Location: Metro Club, London
Apricorn Webreview
Date: 15th December 2002
Location: Metro Club, London We in London get comparatively little antifolk, but when we do we love it. For the final leg of the European Antifolk Tour 2002, Kimya, Jeff, Jack, Toby and Anders showed up at the Metro Club, on Oxford Street. The venue was small, but intimate. We all sat on the floor at first, the atmosphere was incredible, and although the night was organised, we Londoners got a feel for what it is like to be at the Sidewalk for an anti-hoot session. The crowd was a very mixed bunch of both keen antifans and curious locals. As Toby played his first few numbers, the silence in the room was eerie, and in between songs the only sound to be heard would be the exchanges at the bar. The crowd being woken up as he screamed what sound he thought Giraffes make. It would appear from the reaction of the different artists that the majority had come to see Jeff Lewis, but seemed to be patient and curious as Toby played wake up all the robots. He got a great reception and the crowd warmly welcomed Kimya onto the stage next. Overcoming constant technical difficulties, Kimya seemed to keen to play on and finish and finish her part of the tour in style and that she did. Anders leapt on stage mid-set to play My Bike with Kimya and stayed for the duration drumming to everything that needed it, or he felt like needed it. Although undoubtedly planned, we rarely see such spontaneity at live gigs. We were fortunate enough also to witness a song written on the road about Michael Jackson that was simply mind-blowing. Next up was Jeff Lewis, and it was obvious from the beginning that his set would be something different from the solo acoustic ones wed seen that night. On stage he took with him a small keyboard - his brother, Jack - his drummer, Anders and another friend to play the Kazoo where appropriate. His tuning up evolved gradually into a thrashing opening number, followed by three quarter moon. With yet more technical difficulties, and little guitar could be heard, so Jeff strummed away hard enough for a string to break. Jack sang a song using a pen and bottle of beer as his instrument while Jeff repaired his guitar and the tech could be sorted out. We were again treated to another piece of work done on the road, only this time in comic book form. After he brought up a couple of girls he met on the tour to play a number about Dinosaurs, it was their first song at their first gig, and received a great reaction. Jeff then announced that Dufus would not playing, as Seth was sick it was a shame, but in their place, we were told that the Bundles would be headlining. He finished with an impromptu Another Girl which showed London quite how fiery Jeff can be when he wants, thrashing his guitar, Jack thrashing his base and Anders almost destroyed his minimalist drum kit.