NEUROTIC OUTSIDERS LIVE:
Le Gibus, Paris 23rd September 96
SET LIST: PLANET EARTH / NASTY HO / GOOD NEWS / ANGELINA / SILLY THING / BETTER WAY / FEELINGS ARE GOOD / RAW POWER / REVOLUTION / UNION / BLACK LEATHER / JERK / 6 FEET UNDER / JOIN THE PROFESSIONALS / NEW ROSE / BODIES
This was a showcase gig, however the audience was mainly made up of fans. The funny thing was that you could easily tell who had come there because of Guns N' Roses, Duran Duran or the Sex Pistols just by looking at their outfits. The three groups from which the menbers come from are rather different in style! This would tend to prove that blending makes marvels.
The Le Gibus is very small, it only holds about 800 people, and the bands have to cross the audience to get to the stage because the changing rooms are on the other side. Needless to say there was nearly a riot when the Neurotic Outsiders arrived. However they managed to reach the stage and started with Planet Earth, but things really got serious with Nasty Ho when everyone began jumping around. I was right at the front and there was no pit. The stage was only a few inches high and I almost fell at Steve's feet because of the push. There was nothing for the people in the front row to hold on to, so three security guards had to line up to prevent anyone falling. I must confess the sound was crap. They did not do any sound check, Steve's guitar was out of tune and Duff spent most of his time trying to get his going (or was it a problem with the amp?). Anyway, I do not know exactly what went wrong, but he was only able to play half of the gig. Having said this, the atmosphere was so powerful that these problems could not be felt during the show because we were ALL enjoying ourselves.
I did not get to see the Sex Pistols Paris gig back in 1976 (I'm too young!), but I think it must have been the same atmosphere. It was chaos in the audience. Strangely enough the French were wilder than the English (I was at the LA2 a few days later). The band were also undoubtedly enjoying themselves too. Because of the problems they were having with their gear, they had to talk a lot to fill in. Steve was going "Merci beaucoup. we're having problems, just bear with us a couple of seconds" and "Oi, it sounds horrible. Just talk among yourselves." But the best bit was when he started playing the first notes of Union and just could not get it right. So, the first time we got: "This ain't in the song by the way" then he tried a second time "Fucking Hell!", but he could not help laughing. Finally he got it right the third time.
For once a band made up of great musicians had fun on stage, but not on their own, they had fun with their fans. There was a real complicity between them. After the show they even took time to meet the fans. That's what I call rock n roll, we were miles away from the big headed fussy ego-maniacs.
Review by Sophie Stas
Return HomeAll material ©Philjens/www.cookandjones.co.uk 1998/2002