Guano Apes
plus support: Sugacoma
Manchester Hop & Grape
04/05/01

review by Ruth

In a continuation of my mission of Celebrity Bandmember spotting, already tonight I've spotted whathisface lead singer from AFI and Kathy Bates in "Misery". But enough of the cruel jokes - The announcement of Sugarcoma as main support on the bill must have been quite a pull for tonight's gig, after I managed to secure ticket 1 after waiting two weeks after they went on sale. The British Kittie™'s screaming fans down the front seem to have them tipped for the same success as their trans-Atlantic counterparts, but for much of the first half of the set I'm left wondering why the pack have chosen to follow such generic cliché nu-metal offerings. OK, so I'm not male and admittedly some of that charm is a bit lost on me. However, front woman Sally Gess does already seem to have command of her adoring hormonal pubescent hordes, with the exception of those moments when the enthusiastic crowd surfers dent her reserve (and the guitarist's pedals) and when songs have to restarted. But it's in the latter half of the set and the advent of "Queenie" that they start coming into their own - psst, listen up, they actually have tunes. No shit man! It actually sounds good. Kind of like Cock-rock but without that posturing shite. So imagine if you will a Kittie with actual normal kids in it, a fairly attractive frontperson who's growing to fill the stage AND tunes. Do I see any bulges in those baggy jeans yet?

Germany's own Guano Apes have been touring around Europe for the past three or four years, but have yet to make the kind of inroads on Britain that they've made on the continent. However, recently things seem about to change. Even diminuitive frontwoman Sandra Nasic seems a little bemused by the ferocity of crowd surfing tonight. It seems a little weird that Britain have taken so long to get into the Guano Apes. Admittedly, receiving copies of the latest album nearly a year after it's European release wouldn't have helped matter much, but Guano Apes did rap-rock with metallic phrasing before NME had even thought up the name nu-metal. And they're simply heeeyoooooooooge in Europe, darling. And here's where we hit a problem - the same one that prevents Eurovision Song Contest from being taken seriously (OK, so there isn't much to take seriously in the Eurovision Song Contest, but I can't help but thinking it could be brought a bit more up to date. Like to the 1900's for example...). When will Britain take other European Rock acts as real musicians and not cheap copies of bigger acts? Surely there's enough coming out of the US at the moment to keep us satisfied on that account anyway. And while their biggest hit over here to date has been a cover of the brilliant 'Big In Japan', it still doesn't justify the critical neglect of 'Don't Give Me Names', an album which combined heart-destroying despair (the staggering 'Heaven'), seething hatred and greed (the relentless 'I Want It') and, well, just plain weirdness ('Grogan').

Whatever. All I know is that the crowd, equal parts obsessives and new converts is going absolutely apesh*t. 'Big In Japan' creates uncompromising waves of people against the stage, while 'Dödel Up' sees crowd members yelling along with the insane chorus. There are greedy hands wanting a piece of the lead singer wherever she goes. And even the usual zen-like calm of guitarist Henning Rümenapp seems slightly rippled. Drummer Dennis Poschwatta, meanwhile, is taking it all in his stride, whipping the audience up for more cheering pre-encore. At one point Sandra retreats offstage to avoid the hordes of invaders overrunning the stage. I guess it's just something she'll have to get used to.