Guillemots (support: Decorate Decorate)

Guillemots (support: Decorate Decorate). Loppen, Copenhagen 30/11/06

Yesterday I went to see The Guillemots, an international band based in London, at Loppen in Copenhagen. Their album Through the Windowpane is one of the best releases this year and I thought it could be a good concert. The support act was a Danish band called Decorate Decorate. They were very good to be a support act - relatively hard but melodic pop sounding a little like for example Interpol or Bloc Party. They are doubtlessly influenced by Joy Division and/or similar bands. Rating: +++

The Guillemots were just as good as I had hoped for. Two saxophone players complemented the otherwise four-piece band. The keyboard player (guitar in a few songs) and vocalist Fyfe Dangerfield has a great voice. He also changes between beautiful, soft piano playing and going completely nuts. And the double-bass player Aristazabal Hawkes is not only skilled, she's also very good looking :-). Together with the rest of the band they performed a great show, not ending until after midnight. The masterpiece from the album, the 12-minute long Sao Paolo (definitely one of the greatest songs of 2006) was played in a superb version, changing from beautiful melancholy in the verses to a chaotic sound disorder towards the end. Rating: ++++

As me and my friend arrived early we also had time to drink a few beers at Cafe Woodstock in Christiania (where Loppen is located). No matter what other people think of this area, a so called freetown where it is very easy to buy cannabis, I found the atmosphere very friendly and cosy although I'm not at all into drugs myself.