Concert - Teenage Fanclub @ Ampere

Hi
GO FANNIES!
Teenage Fanclub, the biggest band that never was.
20€ + applicable booking fee
One of my favourite bands in a tiny venue singing singalongascotia classics.
Alternatively just turn up to see me go absolutely bonkers (more than usual).
Katrina

I'll be going to that...hopefully they will mainly play songs off Grand Prix...& Big Star covers!

Not just "Grand Prix", I want songs off "13", "Bandwagonesque" - particularly "Alcoholiday" and any track from "Songs from Northern Britain".
I want "God knows it's true" and "What you do to me", "Everything Flows" and "Catholic Education".
Seeing as they don't really do songs that last over 3 and a half minutes, they should play loads.
*skips with joy*

..indeed ! would be cool if they toured together with Scotland's other biggest bands that never were ..like the BMX Bandits and The Pastels. Caught Teenage Fanclub a few times on the Bandwagonesque tour way back in '91/'92 ...would go just to hear 'What you do to me' !! A truly marvellous choon...

I've now got that "it's funny how the girls you want to talk to don't talk to you, it's funny how the ones that don't doooooooooooo" going around in my head.

Oh...I'm there.

<3 the Fanclub.

i will be there. Finally i can see them live!
Potentially it sounds like a "teenage fan of the teenage fanlcub", but anyway i ask it: does anybody know in which Hotel they will be based?

For anyone going to this concert, I recommend turning up early enough to catch the ´support´ band, The Posies. They rocked the Atomic Café a couple of months ago and are a likely bet to upstage the main act here tonight.

Sorry but the terms "upstage" "main act" and "likely bet" can't really be used when Teenage Fanclub are headlining. At least not in this universe.

I am guessing you haven´t seen The Posies play live before then?

Mind you, according to Concert: The White Stripes @ Zenith the terms "upstage" "main act" and "likely bet" are best not used when anyone is headlining...

Having just read the flyer I see The Posies are billed as ´Special Guests` and not as a ´Support` so fingers crossed this ridiculous policy won´t be applied here.

Anyway its gonna be interesting to see the best commercially unsuccessful bands of the 90´s from the UK and the US on the same night!

All we need now is for Something Happens to reform and get third billing on Sunday night.

I will attempt to turn up early and see the "special guests"

very nice, almost perfect concert.
the "almost" regards a stupid guy, shouting for "Radio" and "13" everytime the Teenies concluded a song.
Norman at first was nice, and ensured the song would have been played, than irritated, and they did not play Radio, neiter anything from "13".

i remember teenage fanclub from many years ago, shit! hope this gig was as good as their early years (despite the idiot, monsieur inspector!) reading 89 or 90 was my last recollection... must disappear to start writing (in secret) my novel in 30 days... (see other mad thread)

I'll be agreeing with The Inspector here. Excellent concert, truly excellent.

Teenage Fanclub looked like they were having fun, the head roadie and one of the guitarists had more grey hair than I do (made me feel young) and the songs were exquisite.
After they played "Your love is the place where I come from" I wanted them to stop and play it again. It was that good.

So songs with the perfect integration of a swiss watch but sounding a hundred times better, a seriously tight non-pretentious band and Eugene Kelly from The Vaselines as an encore playing acoustic guitar and singing "Jesus doesn't want me for a sunbeam".

As for The Posies, I only caught their last three songs and I wasn't very impressed. Lads, Pete Townshend shapes do not a good band make.

I´m sure I am not alone in thinking that The Posies were, as usual, fantastic last night! Quite appropriate Townshend should be mentioned, as The Who are the only other band I can think of capable of delivering such sophisticated, lyrically masterful songs with as much mindblowingly raw rock and roll energy as The Posies.

i didn´t know the Posies, i admit.
they were not bad, but they sounded too "college punk", whereas i expected them to be Power-Pop and more versatile.
i recognized some nice melodies in 2-3 songs, though; the other ones really seemed to be quite basic and not too original (maybe stuff from the new album?).
anyway, i must say i was there to hear the TFC (and they were damned good).

Great concert (as Norman gracefully pointed out himself), band on fine form, audience (most at least) v. receptive. Nice also to see the, ahem, slightly older generaton (i.e., over 19) out again. No question of TFC being upstaged by The Posies (from Canada, which is not the US), who rocked more than on their recordings but aren't in the same league. Eugene Kelly was terrific (sounds like Grant McLennan, which is a compliment) too. None of my Scots mates to be seen, though (possible Deacon Blue fans, I fear)

Yes they played 3 tracks from the new album which IMHO doesnt come across as well live as their previous recordings. Still rocked though.


Thanks for pointing that out. However apart from playing in Canada they have no connection with this country whatsoever, they formed in Seattle and Ken and Jon were both born in the US.

Sorry about the disinformation. I've been living under the assumption for many years now that they were Canadian (probably some sort of cranial fusion of "Ontario" and, I don't know, Sloane, who were from around the same time and of the same ilk). I usually make the faux-pas of calling Canadians Americans, time to get it the other way 'round...

I nearly got brained by Jon Auer's guitar...git.

Other than that...top show

This is spot on - I also have McLennan's solo stuff as well as Go Betweens cds and the comparison is spot on.
If you're wondering who got Gerard's set list and the chord sheet for "Jesus", well I have them both. I was standing directly in front on Gerard for the entire show, the drummer kept to him that if Gerard forgot the words he could ask me coz I knew them all (it's true, I knew the words to every song - as did most of the Italians stood near us).
Gerard was laughing at me and the skinhead because while other folk were cheering the Posies I was shouting "bugger off! C'mon the Fannies!"
The Fannies were God. And that isn't taking the Lord's name in vain, they were that good.
Made me laugh to get told off by the roadie for reading the set-list before the gig because he said it was like feeling your presents before Santa put them under the tree.
To have a band that has so many great songs that you don't mind them not playing their biggest hit is a marvel.
I have some crap pictures on my mobile, if they look ok, I'll post them.
Eugene Kelly on the Fannies' webforum

Photos from my phone now in the gallery (2 of which are really good for a phone photo frankly).

some open questions after one week.
***
a. why do they completely cut the final lysergic part (uuuhuuuhuuuuuh) of "The Concept"? And (if i remember well) they did the same with "Everything flows"
b. they made an error at the beginning of "Ain´t that enough". Am i right in my guess, that they do it deliberately at each concert (kind of fun and tradition)?
***
the concert was nevertheless great