Spacehog Reunion At The Viper Room
Well I’m standing on the launch pad
looking at the stars.
I’m waiting for the countdown to begin.
Photo: Joshua J. Smelser
11:15pm, Monday July 29th, 2008 at Los Angeles’ Viper Room. Royston, Antony, Jonny and Richard enter the Viper Room’s front door to the screams of an almost-capacity Viper Room crowd. Instruments in hand, they ran onto stage, behind the drawn curtain. A bearded Rich Steel emerged briefly and approached me after I shouted his name. We had a brief hi-volume club conversation over the house music. (You know the type… “How have you been?” “I’ve been outside” “What’s outside?” “Yeah, wild!” “What???” “Badgers?… What about them?” “Cool!”) I attempted to tell him how excited I was about seeing them live, and that it satisfied a long-term dream of mine. I think he said that they weren’t ready, that they’d hardly rehearsed and he hoped that the show lived up to my dreams. It’s entirely possible he was talking about badgers, but I think I heard him correctly.
11:30pm, The curtain rises to a stage of dry ice and lights, two Spacehogs on their feet, one Jonny Cragg on a drum stool, and one Royston Langdon on his knees delivering the lyrics of Iggy Pop’s “Nazi Girlfriend”. He sprung to his feet and the band broke into a very aggressive “Right In The Back Of Your Mind”. The song was extended a bit, giving them a little room to jam. The band was light on between-song banter, and when they did talk, my front-and-center position allowed me to hear things like “MUGH GARBLE SONG! THIS FUN SMUFF GOURD HUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
Photo: Joshua J. Smelser
The second song was Spacehog with Ant on lead vocals. Ant was having pedal/amp issues and was fidgeting with them during the song.
Roy introduced the next song, Starside, which was delivered with furious intensity, and without anything coming out of Ant’s Vox AC30 amp. A new AC30 was then wheeled into my ankle, then onto the stage, and set up behind Ant. A couple of ladies to my right were taking turns touching Rich’s feet and legs. He was amused at first, but the novelty seemed to wear off as time went on, culminating with Rich asking them if they were going to be driving, complete with driving hand motions.
Alternate interpretation: He was telling the ladies that he was wearing driving shoes.
Photo: Joshua J. Smelser
A new song was introduced with a quick “Here’s a new song!” The song is called “Good To Know”. It was excellent, and received a loud show of approval by the fans at it’s conclusion.
Much to my amazement, the band broke into Shipwrecked next. It’s my favorite Hog tune, and I wasn’t expecting it during this super high-energy set. It was most excellent.
Adding to my amazement was the introduction of another new song, which I think Roy claimed writing credits for. It’s called “Curious Thing”, and it was also excellent. It’s probably worth noting at this point… The new songs were genuinely great. They deserve to be played alongside all of the Spacehog greats. The new album has great promise!
Ant introduced “In The Meantime” as “A song we did in 1995. It’s older than time itself”, or some such quip. The crowd went nuts, and sang along. At some point, Ant started having amp problems again, and joked that they were shooting for an amp breaking record. The techs had the amp back in functional condition shortly, and the set resumed.
Photo: Joshua J. Smelser
They launched into “Space is the Place”, followed by “Only a Few” and then “Candyman”, complete with a dedication from Roy to a person who’s name I could not decipher. Midway through “Candyman” the band broke into Queen’s “Get Down, Make Love”, and it was brilliant.
A very high energy “I want to live” preceeded the even-higher energy show closer, “Zeroes”. Jonny was in top form, and looked like a wild-but-controlled Keith Moon. Roy thanks the crowd, everyone goes nuts, and the curtain closes.
??:?4pm: The band is packing up their gear behind closed curtain, and Jonny escapes outside to have a cigarette. I chased him outside, congratulated him and introduced myself. We chatted briefly, but post-show chaos carried him away, and I snuck back inside. I shook Ant’s hand and congratulated him. I lost Roy and Rich. Eventually, I headed out to the parking lot where I found Rich, Jonny and Ant. I had brief discussions with each, and managed to say “hi and bye” to Roy before he took off.
I told Rich that the show far exceeded my expectations, and I meant it. After waiting thirteen years to see them live, I was afraid nothing would live up to my expectations. They exceeded my expectations, and for that, I tip my hat to them. It’s wonderful to have the mighty Hog back.
Photo: Joshua J. Smelser
COMPLETE SETLIST:
Nazi Girlfriend
Right In The Back Of Your Mind
Spacehog
Starside
Glad to Know (NEW SONG!)
Shipwrecked
Curious Thing (NEW SONG!)
In The Meantime
Space Is The Place
Only A Few
Candyman (w/ Get Down, Make Love interlude)
I Want To Live
Zeroes
Miscellaneous notes from the evening’s discussions:
Ant’s Louis Arogant project is now called “Victoria” and they will be releasing an album soon.
