Indra,
I always hit the merch tables when they play in New York
Great way to find those rare solo albums and such.
I like MWP's vox and PK hits a good note every once in a while but yeah, Steve's vocals are why we listen...he is unmatched in that area and is in excellent form on U23 and Painkiller. Very passionate vocals and the songs they are coming out with these days deserve all the attention they get.
I met MWP and TP at the Bowery Ballroom show back on the Forget Yourself tour and they were the nicest most down to earth people I could imagine. Saw PK and SK entering the club that night and waved...they looked at me like they were about to be mugged! LOL I am 6'4" and must have terrified them
So I am also casting my lot in as a fellow resident Chruch freak here if you don't mind some company. The more the merrier hopefully!
Huge U2 fan here as well, but U23 is leaps beyond NLOTH and I thought that was an excellent effort from Bono and the guys this year.
Question though...how do you feel about Steve's constant crapfest all over U2? It is sour grapes? Jealousy over their success? Sk has NOTHING to be jealous of since he is a a consumate musician rather than a showman like Bono. I love them both and just get bummed when SK bristles every time he is compared to U2 or Bono.
There is a huge list of merch table offerings this time. Here's a partial listing:
the church untitled #23 CD
the church untitled #23 2xLP
marty willson-piper nightjar CD
steve kilbey painkiller CD
the church coffee hounds ep
the church pangaea ep
the church tour poster
the church séance blue shirt
the church séance pink shirt
the church priest=aura shirt
the church hindsight shirt
the church starfish shirt
the church tour shirt 2009
unorthodox label shirt
steve kilbey biography book
marty willson-piper nightjar shirt
marty willson-piper hanging out heaven CD
marty willson-piper live from other side CD
marty willson-piper spirit level CD
marty willson-piper rhyme CD
marty willson-piper pegasus ep
noctorum sparks lane CD
noctorum offer the light CD
tiare helberg EP
marty willson-piper pegasus cards
marty willson-piper nightjar cards
marty willson-piper photo cards
Nightjar Print
Etruscan Guitar Print
Priest Bag
Coffee Hounds Bag
Shriek Soundtrack CD
Back With Two Beasts CD
Blurred Crusade CD
After Everything CD
Uninvited Like Clouds CD
Forget Yourself CD
A Box Of Birds CD
Tin Mine CD
El Momento Descuidado CD
El Momento Siguiente CD
Peter Koppes Misty Heights and Cloudy Memories CD
Refo:Mation-Phamakoi- "Distance Crunching Honchos With Echo Units
There will also be a nice selection of prints and cards of Steve's art and a cd and mini prints (5"x7") set of Steve's just completed multi media art exhibit in Pittsburgh. I produce the prints and cards (Marty's too) and am responsible for the manufacture of the cd/mini prints set, so be nice!
Actually, I'm still frantically working on everything!
Of course merch sales is where they make most of their money when they tour, so they are bringing everything they can think of along. Bring lots of cash! (I want them to tour here again
)
They are really nice! I can just picture the looks on SK's and PK's faces -- probably having flashbacks to their time on the Australian pub circut. From what I understand they had some pretty hairy shows (speaking of hairy -- have you seen Marty lately?
) I wouldn't want to catch any of them in a bad mood, but I have to say they are more patient than I would be in many situations. I do think Peter and Steve are generally less comfortable meeting people than Tim and Marty.
The U2 thing -- the short answer is Steve is just being cranky old bastard Steve.
The longer answer -- yeah I do believe there is jealousy/bitterness there. Think about it from Steve's view -- is U2 really a better band than the Church? No, they aren't. But U2 is stinking rich and hugely popular and the Church isn't. Bono can go and do and buy just about anything he wants any time he wants, while Steve is trying to figure out how to pay for dental work he needs. The Church are spectacularly bad businessmen, and instead of having a Paul McGuinness type managing them they had a series of not only bad, but crooked managers.
And to be honest I don't think the Church were ever cut out to have commercial success on a U2-type scale. U2 has always been willing, even eager, to do things and events -- even really hokey shit -- to get publicity. The Church have a deep seated distrust of the establishment and anything they see as sucking up to "the man" is just repulsive to them. I mean the Australian recording industry association has it's own hall of fame which has been trying to induct the Church for at least a couple of years now. But the organisation wants the inductees there for the ceremony. The Church has (so far at least) declined, and Steve has ranted that "why should we go suck up to a bunch of greedy bastards (record industry execs) that have no clue what is good music?" Uh, because it would get you some good publicity, Steve? Sigh. Oh, and get this -- when The Triffids were inducted into that same HOF guess who subbed for their lead singer (who died in 1999)? Yep, none other than Steve Kilbey. And who played bass in Russell Morris' band when he was also inducted during that same ceremony? Uh-huh, none other than Steven John Kilbey.
I swear they are going to drive me crazy.
Is any of this U2's fault? Nope. But I think to Steve, U2 represents the much hated music industry. U2 has always been willing to play the game, and therefore has been embraced by the industry. The Church would only play the game sporadically and not particularly well even then, and so was rejected by the industry. Steve is an idealist -- you shouldn't have to play games or suck up to be successful if you make good music.
Ok, did that make any sense?
Probably not, but it's now
really late, so I'm going to quit anyway.