Tinyfish at the Peel

Nellie · January 11, 2009, 10:12:47 PM

I have to agree that:
Leon is insane
Tinyfish were brilliant
Rob is sacked/lovely depending on the video edit
New t-shirts are gorge.

Thank you to Twang et al for another splendid evening and congrats again for shafting the bigyuns!

JamesA · January 12, 2009, 08:20:24 AM

Tinyfish have to be one of the most entertaining bands on the circuit, and that is even before they start to play. There is a brilliant sense of humour running through the band which is well appreciated by their audience. This gig started with Tim on the sounddesk trying to get Simon Godfrey's guitar synth to work, and being introduced to the audience for his pains, before we hear the 'Japan tribute band' side to Tinyfish. Thankfully Rob Ramsay was able to take the stage and restore some order with the intro to a very tight Motorville. And so we were off, "We are Tinyfish. Sorry" - and here they were playing a warm up show for the gig in Poland, playing quite a few songs from "all three albums". Hands up who thought there was only one album...but Curious Thing will be released at the Poland gig, and then there will be The Big Red Spark, and we got that title track now - lots of layers, Leon Camfield using both his full drum kit and his electronic box of tricks, and its a hard, heavy number with a sublime guitar solo from Jim Sanders. Next up was Build Your Own Enemy, with Leon making the point, "haven't we monkeyed with this song and changed it ? Possibly when I wasn't listening" - do Poland know what is coming their way ? New song time, even though Leon had spent all week learning the wrong song, and Simon was debuting a new guitar (the out of tune guitar), and the sense of nervousness because this was a long song (I timed it at 10 minutes), and we got a long intro of baths, loofahs, triple word scores as Simon told us he had asked Rob for a song about something everyday that everyone could relate to, so this was a song about impotence. Wide Awake At Midnight, a song about insomnia, is a real toe-tapper, with some heavy stuff from Paul Worwood's bass over the top of some lighter work from Jim, very reminiscent of Steve Rothery's work around Season's End for me (and that's a very good thing, by the way), and some drum parts from Leon which had something of a Rush feel to them for me - and maybe more use of his electronic box of tricks than the rest of the band were expecting, because it has over 900 sounds in it, Poland want an hour and a half set, so "welcome to the test bed". I hope no-one missed the Run To The Hills moment. Eat The Ashes is a track from the Curious Thing album and tonight we heard it with the ROCK intro, before Tinyfish resident 7 year old suggested the name be changed to Eat The Asses. A mention of 50% of the loyal fanbase buggering off to Canada led to Simon saying it was 9 months since they had last played an electric gig, Leon asking if they should now set someone on fire, and the band launching into a blistering version of Nine Months On Fire, with a quite stunning breaks before the softer sections - seriously a wow moment. Ride is another new song, and as Simon usually dedicates new songs when they are played he asked Rob who this should be dedicated to, and Rob said Bill Hicks, because that is who it is about. But Simon had decided to dedicate this one to Rob, and said so...just as Rob had left the main room. So, Rob, you cock, you're fired. Simon then started off in the wrong key...karma. This is a softer track into a soaring guitar solo, and featured the ELC tambourine. For me, this had been a 'noisy' gig, with a lot of chatter among the audience both through the tracks as well as inbetween songs, and part way through Driving All Night I have to admit I cracked and had my shut up moment, turning to those behind me and telling them in no uncertain terms to shut up so I could hear the band - I think what particularly annoys me is that there is another room within the venue where you could go and chat and still hear the band. Or you could just go and join the strippers. Too High For Low Company served to welcome us to the Tinyfish open rehearsal, before we were told that Rob ("he's not a tramp...yet") would be coming back on during the next track, and Leon wondered if Simon was going to tell us this was the last song of the set. Simon admitted that as a band they are not very good at handling the concept of encores, Leon perhaps voicing a more succint point that for the gap before an encore they could either stay on stage or go back into the area with Ramsey - and they finished with an excellent Fly Like A Bird. Sadly, the encore was not Iron Maiden's Can I Play With Madness, but instead was Sine Star Rocks, "Baby, you don't have to. Baby, Sine Star rocks." and All Hands Lost finished with You are the weakest link, goodbye, and an exceptional gig was brought to a close. The band sound in excellent form and have a quality setlist as they prepare to take Poland.

Pedro · January 12, 2009, 12:22:13 PM

Wow! Thanks for that excellent write up.

If I hadn't been in Wath watching the other sibling I would have been there like a shot.

I think it's pretty clear that if the planned CRS Tinyfish and Touchstone gig had happened in November, the awards list would probbaly have been a little different.

I hope it's not too long until I get to see these great guys again.

johninblack · January 12, 2009, 05:18:24 PM

Quote from: "Pedro"Wow! Thanks for that excellent write up.
If I hadn't been in Wath watching the other sibling I would have been there like a shot.

I think it's pretty clear that if the planned CRS Tinyfish and Touchstone gig had happened in November, the awards list would probbaly have been a little different.

I hope it's not too long until I get to see these great guys again.

What Pedders said, 100%. It really is a shame these two gigs had to clash.

JamesA · January 12, 2009, 05:27:22 PM

Quote from: "johninblack"It really is a shame these two gigs had to clash.

Tell me about it...and for me it also clashed with a Pineapple Thief gig in Leicester.

It does confirm my belief that from my musical interest point of view 2008 was excellent, but 2009 will be even better.

johninblack · January 12, 2009, 05:39:01 PM

Quote from: "JamesA"but 2009 will be even better.

I do hope so.

rogerg · January 13, 2009, 12:55:22 AM

wow! giant wall of text!

nice writeup, though! 8-)

JamesA · January 13, 2009, 07:20:41 AM

Quote from: "rogerg"wow! giant wall of text!

I blame MySpace formatting...and my pure laziness when it then comes to cut and paste

Mouse · January 17, 2009, 10:07:25 PM

Someone tell me please - is it tinyfish or Tinyfish? Their website uses both, but Classic Rock and iTunes use the lower case version, with other people using the capitolised one.

Yes, I am the sad sort of person who would obsess over getting such a thing right...

Ash · January 18, 2009, 01:19:29 AM

You could go to the forum and ask http://www.tinyfish.org/forums/index.php

I reckon it is a small t but due to people knowing that a name starts with a capital it is just habit to type a T. But my avatar t-shirt has a big T so maybe not..

Ash · January 24, 2009, 07:46:55 AM

Nellie has done the deed - cos you all want to know...

http://www.tinyfish.org/forums/index.php?topic=226.0

johninblack · January 24, 2009, 09:25:42 AM

So, capital "T" but we still wait news on the H (the one at the end that is).

Mouse · January 26, 2009, 07:26:21 PM

Quote from: "Sarah"Nellie has done the deed - cos you all want to know...

http://www.tinyfish.org/forums/index.php?topic=226.0

Ta Nellie! And now commence hating me for wasting valuable time with my obsession for accuracy when concerning trivial matters.

Nellie · January 26, 2009, 08:35:13 PM

You're welcome! Hate is a very strong word. It wouldn't have been so bad if they would give a straight answer in the first place, bunch of nutters! :roll:

Ash · January 26, 2009, 09:11:10 PM

Paul being the least helpful of course :lol: