I know Oli will disagree with me here, but I have to say I've always been slightly dissapointed with him live.
In fact, the Hey Stoopid tour was probably my first ever dissapointing gig. At that point (age about 13) I'd been to see Erasure (just magic. Every song transformed from the album, such a set!) and Iron Maiden (MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIDEN!) before (and maybe Roxette), so I was completely unprepared for a middle aged audience, in a half-full arena, sat on their seats all night.
If I mentioned the gig to my best friend, I can guarantee he would still take the piss of me excitedly jumping out of my chair and screaming when he came on, and being the only guy to do so.
I've been to a couple of shows since then, but each time he fails to really connect to the audience. Falling between a rock show and a stage musical doesn't help. He doesn't communicate AT ALL. No scope for spontenaity. And however long his band has played together, whatever their pedigree, they still sound like session musicians.
That said. This thread has got me all excited about his music, and I will be playing Alice all afternoon.
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