Tapes ‘N Tapes Play ‘Secret’ Show in London

admin on Mar 4th 2008

Tapes ‘N Tapes played a special show last night to a crowd of just 100 people, debuting songs from their upcoming album Walk It Off.

Having gathered to queue in a corner of the Old Blue Last pub hours in advance, fans were then bizarrely asked to form a new line all over again outside…in the cold…for another hour.

When the band finally came on at 22.30, they seemed swamped by a PA system so poor that it quickly alleviated the blame for two cringe-inducing performances from The Fucks and Stricken City.

For the few there unfamiliar with Tapes ‘N Tapes, they will certainly not have been impressed by what followed: a sloppy, limp and downright underwhelming display that simply was not worth the wait. During an hour-long set with scant showings from The Loon (‘Cowbell’, ‘10 Gallon Ascots’ and ‘Insistor’), new songs such as ‘George Michael’, ‘The Dirty Dirty’ and ‘Hang them All’ seemed to lack the sparkling dynamics of old, rarely straying anywhere near the adventurous song structures of their debut.

Clearly intended as a fun idea to round off a European promo trip ahead of their new album, reverting to a tiny stage normally used by amateurs made them sound just that: decidedly average.

Hopefully this was simply a sub-standard outing that does not accurately reflect on Walk It Off – as if it does, the Minnesotan four-piece may have their work cut out for them if they’re to recapture the hearts of the blogosphere they way they did so successfully in 2005, harnessing the hype to have their pick of major record deals.

Live Review: Tapes ‘N Tapes – Old Blue Last, Shoreditch, London – 3rd March 2008

Set list: