Well, I had forgotten how noisy Belfast audiences were until last night at the Menagerie when Jeffrey Lewis and Jacob Golden battled against some quite appaling audience chatter. Most people had paid a fiver in, in fact most people seemed to enjoy them, but at the slightest hint of a drop in level from the stage, up went the chatter. I've seen Jacob play against noisy crowds before (though London noise is a much tamer beast than Belfast noise), and he can handle them very well, but Jeffrey's more subtle solo stuff got a bit lost. Thankfully his band managed to make everyone sit up and take notice. The crowd didn't actually spoil the show for me, but I now understand why the Smog show I went to late last year in the Empire (before I lived here) had 'please be quiet' notices on the tables.
Unfortunately, as I legged it just before the end due to having a seriously early start this morning, I missed the PA falling to bits and Jeffrey Lewis leading the audience outside to finsih the gig in the car park! I'd thought that by staying until he'd played 'The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song' I had seen all the best bits, but apparently not!
By the way, an interview with Mr Golden will be on this site very soon.