It never fails to amaze me just how ordinary the guys from RICHMOND FONTAINE are, you know, just straight forward, no messin', pleasant fellas.
What is even more amazing, is that four such ordinary blokes can
create the kind of intensely bleak, yet strangely uplifting music that they are becoming famed and feted for. Music that is drenched in human suffering, lives going and gone wrong, tales trawled from the very core of humanity's black soul.
Such incredible juxtapositions are merely highlighted to the nth degree tonight when, following the support band's set, the members of Richmond Fontaine appear on stage, shuffling around, arranging their equipment and turning amps on - doing their own roadie-ing - and then without warning or introduction kick into the set, immediately becoming not only purveyors of all that black stuff, but masters of the extraordinary, spellbinding and every bit as special as the reputation they're building for themselves.
We're given a fair chunk of latest album The Fitzgerald, 'The Warehouse' and 'Wellhorn Yards' are both sad and scary, the characters taking on real emotional life in Willy Vlautin's handling of stories of life's losers simply losing once again. 'Black Road' is fierce, guitar and bass rumbling ominously, breaking into blasts of fear and dread.
All the songs are treated to an extra portion of intensity in the live setting, arrangements developed to suit a full band presentation. Vlautin swops between acoustic and electric guitar but Paul Brainard keeps things sharp and edgy with some incredibly instinctive playing.
When introducing 'Incident at Conklin Creek', Vlautin allows us a peek at his artistic process, explaining that the song developed from a real life camping trip upon which, in the middle of nowhere, he stumbled upon a ring of empty bottles and a pair of torn panties. Later, he explained, he couldn't get the image out of his head, experiencing a real sense of dread at what might have happened there. It's a fascinating glimpse at the mind of a man who seems able to connect so fully and empathically with situations and characters from a world that so many of us couldn't even begin to imagine. Perhaps this is just one reason why so many of us are drawn to his songs, because what they offer is so far beyond our everyday realm of experience?
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Elsewhere the set picks up tempo, and when RF rock they do so in a very grand, eloquent and elegant why. Their sound can at times contain the same ragged glory as Husker Du but there is something more reasoned and controlled about the end result.
Post To Wire's 'Always On The Ride' is massive tonight, celebratory, launching a sea of smiles with its sweeping, lop-sided optimism. Bassist Dave Harding sways and bounces on his toes almost like he's fighting not to allow himself to pogo across the stage! Similarly, 'Montgomery Park' lifts everyone present, from its tumbling intro and chorus' to that great line, "Every thought I thought I'd thought right it used to come out wrong..." to its crashing close.
Only one thing prevented this from being a perfect night, the pillock who through the first 15 minutes of the set seemed determined to start a fight with everybody in his vicinity - so distracting and I just cannot imagine a less appropriate setting for such behaviour! Eventually he left and we could all get on with enjoying one of the finest bands in existence!
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