OK GO!

'Of the Blue Colour of the Sky' Tour

Live at The Waterfront, Norwich - 11th January 2009

Review by Debra Wood

Photography by Jon Wood

We arrived at the venue at 5:45 for our scheduled interview slot of 6 pm. OK Go had just started their sound check and as this was the first night of their UK tour, the sound check took longer then normal and finally at around 7.00 they finished. I then had the pleasure of joining Tim on the tour bus for an interview and chat, which you can listen to the full audio file here, with a transcribed version to be uploaded soon.

OK Go were prompt on the stage just before 9.30. The atmosphere is chilled and with the lights still dim, Tim comes on stage and builds the intensity by beating a very large bass drum…very effective!!! … this sets the tone for the night. Damian, Andy and Dan enter the stage, joining in one by one as they open the night with ‘Shooting the Moon’ from their new album "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky". As Damian sings ‘Sorry I let you down’, I begin to think "this band is gonna kick my ass tonight" and after the gig, I’m feeling all bruised and tender from the inevitable kicking I just received ........ but hey I liked it and what’s more I’ll be back!!!.

Throughout the night, Damian’s vocals range between the piercing high sounds that are ‘Prince-like’ to a much more pop-like sound when the feel of the song needs it. His quirky sex appeal is evident even before the third song of ‘A Million Ways’. Onstage the song is much more rock then pop. If you haven’t ever seen this video, make sure to look it up on youtube. It’s a classic and what started out as a bit of a fun in the backyard with a video camera and Tim lip synching the vocals as they perform elaborately choreographed moves, ended up becoming a viral sensation once their college mates shared it with all.

My favourite song of the night was ‘White Knuckles’ off the new album. Its sound is reminiscent to an early Prince in places, but with such an intense and deep bass beat exploding through the room my hair was freaking from the vibration, all I wanted to do was get down and do a funky dance, and when confetti begins to blow into the crowd we are transported to another much more funkier world than the one we left at the Waterfront door.

A bit later in the set, a beat reminiscent of The Cars starts up and the guys break into ‘A Good Idea at the Time’. What’s great about OK Go, is that even though the occasional beat or sound of other well known artists (such as Prince, The Cars, and The Flaming Lips) comes through, the ending result with each track is distinctly unique to OK Go, which make them a very enjoyable and engaging band to watch and listen to.

They played a good mix of songs from the new and older albums, with the most well known ‘Here it Goes Again’ midway through. I had only ever seen the infamous treadmill video, but watching and listening to it live was even better (very Jags meet Costello meets Vapours!!!) and in my musical book that reads "winner!!!".

As expected from a well polished act such as OK GO, immaterial that this was the first night of the tour, they played tight from start to finish, all the way through to the final songs of the night; the latest single "WTF", the incredible "Skyscrapers"; and “Invincible”. Damian regularly interacted with the audience with the humour and charm you always want to see from a front man, and at one point dived into the crowd to sing amongst the audience, only to return to the stage still bouncing up and down like tigger.

Throughout the set their musician ship is, for all to see, undeniably tight and is a lot more ‘in your face’ live….Excellent!!! They bring in a very mischievous tongue in cheek style of humour, not seen so often in American bands, but don’t be misled, this humour does not detract from the fact that they are serious about their music and very creative with what they do… it only adds to the quirkiness and likability of OK Go. Definitely not a live gig to be missed!

Many thanks to OK Go, the Waterfront, Neil, the tour manager, and Leyla for arranging our interview slot. We had a great night and appreciate the friendliness and welcome from all. Tim was a real pleasure to meet, as well as Damian after the gig, who both struck the woho team as being creative, down to earth, a bit cheeky and in general top blokes as well great musicians.

We are running a competition for two lucky wohomusic members the chance to win the two signed (first of this tour!) t-shirts OK Go kindly provided to us. Enter here.

We have also created a photo album of the best of the gig photos taken, check them out here.

can also be viewed at the following websites.

www.okgo.net (official site)

www.myspace.com/okgo