How the hell did Shaun Ryder get a visa?
My guess is that Damon Albarn had to smuggle him into the country, probably in a crate that wasn't inspected by port security. Either way, his presence onstage during an amazing rendition of "DARE" went a long way towards explaining why this show cost almost $90 a ticket. Every single penny went into making this a spectacular performance. So much so, I'm going to guess that Damon didn't make any dinero off these five shows.
Demon Days Live was absolutely amazing and yes all the visuals were working. The band was unbelievable. The light show was trippy. Jamie Hewlett's video art was dazzling. And the puppets were hysterical. The string section sounded beautiful, and it was so energizing to see them dancing in their seats when they weren't playing. You can hear a lot of Damon's Mali Music project influencing these songs. The guests were fucking fantastic. Neneh Cherry shaked her booty, Roots Manuva got sly, Ike Turner (ill) worked the piano, Bootie Brown kicked it with the Harlem Boys Choir, and a very hyper De La Soul tore up the stage. And me man Shaun, what a goofy and entertaining bastard he was. I only wish that Dennis Hopper and MF Doom were in the house rather than on tape.
The show culminated with "Don't Get Lost In Heaven" into "Demon Days" and it was truly mesmerizing. The Harlem Gospel Choir were religious and Jamie's amazing stain-glass window drawings were perfectly synced. It was a perfect performance from start to finish. Damon gets top marks and mad respect.
If you don't have tickets, you really should throw-down for these. It's well worth the money. And on that note, one of PSNYC's dear friends has two tickets that he's selling for Tuesday nights show. Why is he selling the tickets? Well, our friend bought tickets for the show. We met for drinks. Went to the venue. Got scanned by the ticketman. Got stopped by the ticketman. Turns out our friend got tickets for Tuesday night, not monday night!!! D'oh.
Well, we got sorted out by the Apollo's cool staff (except they are hardcore about not letting pictures be taken, thus no photographs here), but now my friend is unloading his two tickets for Tuesday nights show. If you want them at face value, email us here.......
Comments