Sigue Sigue Sputnik Electronic vs. The Purple Turd
This was my 17th Sputnik gig. Well, Sputnik in one form or another. I was in London anyway to catch a gig by Danish band D-A-D so I decided to stay a day longer and catch this Sputnik Electronic gig too.
I had a real bad case of the London flu at this gig and waiting outside in the cold wind for more than half an hour to get inside the club did absolutely no good for my health. Once inside I found DocSputnik, Leigh, Sputnikfred / Biker, Lloyd and we met a dude from Indonesia and one from France. Good to meet up with all you Sputnik lunatics again even in my miserable condition.
Most electronic bands sounds a bit like Depeche Mode and that's how I felt about several of the support acts (SHH, Kid Kasio and Goteki). Goteki was actually a pretty good band. At some point during the support acts Martin and Johann arrived at the venue, but after a short chat they quickly ran backstage to get ready for their show.
Let me first make certain that it is fully understood that I totally love most of the tracks that Lloyd and Martin have created together in recent years. They have kept Sputnik alive and fresh while the other half Tony and Neal seem to have almost abandoned the Sputnik project. Some fans are not totally happy with the entirely electronic orchestration of Sputnik Electronic but that has never been a real issue for me. I think it works great on the studio tracks.
I must however admit that Sputnik Electronic is not really my idea of a live act. It is too much Memorex and too little live and I must at least hear a live guitarist on stage to be satisfied. I think the current live setup puts too much energy into fantastic futuristic costumes where I as a rock'n'roll music fan would like most of the energy put into presenting a kick ass live gig.
I long for some of the acts that Martin put together earlier on e.g. Sputnik2 @ The Garage in 2005 and Sputnik2 @ The Underworld in 2006 and the great Sci-Fi Superstars @ Purple Turtle in 2009 promoting the awesome "Prophet of Freak" album. Those were attempts to create some real live rock'n'roll on stage and much more to my taste. The decision to go fully electronic on stage has probably much to do with money since it ain't easy making money off live music today. I have not giving up all hope though because a new album is in the works with brand new songs. I can always hope that those songs will be presented by a full band.
The real problem is of course that camp 1 (Martin) and Camp 2 (Tony and Neal) should forget their ridiculous feud and get together and pick up the pieces and get ready for Sputnik v3. The band were awesome @ Dingwalls in 2002, they were about to release a great album "Ultra Real" and then it all fell apart. Let's recreate The future now. Let's bring back the original lineup! Until then enjoy the awesome japanese tribute band "Super-Three". They are actually a lot more Sputnik than Sputnik has been for many years. They are the true Next Generation. No soft cheesy pop shit like Next Generation (1995). These young lads fucking rock! Wish we could get them to Europe sometime soon for a few gigs!
If you want to know how the actual Sputnik Electronic gig was @ Purple Turtle then it was alright. The crowd could have been bigger but those present seemed to have a great time and Martin and Johann were dressed up for fun. Martin even wore his dreaded plastic boobs again. Leigh took over the stage for some time for a Doc Doc Sputnik show and most of us Elite rockers up front had a go at the mic at one point or another.
I didn't stay for autographs, band photos or after gig drinks. I was quite exhausted from the flu killing my body and I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning to catch a plane. So no more fun for me. I've seen pictures on Facebook and DocSputnik's site though, which indicate that there was a lot of after-gig fun as well.
Would I go to a Sputnik gig in any form again? Stupid question, of course I would. I would be first in line and up front and center and having lotSSS of fun. Let it rock!
Band: Sigue Sigue Sputnik Electronic
Venue: The Purple Turtle, London, UK
Concert Date: 2012-03-02
Musicians: Martin Degville, Johann Weidemann
Setlist:
- Intro,
- Rockit Miss USA,
- Alien Christ,
- 21st Century Boy,
- Teenage Thunder,
- Sci-Fi Lover,
- M*A*D,
- Dancerama,
- Success,
- The Jean Genie (Bowie),
- Jayne Mansfield,
- Love Missile F1-11
Encore:
Ticket Price (DKK): 90
Ticket Provider: Billetlugen
Content Type: Concert Review
Language: 
Updated: 2012-03-02 00:00
Created: 2012-02-02 20:00
