Casiotone For The Painfully Alone – The Luminaire, London, 27/04/09

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Wow, haven’t been to the Luminaire in a while it seems. It feels like yesteryear when I would frequent here pretty much every other night. Looks like they’ve had a bit of make over as well. Is it because they don’t put on anything good any more? Or am I becoming lazier in checking up on the gig listings? Probably the latter… but either way, Chicago’s Casiotone For The Painfully Alone (Owen Ashworth to his mother – although how funny would it be if she called him Casiotone… Not that funny I guess) is playing here tonight and he’s showcasing his newbie, the Vs. Children (and also laying down some classic floor fillers from his vast back cat.)
He must feel at home here in Kilburn. I counted this as his 4th show at this venue (once supporting the legend that is Mount Eerie and then a couple of headline shows himself). I did think it was funny when I actually saw Owen walk into the venue with a suitcase, as if he was staying the night in the backroom, during the support act Concern who I was told by a knowledgeable source is actually Owen’s brother, Gordon. I didn’t think too much of Concern as it goes. Far too minimal and one dimensional and not enough to captivate for sustained periods. It was lacking the substance and subtle progressions of Stars of the Lid, The Caretaker, Phil Niblock and the like. My knowledgeable source of a friend said it best: “Sounds like a Bee trapped in a jar”. Though said Bee was completely drenched in stacks of reverb.

The clock strikes 10 and Casiotone For The Painfully Alone takes to the stage. He’s by himself. He looks in a good mood. I usually come to the conclusion that artists are in a good mood if they freely banter with the crowd and aren’t adverse to the odd request. Well Owen has opened the floor for requests. “Ice cream truck!” I yell. “No wait, I Love Creedance”. People turn and look at me and I feel a tad foolish. I just really like those songs. He later rewards my loutish behaviour but not before he’s rolled through ‘White Corolla’ and ‘Old Panda Days’ (which half way through, he feels it necessary to ensure the audience that the song is not saying cocaine is OK but more about being dumb and experimenting in “college”… Didn’t even cross my mind, Owen ).

Then he drops low-key versions of fan favourites such as ‘Scattered Pearls’ and ‘Holly Hobby’ (tonight in it’s ‘Holly Bobby’ guise) sounding sympathetically fragile and bare and the crowd are mesmerized. ‘Ice Cream Truck’ sounds like a spinning cacophony of fan-fares from distant memories. The sell out crowd is having a blast. Well, as much as they can in a small 300 capacity venue in London. That basically means they are bopping their heads and swaying gently from one side to the next. To me, that’s pretty much as good as you can hope for from a crowd in London. I even think I saw some one jerk their knee in a spasm motion to the time of the music. This could have been a medical condition though.

It was too good to be true though, this lucky streak couldn’t last. After performing several handpicked choice cut highlights from his early career solo, Owen’s joined on stage by brother Gordon, Tyler Thurston, and drummer Nick Tamburro. However, I feel it puts the breaks on the evening. It felt a tad needless. Sure, the band succeed in fleshing out the additional percussive and melodic thrust on tracks such as ‘Bobby Malone’ but rarely enhance the delivery of the songs or match the stark emotion which Owen achieved by doing it on his own. I can understand that the set needs a good kick start sometimes and sure, it did give a new slant on the songs which some people would dig and sure, it offers something a little different from the record. For me though, Owen and his cheap keyboards, beats, and slow, frank lyrics is good enough! Jeez, I am a real snob, aren’t I?