The Del Amitri Concert, July 8?, 1996
Justin, you asked for it! (This is a joke.)
by Doug Brown

Well I made it to Milwaukee Summerfest to see the Dels. I drove 2000 milesto see THE WORST rock show in history. There was that Kiss show in '78, but at least they had some fire. Who kidnapped the Dels and replaced them with Spinal Tap? Or maybe it was Bon Jovi? If they would stop prancing around so much maybe I could tell!

These guys have obviously been seduced by the lure of rock glam and given up on just playing the music, which they used to do so well.

Justin struts and swaggers a lot. Well maybe he tries, but it comes off as some kind of parody. But they are after all Spinal Tap reincarnated! It's just too easy to see "Hell Hole" replacing "Roll to Me" as the center piece vapor song. But he really knows how to spin around with that bass and not hit or trip over anything doesn't he?

It was disappointing to see Justin wearing boring old has-been rock star black leather pants and a black shirt. Do all rock musicians have to dress this way? Is it so you can't see them against the background of black stages and equipment? Maybe Michael Bolton could give him a few pointers. I was SOOO tempted to ask him where the purple shirt went when I met him before the show at their bus (hopefully the laundromat!), but didn't want to risk offending him the first time I met him, like I do with everyone else. :)

Yes, I met Justin! He's so much smaller in real life. Maybe because he wasn't swaggering so much. Here's the story. We were watching the show before the Dels (Jann Arden) and my girlfriend sees a lean dude in black cuffed jeans walking around the back and says, "Isn't that the guitar player"? It's Iain!!!! So we book after him but he's gone. Then we notice two busses in the general vicinity of where he was heading. No one in the first one. In the second one Justin is standing in the front stuffing his face! I can't imagine Mick Jagger doing this. I just can't. Funny, they didn't show this side of him in "Let's Go Home". He eventually comes out to talk with some chicks (of course) and I get his autograph. The same hand that wrote Downfall signing my card - Woo Hoo! I could even make out some of the letters. The J and the C are particularly partially legible. I thought even rock stars had to take handwriting at some point in their lives?

The always friendly Derek the production manager then gives me the "Get out of here little man" so I say hello. Jeez, next time I'll wear a miniskirt. We talked about the internet a little. Apparently sending mail is very difficult for him. This band needs me. Maybe I can be drummer #27/internet consultant.

So I actually met Justin at overcrowded Summerfest of all places! What really amazed me was here's Justin and Derek and sometimes Iain standing outside the bus near where they're going to play in 1 1/2 hours and NOBODY else was there. Wait, aren't these guys famous?!

So back to Justin. Or were we there already? He was using some kind of electronic device to extend his voice (he would sing, then the note would keep going). One thing I've always liked about the Dels is that they are a gimmick free band. Are we feeling inadequate Mr. Currie? Just stuff a sock in those tight black leathers and carry on with it. Sorry, it's going to take a lot more electronics than that to sound like Paul McCartney!

On to the rest of the band. Iain was pretty subdued. I guess he's mourning the loss of facial hair. He's a solid guitarist and showman in his own right but easy on the vocals there guy. His "Lust for Life" seg in "StartWith Me" makes my worst moments in rock history tape. Unfortunately he's the second best singer in the band to give you some idea how much depth they have here. On the other hand maybe he should take over more lead vocals so Justin can practice a little more with that bass. He needs it.

Ashley's cool or at least tries to be. He can chew gum and drum at the same time! Are the Dels drum lines that simple? Uh, yes. Actually he may be too cool for this band. It must be his jazz background. Hangin with the hepcats. It's a pop band though - I should be happy that he's a fine drummer. I did somehow missed the old guy (whatshisname #16 or 17?) a little, he was just a tad snappier or something. But I guess it's not like they have any real complicated drumming so just grab some Joe off the street eh? He'll just die of an OD in the back of somebody's van next year anyway.

John was cut loose. He played his butt off, and an ugly butt it was in those dorky Wrangler-type jeans! It was hysterical to see his Spinal-Tap-I've-got-a-hernia grimacing without the right costume. Maybe he should look up Michael Bolton too. Or he could wear Justin's old purpleshirt from the last tour. Just wash it first! Anyway it seemed he took over many parts that Iain used to play. Gee, I always thought Iain was OK. Areal highlight was his work at the end of Here & Now. The man can play.

