“A Wild Nobility” ADAM ANT and THE GOOD, THE MAD & THE LOVELY
wsg PRIMA DONNA @ The Jack White Theatre/Masonic Temple Detroit, MI
8/27/13 CONCERT REVIEW BY MCB’s JEFF HOWITT
PHOTOS BY MCB's Jacob Giampa
wsg PRIMA DONNA @ The Jack White Theatre/Masonic Temple Detroit, MI
8/27/13 CONCERT REVIEW BY MCB’s JEFF HOWITT
PHOTOS BY MCB's Jacob Giampa
People were definitely in the Spirit of
Things when they arrived at the Masonic Temple to experience Adam Ant and his
band The Good, The Mad & The Lovely Posse. Some bore a variation of his
trademark War Paint on their cheeks. Others fringe flowing, booted and
sleeveless. Most some mix of casual and No Wave/Mod. I missed Prima Donna
getting myself turned around on Detroit’s mostly lightless back streets. The
Temple itself stood dark in the rainy sky this night. I’m thinking
the openers, personally chose by Ant himself for this tour, went over well as
their merch table was packed with interest once they finished their set.
Nikki Corvette and Amy Gore amongst them vampin’ it up.
As I found my
seat inside the newly anointed Jack White Theatre I realized Raquel Falcon
from Jeecy & The Jungle was in the row right behind me. I recognized
her despite her own lack of signature War Paint on this night. She hadn’t
seen Ant since she was thirteen years old and was as excited now as then.
Moments later lead Retro Girl, Renee Allen made her way down my row and we
were all up on our feet once the orchestral intro sounded and would be for
the next two hours as Adam Ant and his Band poured through thirty songs, yes
Thirty Songs and an Encore with almost no pause.
The set began with a
puckish hop from Ant as he took center stage to his recent albums namesake
“Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter”; an archaic navel term for being bent over a
cannon and flogged that he likens to dealing with a major record label. “Dog
Eat Dog” from “Kings of the Wild Frontier” and “Beat My Guest” from
“BSides Baby!” hit in quick succession. For “Kick” and “Ant’s Invasion” he
would pick up a black Les Paul as he would sporadically throughout the set
and add some distorted riffing to the deliberately low end dynamic of the two
full kit drummers in his backing band.
Numbers from the new album like
“Hardmentoughblokes” and “Shrink” sit thematically well between “Stand And
Deliver” from “Prince Charming” and “Room at the Top” from “Manners &
Physique”. The latter he mock stumbles, tugging at the kerchiefs tied to his
microphone stand before taking off his vest. Playing with theaudience as
much as performing. By “Kings of the Wild Frontier” everyone is singing along
“A New Royal Family/A Wild Nobility/We Are Family”. Ant refers to the “Kings”
character known for wearing the iconic white stripe now as a
Nineteenth Century European cavalry officer “The Blue Black Hussar”. I love
how the Brit’s find Artistic perspective shedding skins from Bowie’s Ziggy
Stardust/Thin White Duke
manifestations to Wild Billy Childish’s forays into
Historical role play with The Spartan Dreggs.
“Wonderful” brings
smiles to the faces immediately around me and causes the dancing in the rows
to spill over into the isle ways. During “Whip in My Valise” scattered
dancers start being escorted back to their seats from the orchestra pit and I
see the Sea Captain brimmed Frank Woodman of Caveman Woodman dancing his way
just out of reach of the flashlight wielding ushers.
A trio of new tracks
leading off with “Vince Taylor”, about French Valerie who gave Ant his own
gold plated chain as a gift, followed by “Stay in the Game” are nearly sewn
together in performance except for the minimalist swampy guitar intro
Ant provided for “Cool Zombie”; the debut single championing his old neighbor
Ronnie B. who turned him onto authentic Country Music. This portion of the
set very much
reeks in all the right ways of his downtime away from the music
industry and letting himself be in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee for a
spell.
“Strip” lightens up the room. Here when Ant playfully snaps free
the top buttons of his billowing white shirt it is met with uproarious
cheering. His guitar is back on for “Desperate Not Serious” off “Friend or
Foe” before three on the tree from his debut record “Dirk Wears White Socks”.
“Cleopatra” mounts Ant at the front of the stage leaning on his knee and
scanning the room nodding rhythmically as from a ships
mast. After what
happened at the Wire show a few weeks back here in Detroit where over
nostalgic fans harassed the band (or tried to by chanting “One! Two! X! U!”
and the band finally retorted “One! Two! FUCK YOU!”) I can’t imagine anyone
not getting the Adam Ant they wanted tonight when the band slams into “Never
Trust A Man With Egg On His Face” then quickly into “Zerox” with Ant
gracefully punching
the air to the cymbal crashes.
“Viva Le Rock”
spikes in and churns up the room dancing again. Mind you the The Good, The
Mad & The Lovely Posse nor Ant have paused for more than seconds between
songs if even that. When they do break it is briefly to introduce the
band, and they all take a much needed pull from their respective cups before
slamming back into the set with “Antmusic”. When “Goody Two Shoes” clicked in
Renee Allen
leaned over and said “On this one I kinda miss the horns”. For
the most part up until this point I didn’t notice so much the instrumental
embellishments missing from the stripped down presentation as they were being
quoted melodically by the guitarist as the bassist riffed away. Yet as the
night marched on you did start to pick out the machinations that drove the
band. Especially the Metal tinged guitar hysterics shredding along side a
double down rhythm section. Not unlike some of Iggy’s former touring bands
before a reunited Stooges. Another from the first album, “Car Trouble” dances
us into “Prince Charming” for the set closer and living up to the title of
that song it is clear “The Blue Black Hussar” is in the building. He watches
the
light in the eyes of those before him as He turns and rides away with his
Lovely Posse.
Comparative to the perpetual motion of the entire
evening their absence from the stage is brief before Ant emerges, his mighty
hussar headdress still in place but stripped down to a sleeveless black
shirt. Matching his band mates in their black jeans and alternating black and
white sleeveless garments. Not quite an uniform but
an androgynous code. You
can see the youth still in the man who was recently carded at 58 years old
trying to buy beer in a Kentucky gas station. The Lovely Posse starts the
march again with “Press Darlings” right into obscuro “Lady/Catch A Falling
Star”. The black Les Paul is back on Ant’s shoulder when he starts
strutting out the chords to “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” by T. Rex and the band
claws right into
it. You can see where Marc Bolan and Adam Ant have more
common ground than one may notice. Where Bolan Called on the Star Children it
was Ant who Gathered the Wandering Tribes to dance with the lights in the
skies. For me Adam Ant can fall between Eagles of Death Metal and Nick Cave
& The Bad Seeds as far as showmanship, literate content and raw but
playful sexuality. Though the “The Blue Black Hussar” may be the immediate
manifestation of Ant’s wounded healer; closing the procession tonight with
“Physical (You’re So)” from “Kings of the Wild Frontier” reminds me that he
is still of “A Wild Nobility” none the less.
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