TV SMITH IN BERLIN, 01-09-2007
Summer is more or less over but its a mild evening. The Tommy Weissbecker Haus is filling up, which is something of a relief after the initial worries about how bad the publicity for this gig had been. If it hadn´t been for the info on TV´s website, I´d have known nothing about it. Talk about the best kept secret! This is supposed to be something special.
It´s not the solo TV Smith, like in recent years. Tonight he´s appearing with his new band, The Bored Teenagers. They´ll be playing Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts, the debut album by The Adverts, in its entirety (plus b-sides). Yet as I was flicking through Berlin´s two major listing mags, Tip and Zitty, there was no mention of this gig. Very much a case of TV Smith and, er, no adverts!
Named after the classic Adverts track, The Bored Teenagers are basically Spanish band Suzy & Los Quattro (without Suzy): BB Quattro on bass, Claudio Glaesmer on guitar, and Tomas Ramos on drums. They have already backed TV for a few songs at his gigs in Spain, and when it came to choosing a band to play with for the now-legendary 100 Club gig in April this year, TV knew that these guys would be able to pull it off.
I couldn´t make it to London for that gig (a CD of which has recently been released on the Boss Tunage label). I also never managed to catch the original Adverts in concert, though I´d seen them on Top Of The Pops and the Whistle Test. I was excited at the thought of seeing TV fronting a band again after years of solo acoustic shows, and to see him reproduce that classic 1978 album on stage.
Support band Funeral March do an adequate job of warming up the venue, while the man at the merchandise stall is already doing good business with the CDs. My old pal Harry Coltello has just walked in. It turns out that BB Quattro is not only TV´s Spanish tour promoter, but Harry´s as well. Small world. Returning from the beer garden, the fans now pack their way into the venue.
The pre-gig music cuts dead as the band appear on stage. TV looks splendid, his silver hair cut short, his ripped black jacket decorated with many small badges. From the audience they almost look like medals. Awards for credibility? It would have been all too easy to go out under the name The Adverts and make more of a noise about all this. But this is now and these are The Bored Teenagers.
Opening, as did Crossing The Red Sea, with the Adverts´ debut single, One Chord Wonders, the sound is both joyous and menacing. Free from his acoustic guitar, TV waves his arms above him. He turns and shakes, giving the occasional high-kick, and addresses the crowd in remarkably good German. A few people start to pogo; others reach out to touch their hero.
I can´t help but notice how many young kids are standing at the front, mouthing the words to Bored Teenagers, which is next. It sounds as fresh and exciting as it did back in 1977, when it appeared as the b-side to Gary Gilmore´s Eyes. It´s over in just a couple of minutes, then it´s “Fuck the old church, this is the new church”, as track three of this seminal album gets underway.
On The Roof, Newboys and Bombsite Boy are next. The latter has a staggering intro, as on the LP version, but live there´s an extended break before the fast part of the song kicks in, with TV teasing the crowd with silence for as long as possible. With side one completed, the kids at the front let out a cry as they recognize the opening to another single, No Time To Be 21. “Life´s short, don´t make a mess of it...”
Side two of Crossing continues with Safety in Numbers, Drowning Men and On Wheels. At one point TV bends to pick up a small piece of paper which has landed on the stage before him. He reads it, places it in his mouth and then starts to chew. Amazingly, he swallows it down. He gives a sneer, a frightening stare, then he turns, grabs the mic again, and continues to sing. The crowd are mesmerized.
His voice has matured over the years. Much as I love the smooth, quiet tones of his brilliant acoustic March Of The Giant album from 1992, it´s a thrill to hear the sandpaper growl of the punk rock TV Smith. As each song ends, a smile appears on his face. There´s a look of great satisfaction. No worries of a reputation being tarnished; the songs are in safe hands with the Bored Teenagers.
The b-sides New Day Dawning and We Who Wait appear before the closing double-whammy of Gary Gilmore´s Eyes and Great British Mistake. And that´s it, that´s the album played. As at the 100 Club gig, the encore begins with The Adverts, a track from the second album, Cast Of Thousands (a record forever languishing in the shadow of it´s predecessor).
It´s now played more in the style of the Red Sea material - faster, louder, more punk rock - and is followed by a rendition of a recent TV Smith solo track, the optimistic (and appropriately titled) Good Times Are Back. BB Quattro drops to his knees in classic rock´n´roll style, still furiously bashing on his bass. TV turns and smiles, swinging the mic lead over his shoulder, clearly delighted just how well its gone this evening.
As something of a bonus, TV and The Bored Teenagers are ready to try out a few more newly rehearsed songs. Three additional numbers are played: Only One Flavour (originally recorded with German superstars Die Toten Hosen for TV´s 2001 Useless album), plus My String Will Snap and Lord´s Prayer (both from the TV Smith´s Cheap album, RIP... Everything Must Go!!).
The band leave the stage again and the audience begin chanting “C´ mon, C´mon”, Gary Glitter style. A day later, TV wrote: “I really wanted the Berlin gig to be a good one as it´s always been an important city for me over the years – so it´s a relief it all went well.” Adverts or not, TV has proved again to be one of punk rocks most enduring and most-respected performers. As the man himself said: “Perhaps the good times are back”.
Clive
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