Adam Ant // UEA – 21.11.12
The atmosphere is overwhelmingly positive and everyone is having so much fun, most of all Adam Ant himself.
It has been a LONG time since I went to a gig at the UEA LCR. As a Norwich resident, I think I associate it with my teenage years (probably because my prom was there). And on this occasion, which was a freezing Wednesday night, I have to say that the thought of walking there and potentially not being able to see anything wasn’t particularly appealing to me.
HOWEVER , the walk perked me up if anything and because of my initial reluctance / faffing, as I walked in, Adam Ant was walking onstage. Thank god I missed the awful support band who were there the year before. It is surprising (to a casual fan like me) how many people love Adam Ant. I wasn’t there the first time around and although he is pretty much touring constantly, I thought that it was all for nostalgic / sentimental reasons. It was packed. OK, yes it was packed with quite a few middle aged people, and quite a few of them in fancy dress, but they knew all the words! They LOVE Adam Ant.
You think that because he is mainstream and known for being theatrical and performative, he will be cheesy, but he is ON IT. His magnetism is sleazy and he is just really fun. He dances in this filthy way that makes him somehow super likeable. It’s easy to ignore how talented he is – he can sing a good hook, most of which he wrote himself, he works hard, and if we’re not being cynical and superior, he looks great for a 58 year old pop star.
I am a sucker for two drummers anyway, but the sound at the LCR was great (apart from a few technical problems with AA’s guitar); the instrumentation was crystal clear but surprisingly heavy and the rhythm boost really suited the songs. The guitarists are generic bleached blonde boys and I’m reluctant to even mention the stupid dancer girl who couldn’t even sing, but somehow everything fits. I think it’s because his songs are excellent. Yes, there is a dip in the middle, perhaps where he plays a few newbies, but ‘Vince Taylor’ is a track from his upcoming album that definitely packed a punch.
‘Kick’, ‘Stand And Deliver’, ‘Kings Of The Wild Frontier’, ‘Cleopatra’ and ‘Goody Two Shoes’ are all obviously brilliant in the main bulk of the set, and they are as exciting to me as anything I have seen recently. But what really wins it is the KILLER encore, or more specifically, the last three songs, ‘Prince Charming’, ‘Red Scab’, and ‘Physical (You’re So)’. By this point I love Adam Ant just as much as everyone else in the room. The atmosphere is overwhelmingly positive and everyone is having so much fun, most of all Adam Ant himself.
Maxie Gedge
