Add N To (X) - Birmingham, 18th Dec 2002.
Add N To (X) - Birmingham, 2002.
“You’re not singing, you’re not singing, you’re not singing
anymore”…..
There it is, as sang on Monster Bobby, a song which wasn’t played at Birmingham
Academy. In fact, neither were a lot more vocal tracks from the futu-robotic
sex noiseniks we know and love as Add N to (X). You see, the problem was a
classic one. Half-heartedness. To make the Add N to (X) sound more full on, the
band had grown from a three piece to a full on quintet, but this didn’t make up
for the lack of interest shown on the bands behalf. So there were five, but
still Ann Shenton was missing. Where was she?? When asked by the audience, the
reply was telling. A firm “Shut Up”.
This was about it for band-audience interaction. What was to
follow was some moments of vinyl genius played with the same amount of passion
that Shane MacGowan shows for dentistry. Something was amiss. Metal Fingers In
My Body, once a wall of sound, now came across like Jamiroquai attempting
Kraftwerk. This was the problem with the gig, it just didn’t sound like Add N to
(X). And it didn’t look like Add N to (x), There was one parting shot from
Barry 7 before they left the stage. “Thanks for coming to the last Add N to (X)
gig in Birmingham, EVER”.
With a fantastic comeback album being mauled in front
of our very eyes and ears, would that be a problem?
