A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.
Three nights with Damon & Naomi in London
I’m just home from an amazing few days in London - this isn’t a review, it’s just a hastily scrawled gush and a few pictures and videos - there are more videos on YouTube and more pictures on Instagram and maybe when I’ve calmed down a bit I can get a more coherent post together - but until then…
Damon & Naomi’s first shows in the UK for over two years were announced in November so I booked travel and hotel and waited for the three dates at Cafe Oto at the beginning of January.
On the morning of the first show I awoke in Whitley Bay to a layer of snow and news of Metro delays, and a points failure in Darlington that promised to make the journey longer than expected. I headed into Newcastle for the train down to London and arrived at King’s Cross a half hour later than planned but not as late as the on-train announcements suggested (although just long enough to get a 50% refund!).
I’d booked myself into the Premier Inn just around the corner from Cafe Oto and so was able to wander to the venue a few minutes before doors… and arrived to find a lengthy queue. Once inside I positioned myself to the right of the stage and waited for the show to start…
Day one
Before the show Naomi came over and handed me a folded up bit of paper and made me promise not to look at it until the show was over.
Opening the show was comedian Stewart Lee (last seen at Krankenhaus with Dean & Britta) who did a short and enjoyable (enjoyably short?) routine to warm the crowd before introducing Laetitia Sadier (of Stereolab) to the stage. Laetitia was playing solo - just her, a guitar, an electronic box-of-tricker (“my band”) and a trombone. A lovely varied and humorous set ensued with a bit of mime thrown in for good measure.
In the interval I repositioned myself to the left of the stage, where it was cooler.
Stewart Lee did another short routine and introduced Damon & Naomi who performed a set of songs from accross the years before being joined by Laetita Sadier and Pulp’s Mark Webber for an astounding and all too short set of Galaxie 500 classics - all with Laetitia on vocals (and trombone - which worked perfectly) First up Flowers, and then When Will You Come Home … “we don’t have a word for ‘home’ in French… it’s ‘a la maison’ […] incroyable”, and finishing with Tugboat.
I honestly can’t even begin to express the joy of seeing this collision of my two absolute favourite bands from the late 80s/early 90s. Add to that Mark Webber’s beautiful guitar augmentations. Perfect!
Now, some folk might want a Galaxie 500 reunion - I don’t - but I do want to see this line-up doing a “plays Galaxie 500” tour”!
Show over, I unfolded the note from Naomi which was the set-list, which I then got Damon and Naomi to sign and then headed back to the hotel.
Day two
Up fairly early and walked to have breakfast at Hash E8 - a very lovely Eggs FLorentine with added slabs of goats cheese, and then decided to take the bus to Abney Park Cemetry to kill an hour or so - I’ve been before but was inspired by Naomi mentioning it the previous night. I then took the Overground to Hampstead to meet some old work friends for lunch and spent a happy couple of hours drinking coffee and nattering. Then back to the hotel to recharge both my phone and my self.
I arrived at Cafe Oto slightly earlier, and therefore to a slightly shorter queue and so this time managed to find a chair although with the intention of giving it up and standing for Damon & Naomi’s set.
The show once again opened with a short routine (almost the same routine) from Stewart Lee and then a short, near-comedy set from Richard Youngs that finished with Stewart Lee reading cards of computer code… “type BASIC”… “input ‘enter amount’“… etc., accompanied by Richard playing guitar and occasionally adding wordless singing.
Followed by a short interval during which I relocated, standing behind the rows of seats and therefore having a better view. Naomi handed me another “secret setlist”.
Damon & Naomi played another career-spanning set before being joined ny Richard Youngs for a couple of Galaxie 500 numbers - Spook and Decomposing Trees - colder, more melancholic interpretations than the previous night’s - and with Richard’s, sometimes discordant guitar accompaniment. Different, but also beaitiful!
The band were then joined by Jess from Still House Plants who added a beuatiful and unique voice to a mesmerising rendition of Don’t Let Our Youth Go to Waste.
I bought myself a copy of Damon’s book and got it signed and acquired a black-vinyl copy of the live Galaxie 500 CBGBs recording since the limited edition “Ultra Clear And Black Cloudy” version was horrid - it looked like a five year old had scribbled it with a marker pen! Also a Galaxie 500 patch - apparently from a “failed beanie” idea.
Day three
Breakfast on day three was Granola at Down to Earth in Hackney, followed by a walk around Hackney Downs before heading off to Ham for lunch with my favourite ex-boss - one of the things I’ve missed since moving to the NE is getting to see and eat with friends so it’s good to take advantage of a few days in London to catch up on what I’ve missed.
Back around London and back to the hotel for re-charging and then into the queue for day three. The Monday show hadn’t sold out, I guess because it was a Monday show. so the room was a little more comfortable - I did get a seat but decided, even before the show began, that I’d rather be standing. First up was a discussion around Damon’s new book, Why Sound Matters with Damon, Gina Birch (formerly of The Raincoats) and Stewart Lee. Gina then played a short support slot which opened with a blistering cover of Patti Smith’s ‘Free Money’.
Damon & Naomi opened their set with a beautiful version of Galaxie 500’s Another Day and then worked through a short set of their own songs before inviting guests on-stage for the finale.
First they were joined (once again) by Mark Webber and by saxophonist Alabaster DePlume and proceded to play a w/ sax version of Blue Thunder. after which the stage was filled with more friends - Gina Birch (vocals), Marie Merlet (tamborine and flute), Laetitia Sadier (vocals and tamborine), and Stewart Lee (snow) for a rousing Listen, The Snow is Falling.
And then it was over.
Naomi handed me the setlist which revealed that New York City had been dropped from the set, I think because things were going on too long… but surely never to long for New York City? But, of course I can’t complain (although I guess I sort of did) after an absolutely thrilling three days - three sets, not a song repeated, nine Galaxie 500 covers, Damon & Naomi pulling songs from across their catalogue. And Laetitia… and her trombone!
