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Damon & Naomi in the UK this week in 1999

My Tuesday post is a Wednesday post this week since I’ve been a bit busy - probably best to see my Instagram or my YouTube channel to find out why!

26 years ago this week Damon & Naomi were in the UK for the third Terrastock Festival that was held at ULU in London between the 27th and 29th August. While they were in the country I managed to catch them three times so here are some of those memories… sadly none of which are accompanied by pictures or videos since… 1999 and phones didn’t have cameras (and I only rarely took a proper camera to gigs). So… this is probably as visually exciting as this post will get!

Terrastock 3 laminate

Luckily for you I did write about each show for the Galaxie 500 Mailing List.

26th August 1999 - Damon & Naomi at The Lift, Brighton

Bob, famously the Galaxie 500 Mailing Lists oldest member, was in town for Terrastock and we were planning to meet at the show however during that planning it became clear that we were both at a loose end on the night before Terrastock, and that Damon & Naomi were playing that night in Brighton. So… Bob and I made a fairly late decision to drive down to Brighton to catch them.

Just past 2am and I've not long been in from a trip down to Brighton (with "old" Bob R who's over for Terrastock this w/e) to see Damon & Naomi. Having suffered through an overlong set by a support act I found it difficult to get into (2 acoustic guitars, 2 voices and little variation) Damon & Naomi hit the stage just after 10 and despite suffering some irritating sound problems still managed to dish out a scintillating set featuring a couple of new numbers, a few old numbers (NYC, This Car..., Information Age etc.) and a dreamy cover of Big Star's "Blue Moon". They were bullied into an encore by an enthusiastic crowd (at least the ones who weren't at the back talking throughout the set) and left the stage too soon (they had to catch a train back to London). Another D+N show another lovely evening.

to follow... London ULU, Sat London Upstairs at the Garage, Thurs (2nd)

off to bed now I think.

Andy Aldridge - The Galaxie 500 Mailing List - 27th August 1999 02:23

I’m assuming the late hour and exhaustion led me to spend too much of that post moaning about the support band and the folk talking during the set

28th August 1999 - Damon & Naomi at Terrastock 3, ULU, London

Terrastock 3 was held over three days but unfortunately, Adam being just two, and Hazel working, meant that I didn’t get to see as much of the show as I would have liked. Damon & Naomi’s set was on the Saturday and I did manage to make it in for that…

Not long in from a short stint at the London Terrastock (childcare commitments have meant that my 45 quid ticket will get little more than a few hours worth of music (but still money well spent)...

I arrived at 6pm working to an old timetable that had Tom Rapp appearing at that time - Tom was already offstage after what was reported (from a number of sources) to be a stunning performance. Fortunately I was in time to catch D+N on stage at 6 when I expected to see them at 8).

Another cracking performance, with a more respectful audience and a less temperamental sound system. They did the same two new numbers that they had done on Thursday, plus a few old favourites NYC, Eye Of The Storm, Turn Of The Century, The Navigator etc and Big Star's Blue Moon. They left the stage, after 40 minutes and where coaxed back for an encore. They retook the stage and eased into a beautiful, and very moving version of Blue Thunder (well worth the ticket price on its own).

Andy Aldridge - The Galaxie 500 Mailing List - 29th August 1999 00:10

What I weirdly didn’t write about on the mailing list was chatting with Naomi and Tom Rapp in the bar after the show - you’d have think I’d have wanted to boast about hobnobbing with the stars but… it seems not. I did however write about it for a post after Tom died in 2018:

In 1999 Terrastock came to London - a last minute sceheduling change and childcare responsibilities conspired to mean that I missed Tom's performance and barely arrived in time to catch Damon & Naomi's set! But after the show was over Tom and I got chatting. I can't remember how, I think I'd been loitering around probably trying to catch Naomi's eye when Tom came over.

Tom Rapp (1947 - 2018)

I was hoping to find some reviews or comments about Damon & Naomi’s set at the London Terrastock, but there’s precious little at all about the show. But I found this from Terrascope founder Phil McMullen that might go some way of explaining why there’s so little of Terrastock 3 out there:

Terrastock London took place in 1999 and featured the British debut for a whole load of bands which had become part of our “family” of acts in America – Bardo Pond, Tom Rapp of Pearls Before Swine, Green Pajamas, Spacious Mind, Silver Apples. But nobody came. Actually, that’s not quite true. An awful lot of loyal fans flew over from America to be there and a few travelled from Europe; but you’d have been hard pressed to hear a British accent inside the venue. It’s since become one of those legendary festivals about which if even a tenth of the number of people who claimed to have been there had actually been there it would have been a success, but it left me broken in every regard. I remember Tom Rapp even arranged a whip-round amongst the other performers to help pay for the PA hire.

Phil McMullen - Echoes and Dust interview (2019)

Wire did review the show and Ian posted the relevant bit to the mailing list - I don’t have the issue, or access to their digital archive so this is all I have:

Meanwhile, Tom Rapp's British debut is a highlight of the weekend. When Krukowski steps up to narrate Rapp's opening number it's as if the baton is being handed on, and the final 20 minute jam, where the Spacious Mind steer Rapp's understated acoustic guitar figures through a dense electrical storm, banishes the bad taste left by his more whimsical moments. Damon & Naomi's own set is a quiet triumph, revealing, as Tom Rapp always says, that they were four fifths of the talent of their old Galaxie 500 trio.

Wire (October 1999, or maybe September... or November?)

2nd September 1999 - Damon & Naomi Upstairs at The Garage, London

This was the second time I saw Damon & Naomi at the upstairs room of The Garage, the first time was in May 1998 and wasn’t one of the most enjoyable shows, it was crowded and uncomfortable and I don’t think anyone there (even the artists) will remember it particularly fondly. This time was much better, although I didn’t go into too much detail on the list:

Another lovely D+N show, a small but respectful crowd were treated to a set featuring a healthy mix of new and old (including one, "Mirror Phase", receiving its live debut). A cracking "Laika" and "Information Age" were high points along with the beautiful version of Big Star's Blue Moon that they have been doing recently.

That's three excellent shows in eight days - I guess that's my quota for this year.

Andy Aldridge - Galaxie 500 Mailing List - 3rd September 1999 01:26