3 AM Chatter About Eddie Argos

(The following is background info that makes all of this make sense. Eddie Argos is the vocalist of British art-rockers Art Brut. Eddie is the voice of the band in that he writes almost all of the songs, and he is also the vocalist, which is kind of a loose term considering he shout-speaks on every Art Brut song. A lot of this is conversational. A lot of this might confuse you. If you are confused, just know that I am a geek for this man and I’d be able to answer any inquiries very quickly.)Around 9:30 PM: Bottletree, October 22nd.

So we get there, friends and whatnot and first me and female friend freak out because he walked from the front entrance back to the tour bus. He returned out the same way shortly and I did freak out.

There was a merch table (as is commonplace in rock shows) and he and Jasper and…someone else, I think Mike [Breyer, the band's drummer], were trading spots at points. And so me and her went up to meet him. (He had a fabulous coat.) I made a comment about how she thinks I look a lot like Eddie (which she does). And I shook his hand.

And then I made a comment about Jasper being picked on.

It went like:

Me: “Why do you guys pick on Jasper so much?”

Eddie: “Because he’s an idiot.”

I laughed the hardest I laughed in my entire life. I am disappointed I didn’t get to talk (pro) wrestling with the guy, but I shook the man’s hand and I bought an awesome Art Brut shirt, so I felt I gave enough support.

Around 11:00 PM (after opening act Princeton finished their set):

The show itself truly started with…I think it was “Bad Weekend”. (One of the songs from their first album Bang Bang Rock and Roll. It kind of defines itself in what it is about, but it’s more Eddie being depressed that he doesn’t like “popular culture.”) And he went into a rant midway about how he went to a record shop and it sold computer games and DVDs. And basically, he didn’t want that. He had some douzies as far as stage banter goes. He did “Modern Art” (a song that is also simply defined as “Eddie loves modern art”), but he changed it to “DC Comics.” Like as in, it sounded like “Modern Art” but it was DC comics based as a valid excuse to tell a five minute in-song story about going to DC Comics. Eddie’s favorite comic Booster Gold was mentioned.

Around 11:30 PM:

Eddie then just said, “A girl yelled for ‘Nag Nag Nag Nag’ so let’s play it.” (Again, defines itself. It’s about Eddie feeling he is a nag to his girlfriend.) Oh, I’m a poor narrator, but around the time of the DC Comics rant, Eddie went into the crowd. That was pretty awesome. Sadly, the attendence sucked a bit. There was maybe 100. I doubt Eddie himself minded, though, Bottle Tree doubles as a bar.And he drank a lot. And Mike got a pie in his face. And twice he left where I was when I’d randomly yell a greeting by saying “I’ll be back in a second.”

Oh, Eddie noted that he was going to “sing sexy” on “Rusted Guns of Milan.” Which he proceeded to sing normally and then noted “Well, it’s kind of hard to sing sexy on a song about erectile dysfunction.” But oddly, I can’t remember much of the banter. I did know that Eddie was half drunk, which made him wonderful.

Around 12:25 AM:

The show ended and I went to the merch stand and bought a shirt from the female bassist, I forget her name. (Freddy Feedback is her name.) Jasper [Future, guitarist and backing vocals] isn’t hard to miss. And more people did cheer for the regular “Modern Art” over “DC Comics makes me want to rock out.” But Eddie said “A big scary man cheered for ‘DC Comics’ so we’ll play it.” And after the song, he said “Well, that big scary man I realized was our T-shirt stand.” It was wonderful that he basically admitted the polling was bull—-, and it was insignificant, because otherwise, we would not get the DC Comics rambling mid-song. Nonetheless, that was it. They did the encore and did “Formed A Band” and “Bang Bang” and it was glorious. And I kind of wished we stayed, but Eddie might’ve been beyond drunk at this point. So pictures were probably out of the question.

Anyways, I think I am heading to bed now. It’s been a long day. Take care.

 

by Trey Irby

~ by themissingink on November 5, 2009.