[ Cardiacs segment originally published 05/12/2014 ]
CHUMBAWAMBA
Pyramid centre, Portsmouth - 11th August 1995
Support: Cardiacs
I spent a few months in Portsmouth studying for my journalism exams. I only managed to take in one gig owing to a severe bout of skintness. I took along one of my fellow budding young reporters as he had never seen Chumbawamba before and I thought he should. The added bonus, of course, was the support band.
You all know the extent of my love for Cardiacs, but this was the only occasion I managed to catch them live. The band had slimmed down from seven to four members by this point, but jeez were they good. Tim’s silly banter, telling the crowd to “SHUT UP!” during the quiet bits, and his routine abuse of brother Jim added to the general bemusement of some audience members, but it all made a strange kind of sense when they played. Listening to Cardiacs’ music, you wonder how any band could play it live. Only by experiencing their live show do you really get it. Utter genius with a touch of hilarity thrown in.
As for Chumbawamba - well, they had new songs since I last saw them owing to their new album 'Swinging With Raymond' being out. But as much as I enjoyed the new stuff, I still felt tired of their act. My mate loved them, of course, but as I'd seen them at least 7 times before it just felt like more of the same to me. It was to be the last time I ever saw them. The following year, they released that song and finally became famous.
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