welton near both of you and travelled on my own, in car. I parked in Kilburn so didn't have any cab or tube fares to pay. I really enjoyed both gigs but wished the second gig had some differences. I had finished work at 6am sat morning (12hour shift) and had a few hours sleep before the long drive. This still didnt dampen my enthusiasm for the gig although waiting in a queue, freezing cold, was'nt fun. I recorded both shows on video and as I got different angles I intend to edit them and make one video. If there are any other events like this, get in touch via metamatic and we could all travel together.

fons your Pics are superb!!

And Brian - thanks for the video's.

It's a shame I missed to met you both on the gig! This is the result if no-one knows how the Other looks like. It would be a pleasure for me to say hello to you at the next gig...

Thank you both for sharing your stuff!!!!
It's very kind!

Cheers, Andreas

Thanks very much fons and Brian.

Hi,

yes will do.

Best,
Pete

Here are Kerry's pictures from the T-Shirt gig:-

http://home2.btconnect.com/mateybloke/PhotoAlbums/album_1196711227/

Enjoy

Nice pictures Kerry, and thanks for the link Brian.

Now, far be it for me to complain (I wasn't there, how do I know?)but what's with that thump thump in-yer-face drum beat? It goes through EATR as well and (to a degree) flattens everything and makes it sound the same...

I'll just strap myself to this post here, for flogging...

I dont think its any worse than the Metamatic tour,the volume levels were a lot lower at the Luminaire compared to the Brum Barfly though.

We left with our hearing intact this time

Thanks for yours and Kerry's pictures Brian :-)

I think the thumping beat - though it IS a recurring element of Foxx reworkings - simply don't film well on your digital cameras. Always tends to sound amplified and dominate the sound.

I remember making a short film of one of the tracks last year, and when I played it back I thought 'huh? I don't remember it being so heavy...'

So I think it may be a partial illusion of the ears...?

Cheers Alex,

Kerry did say that he wasn't impressed with the sound quality.By the time Youtube has re-encoded it it probably loses some top end as well.

Brian

It probably doesn't help that the acoustics in this smaller type of venue are usually crap too...

Thanks Brian for putting Kerry's photo's on

Peter

Thank you Brian and Kerry for your Photos!!

During "A Million Cars" in the first set of the night, the left-hand speaker on the PA was crackling a bit at the punishment John & Louis were giving it, actually!

Im not a fan of too much drum beats (if it sounds like techno) but Metal Beats is a different matter. A Million Cars has to be one of the best from the recent tracks, especially live. You can always trust John and Louis to give a powerful performance.

Brilliant night, I was hoping for another Metamatic gig (missed all of them damn it!) but this was just as good! Met Louis in the afternoon and John in the evening, both really friendly guys (as I suspected). I was the kid in the Man Machine get up (red shirt, black tie ) if anyone saw me haha.

Just posted one more of Kerry's vids

Making Movies Full version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NB4cHYIEzY

By popular demand I've just posted another one of Kerry's vids from the Luminaire:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtgwa73R02U

Enjoy

Great clip as usual Brian and Kerry, made all the better now that im not on dial up.

Thanks also to Rob, for helping me back here so soon after techy problems.

Thanks for sharing, Brian. Always enjoy watching/listening to the clips.

Thanks Brian for the links to Sailing on Sunshine. Nice to see this again

Peter