John also totally sucked on backing vocals. He was off key and ruined manyof my favorite parts. Turn your monitor on next time big guy! Iain and even Ashley added some nice vocals but John needs some serious help. He even converted me to the Bring-Back-David-Cummings movement. At least forbacking vocals. Yes, I really missed him.

Andy. Andy who? This guy kind of lurks about in the back under the drums somewhere. Every once in awhile you hear some keyboards or accordion or such. Hard to tell if it's him or some guy standing off stage with his sampled sounds. So that's where the applause was coming from!

Maybe I should talk about the show a little. There was one somewhere between all the posing. The place was PACKED!!! Totally jammed!!! I couldn't believe it. They ARE famous! In an hour the place had gone from quiet and lots of room to a standing room on the sides only madhouse. The front section between the benches and the stage was totally empty before, and was now sardine land. And it was not a quiet crowd. Lots of action and beer cups flying around. I thought Dels fans would be a bunch of pathetic losers with miserable love lives like me. The too happy Roll To Me crowd was annoying!

I started talking with a few of the people around me and they were all rabid Dels fans that had visited Alison's page. Cool! So I showed 'em my autographed 'net card and told them about meeting Justin and they were REALLY jealous - as they should have been! :) Of course I didn't want to ruin their image of him so I didn't mention his eating habits!

The Dels finally came out and everyone on the benches stood so all of us on the sides could barely see. This sucked. If they're going to butcher some of my favorite tunes I want to at least see it. An incredibly warm reception though! The band rocked through several tunes and didn't play a slow one until their last tune before encores - Being Somebody Else. I must say I was disappointed in their selection of tunes. Let's try something new! Bring back some of the overlooked goodies along with the new stuff! Some new covers! And stop playing that darned "Crashing Down". This tune is NOT a crowd pleaser at all. In fact it's pretty much the one where everyone turns to their friends and says," So where do you want to go next"?

The mix and sound was not so good all of the time. Especially for the first few tunes. The same as when they played in Rochester. So uh, what's the purpose of all those two hour sound checks anyway? To wait until the crowd is drunk enough to clap for anything? "And now for a band from Scotland that has a few good old tunes but mostly fakes their way through imitation Beatley stuff these days ..." AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHHHHAHHA!!!!!

Speaking of Beatley they played the new tune "Cruel Light of Day". It's OK, but it really sounded like a cover to me - or just another Beatlesque tune of some sort. What's with this Beatles worship anyway? Do we really need more of this 60's crap that's been done a thousand times before? I thinkt he one thing the Dels could do to get to the top is shake off this Beatleslikeness. Of course if they try harder enough Oasis will let them be their warm up band someday. BLECH!

The set was disappointingly short - one hour or so. I drove 2000 miles forthis?!?!? I really missed some slower tunes like "Tell Her" and "This Side of the Morning" and "Downfall" and "Driving". Maybe some of these were the last encores though. So hey guys, quit trying to be rock stars and do the stuff you do best.

The first encore was "Kiss This Thing ..." with a "friend of the band" who's name I forget on harmonica. It sounded pretty good for an old tired song but I left during this one. I just got too sick of the happy crowd, and my friends had had enough. It's really nauseating to see the kind of people that come out to hear Roll to Me. And believe you me - that's what they were there to hear. It's kind of sad that the one tune they're probably sick to death of sounds the best live. Also, Justin introduced this with, "This a song about nothing at all. Like a pop song should be". Oops. My favorite Del songs are the ones that ARE about something.

More Spinal Tapisms - The band really had problems ending songs. Even my girlfriend noticed and said a few times, "Just get it over with"! They jammed away at the end of almost every song, and it seemed very sloppy. Really, Bon Jovi is dead, DEAD I tell you! I'm all for jamming, really I am, but just to highlight the band's musicianship - not to see how long we can drag out a four minute song.

The band seemed very relaxed and was having a good time. Maybe too good a time. They should just give in to those urges and do the whole Spinal Tap spiel. Destory some guitars! More explosions! More sing alongs! Justin didn't spend much time chatting up the crowd, but he was energetic and even climbed up on the speakers once. Jump into the crowd next time! I think some more stage props and cool lights would dress things up, and hopefully hide what this sorry band has become. The music sucks now so at least give us something to laugh about.

-Doug