As much as I normally detest the New Musical Express, they got one thing right: Beth Ditto is the coolest person in music. Scratch that, she might be the coolest person, full stop. And because the other members of Gossip never get enough love, I think that the same goes for Brace (very cute!) and Hannah (who looks so much friendlier in person than she does in the promo stuff). They are just one hell of a cool band, and they put on a great live show, despite the venue being “fucking hot”, as Beth pointed out after pretty much every single song. Enthusiasm in the crowd never wavered though, it was in fact one of the wildest gigs I have witnessed, and a great time from start to finish. And yes, Beth did undress at some point – one of the many reasons I love and admire her for.
The highlight, as might have been expected, was “Standing in the Way of Control”, during which Beth dragged one guy who would not let go of her hand onto the stage. After that, lots of people invaded the stage (this is Germany after all 
), but at least they were polite enough to let Beth get back to the front. I made a short video (Won’t work with Internet Explorer. Plus, better turn down the volume beforehand. Crappy camera mic + standing in the way of the amp = noise):
See the girl with the mohawk at the far right of the stage? The one that Beth pulls close? I think she works at my favourite shop in Cologne! And she also was at the Peaches gig. It’s such a small world.
Anyway, they played “Listen Up” as an encore, which is my personal favourite, so it was the perfect conclusion to a perfect gig. Check out the promo videos:
Listen Up (2007 version)
Listen Up (original version)
I also took a couple of more pictures which I will be posting to the gallery at some point. The lighting was pretty dark, so I will have to beef them up a little, or rather, a lot, which sadly I don’t have the time for right now.
heh. awesome.