Jonny told me that the Hogs are rehearing once more for Friday’s Troubadour gig and recording for a couple days this week.
I told Rich that it appears to be a good time for a Spacehog reunion due to a resurgence of interest. His response: “It’s in the stars!”
Roy hurried up to Ant’s rumored-to-be biodiesel Mercedes asking frantically “Do you have my bass? Is it in the car?” Ant briefly looked concerned, then smiled knowingly, asking Roy “What color is it?”. Later, Roy asked Ant about his friend’s jacket. “Is it in the car?” Ant: “What color is it?” Roy wasn’t nearly as amused as I was at this conversation. LOL.
I had to giggle at the Beatle-like banter going on between Roy and Ant! Roy asking, “Is it in the car?”, with Ant, spreading a very sarcastic Lennon-grin across his face, “What color is it?” Classic!
Great set list, and I can’t wait to hear the new songs! Thank you, guys, for posting the reviews. They help me feel like I was apart of it all. It is indeed WONDERFUL to have them back!!
OH, and I have to say, Only A Few is my FAVORITE Spacehog song, so it’s good to hear that they’re playing that one still!!
Hey Hey Cap’n – Were you taking notes or what?! Glad you were there because we know how well I did at remembering each song!
I’m so happy for you that you were able to make it to the show!! And super happy that you got a chance to talk to the guys!! Thanks so much for sharing it all with us and keepign us up to date!
I’m especially excited to hear about Ant’s project – Victoria!
I’m looking forward to Friday’s show!
I was taking notes. It took a double scotch and a creative imagination to decipher what I scribbled in my little Moleskine during the show. It made complete sense when I wrote it! I look forward to your review the Troubadour show. Perhaps you can remember to ask Ant about the milk!
Charlotte, your review was fantastic! I mean, considering…being that close to the boys, I’d be in a daze as well! I’ll have to take notes if they play near me on the east coast! Otherwise, I’ll be standing there, like you, occasionally taking my eyes off Roy to glimpse the others, in a dream-like trance. I still have a guitar pick of Roy’s from 1998 that I made into a necklace (BLUSHING HERE….)!
Cap’n – Way to go with the note taking and even more important, figuring them out today!!
Re: Mission to find out about the milk
Ha! If I’m even half as giddy as I was last night Ant would find himself staring at a girl hollering “Milk! The cutlets! The milk! Why?” between bursts of hysterical laughter. The man is very busy with multiple projects, I’d hate to know that I was responsible for any additional pressure when he drives home wondering what the hell that was about!! LOL
Leslie – Blush away…you’re the one blushing with the one of a kind, direct from Roy to you, vintage 1998 Roy guitar pick necklace!!! How cool is that?? And I appreciate you understanding my trance like state. I have to say it again “OMG HE WAS RIGHT THERE!!!!!!” ….okay..better.
P.S. I’m so tickled that you were able to use one of my fuzzy cell phone pictures!!!
Don’t worry about the additional pressure on Ant whilst driving home. He claims that his biodiesel gets up to 15mph after some considerable work. He’s probably got some time to think about cutlets! LOL.
Here’s one you two should appreciate. Mid-song I got whacked in the face with Roy’s sweat. My brain had a mini-meltdown. I was thinking “wow, cool… Roy sweat!” at the same time I was thinking “oh foul!… Roy sweat!”. I still don’t know how I feel about it. Getting sweated on by your favorite rock stars is a rite-of-passage, I suppose
LOL!!!!
OMG – the sweat thing? It happened to me, too!!!! *laughing hard here* I just was hesitating to say it because I also had the “wow, cool..Roy sweat!” reaction and thought I might freak everyone out by writing that! I did however make sure that my hand covered the top of my beer bottle the rest of the show. Roy sweat on my face was kinda cool (in a hesitate to admit it kind of way)….but I draw the line at having it in my beer!
great recap of the show. I’ve waited 13 years to see them live too, and it was definitely worth it. the boys rocked.
did anybody else find it odd that they didn’t play a single song off the Chinese Album? is there a reason that I don’t know of? I’m gonna try to catch the Troubadour show on Friday…hoping maybe they’ll play one of them that night. not that I’m complaining. I loved every minute of it.
Yeah, I thought it was odd at first, but considering the size of the venue (no room for keyboards), and the lack of prep time, the band might have just decided to stay away from the complex tunes from TCA. Best guess… I didn’t hear a reason. Jonny did tell a fan that they’d try to learn Mungo City before the Troubadour show
aahh yes…the guy who yelled out “MUNGO CITY!!” before every song.
LOL I heard that guy!!!