Reviews The The in concert

Press, 28 July 1989, Page 6

Reviews The The in concert

The The at the Christchurch Town Hall, July 27. Reviewed by Tony Green. Political doom, emotional apocalypse, spiritual disaster, and sexual mishaps —- just another night of rock’n’roll for Matt Johnson and The The, as they opened their “Mind Bomb” LP tour in bombastic style at the Town Hall last evening. The relatively short stay left the crowd only simmering, however, as the highs and lows of the band’s set failed to build to any rhythm or satisfactory climax. Even the former Smith guitarist, Johnny Marr (a big reason for many buying tickets, as many a pre-jig conversation revealed), seemed strangely docile, possibly worried about infringing on Johnson’s wired stage presence. Marr’s fluid ringing style seemed out of place in the very staid rock arrangements of many songs, especially from the new “Mind Bomb” LP. “Good Morning Beautiful” was a good example, with its leaden rhythms based firmly in mid-1970s progressive rock. Johnson’s intent was lost in the indeci-

pherable vocal mix, and the use of backing sound effect tapes made the whole thing a dull mess. When the band did strip down to basics, the improvement was obvious. “Armageddon Days,” an acoustic “The Beaten Generation” (with Marr on harmonica) and “This Is The Day” from their “Soul Mining” LP were knockouts — and, more importantly, Johnson’s lyrics were simply sung and clearly audible. “The beaten generation, the beaten generation reared on a diet on prejudice and misinformation...” — it may never be covered by Chuck Berry, but Johnson made these (and many other) potentially pretentious lines sound credible, while prowling the stage like a bald white rapper — no mean feat! Still, the show lacked drive, sweat and spontaneity — it was hard work for band and audience. The simple songs and organic sound of the best of “Soul Mining” is The The at their peak — these boys just gotta have fun, and soon.