A few results came up.... my review on LeftLion and Mike's review in the Post, of course.... but my eyes were drawn to a website called Nottingham Live and I clicked through to read the review. The prose was a bit clunky, but I liked the fact that both of the supports got a fair bit of coverage. I was still wondering why you might describe Delta Maid as "affluent" when I began to read about the main act.
Hmm.
The more I read, the more familiar it looked. By the time I got down to the bit where the reviewer talked about some of the songs the band had played, I actually loaded up my review on LeftLion to double-check what I'd written. It wasn't pretty:
Nottingham Live: "Performing mainly tracks from their new album their relatively short set lasted less than an hour, but it was well worth checking out. Their harmonious voices made everyone soon forget that they were concentrating just on the material from their new album"
me on LeftLion: "The Pierces play a relatively short set tonight, clocking in at less than an hour, and focus almost exclusively on songs from their new album. Luckily, the material is uniformly good and the sisters’ soaring harmonies sound as good live as they do on record".
Nottingham Live: "they performed songs such as You’ll Be Mine (requested on Radio 2 as “the 1-2-3 song”, apparently), It Will Not Be Forgotten, Close My Eyes, Kissing You Goodbye, an acid-tinged Secret, Sticks and Stones and a wistful I Put Your Records On".
me on LeftLion: "Highlights include You’ll Be Mine (requested on Radio 2 as “the 1-2-3 song”, apparently), It Will Not Be Forgotten, Close My Eyes, Kissing You Goodbye, an acid-tinged Secret, Sticks and Stones and a wistful I Put Your Records On".
Nottingham Live: "They ended the night with a performance of their 2007 song Paean to Ennui".
me on LeftLion: "It’s not often that a crowd shout of “Boring” will be taken as a compliment, but the band finishes their set with a storming version of their epic 2007 paean to ennui. It’s a great way to finish a set by a band whose star is (finally) on the rise".
That last one in particular had me in stitches: cutting and pasting is one thing, but to have misread my review and wrongly assumed that "Boring" was called "Paean to Ennui" was a corker that shows a pretty complete lack of understanding of both band and what they're reading. It's a great name for a song, or perhaps a novel.... if slightly pompous.... but it's definitely not the name of the Pierce's most famous song.
I mostly found it funny, to be honest. I was perhaps even a bit flattered. I didn't leave a comment on the review there and then, but slept on it and came back in the morning.
"I’m pleased that you enjoyed my review of this gig on Leftlion, but you should probably know that the “Paean to Ennui” that we both mention is in fact the band’s most famous song and is called “Boring”. It’s not called “Paean to Ennui”, it **is** a paean to ennui. You need to cut and paste more carefully….otherwise I enjoyed your review very much. I could hardly have put it better myself ;-/
http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/id/3719
It was a good gig, though."
It was submitted for moderation, and you probably won't be surprised to know that it has never been published. In fact, after a day in which various friends and fellow gig-reviewers & photographers have been laying into Nottingham Live for their flagrant plagiarism (thanks guys!), the review itself has now been taken down completely.
Well, I took the precaution of keeping a copy, so lest Geri Richardson's review be lost forever, I will paste it in full below. There was a copyright notice at the bottom of the page, but I hope they'll understand:
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I must admit I was a bit apprehensive reviewing tonight’s gig as I’m normally in the throngs of mosh pits & sweaty men, however I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by all three acts that graced us with their presence on stage at a packed Rescue Rooms; there wasn’t room to move at all, in fact I cannot recall ever seeing the venue so full at any gig I have been to.
Kicking off the night was DELTA MAID a young singer from Liverpool, who’s musical influences showed in her songs and performance. Delta is very affluent and had a lot of fans at tonight’s show, who were all singing along to her songs, and going wild. Performing songs such as “Anyway I Want To”, “Broken Branches” and “Running on Empty” went down brilliantly with the crowd, leaving fans wanting for more when the set came to an end.
Next up to perform was ALICE GOLD, who again showed her influences in her set. An accomplished singer Alice’s bohemian style is something of a breath of fresh air in the current music scene. Alice knew how to use the stage to her advantage, as well as showing her old & new fans what she is capable of. She performed songs such as “Orbiter” “Conversations” and “Conversations”. All in all it was a cracking set by an extremely talented singer who you will know doubt be hearing more of in the coming months.
Headlining the night were American sisters THE PIERCES. A couple of years ago, and struggling to get attention, this twosome almost called it a day but now they are band on the rise and tonight they gave Nottingham a glimpse of their talents. Performing mainly tracks from their new album their relatively short set lasted less than an hour, but it was well worth checking out. Their harmonious voices made everyone soon forget that they were concentrating just on the material from their new album, they performed songs such as You’ll Be Mine (requested on Radio 2 as “the 1-2-3 song”, apparently), It Will Not Be Forgotten, Close My Eyes, Kissing You Goodbye, an acid-tinged Secret, Sticks and Stones and a wistful I Put Your Records On. Sticks and Stones did stand out to me because of how catchy the song was. They also performed their newest track Glorious, an accomplished and polished number that will hopefully help this band get some of the recognition they deserve. They ended the night with a performance of their 2007 song Paean to Ennui.
Despite not being the kind of thing I would usually be checking out I have to say that by the end of the night all three acts had impressed and I would happily check them out again the next time they visit Nottingham. Ideal for a chilled night out the acts all put on a great show and were all happy to stick around to chat to fans after their set, which is always good to see from artists when they play. A great, enjoyable and chilled out night from three cracking acts that all come highly recommended.
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It's too easy to pick holes, and the cut and pasting is painfully obvious, but apart from anything else, the gig wasn't sold out, so I've definitely seen the Rescue Rooms busier. Still. It was a good gig.
Seriously though, how hard is it to come up with 400 words on a gig you've seen?
**update**
LeftLion tell me that they've had an apology from the editor of the website, who wanted to apologise to me personally. Well, no harm done and I've had a very entertaining day as a result of stumbling into this last night. You can buy me a drink and we'll say no more about it. What do you say?
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