Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Live:
Michael Rother – Under The Bridge, London. The type of venue (attached to the urban development carbuncle of Stamford Bridge) that you want to walk out of as soon as you enter, doubly so when Rusty Egan is ‘DJing’ in your ear while you’re trying to negotiate the bar. Anyway… Mr Rother appears on stage without fanfare, accompanied by the drummer on Neu 75 that’s not Klaus Dinger and the guitarist from Camera. Pretty cool, and they create a decent facsimile of the Sound We’ve Come To Hear (though Rother’s guitar tone is actually pretty horrible for the first couple of numbers). I don’t mean to sound jaded, as I was genuinely lost in the moment a few times during their set (particularly in a hard and fast take on Harmonia’s ‘Veteranissimo’ (I think) and a nicely harsh ‘Negativland’ (very Loop-esque)), but the sense of veneration/ancestor worship at these type of gigs seems to interfere with my engagement and pleasure. I felt similar at last year’s King Crimson gig, though maybe less so. Ah well, it’s probably all in my head…