17/12/2007 Love/Hate @ the Underworld

Subject	Love/Hate @ the Underworld
PostedDate	12/17/2007
	So, after one on London's better music venues I now return to one of the worst - in my opinion anyway. Certainly one of the worst managed. Still, in spite of the venue this was a gig I didn't want to miss. Jizzy Pearl and various bands he called Love/Hate have played in London a few times, but this time it's the full original lineup of the band, and they are playing the whole of their minor classic first album 'Blackout In The Red Room'.  This is actually the first time I've seen Love/Hate so I'm not too sure what to expect from them live, although obviously I already know the songs they are going to play. I've seen plenty of pictures of them from years ago, but aren't sure what they look like now... They hit the stage, and unlike many bands of their era none of them are fat or bald. Two of them do now sport short spikey black hair and look like they are in a current punk/pop band! However, Jizzy still has that distinctive rasping voice. This is actually a pretty good show - certainly not a bunch of tired old has-beens going through the motions to make some easy money. They play really well and sound like they mean it. The promise of the original band playing all the songs from their first (and best) album has packed the Underworld and the atmosphere is really good. Most the crowd seem to know all the words for virtually all the songs and sing along very loudly - strongly encouraged by Jizzy. Skid goes a bit OTT in my opinion, and his bass is almost inaudible for most of the set, but the fans lap it all up. As promised, the band play the 'Blackout In The Red Room' album in it's entirety, plus some of the best songs from the second album - including of course 'Wasted In America'. It's a very strong setlist and everybody goes home happy. They also go home a bit earlier than they would probably have liked as well - as is usually the case for this venue. Jizzy says as they end the show that the band will be at the back on the merch stall signing stuff, chatting to fans and having a few beers after the show. Little does he realise that only ten minutes after the band walk off stage the venues 'security' are doing their best to eject everyone from the venue!  BTW: Any of you not familiar with this band and wanting to hear more: You can download all four of the band's albums for free from the official Love/Hate website How many 'name' bands will let you do that? Much respect to them for giving the finger to the record companies and giving their albums away for free. Start with 'Blackout In The Red Room'...