The Troubador
L.A., CA
October 28, 1998

by Ralph Bennett
photo of Jamie Harding (with Tomoko)
courtesy of
Marion Interactive
live photo: L.A., 1996
SELECT



o say Jaime Harding is thin is to say Liam Gallagher drinks a bit much. You notice it more and more as the bright lights focus and the smoke clears.

You will also notice an incredible (and LOUD) voice belonging to the guy with the black choppy hair and amazing cheekbones as he effortlessly sways through songs I still love from five years ago as well as new ones I have yet to own because I can't seem to find the Japanese import of the new CD. And guess what? THAT IS WHY THEY ARE PLAYING LOS ANGELES; to secure some kind of record deal, play and show the rest of the planet what a truly important band they are. And to make hundreds of teenage girls run back home to put on some dry undies because Jaime smiled at them. Me....? I was one of the 25 or so who actually paid for a ticket amongst the throng of window shopping industry onlookers and the 1995 NME curious.


If you really think people such as Billy Corgan and those other MTV drama queens have good voices then WAIT until this band from Manchester comes back around


So... they came onstage to something off the latest "The Program" (produced by 'future' Smiths member Johnny Marr) and yeah, I will say it once more, if you really think people such as Billy Corgan and those other MTV drama queens have good voices then WAIT until this band from Manchester comes back around. Think of Bono before he got fat and Freddie Mercury before the mustache (ah, Mr. Mercury - sorry for throwing you in with Bono but I need to make them understand).

Marion are the kind of band that will do whatever the hell they feel like and the rest of the world can catch up or just piss off. Take the newer material - almost gothic in ways and very hard egded in others and everything sounds so tight and clear that it's a shame they only played ONE city in The States this time around. I purposely missed the Halloween show two nights later, cause why bother? There was nothing for the band to improve upon. It was a kind of energy combined with subtle innuendo that the girls were screaming for.

Oh yes there were screams! Mostly when Jaime bent down for a drink and his pants slipped a bit and...well the first thing we need to do is buy this man a BELT but what the hell. I can't tell you how fantastic it was to hear things from the first album, "This World and Body", like the remarkable "Sleep" (during which my friend Scarlett yelled into my good ear for half the song... Scarlett also had paid for a ticket) and the one time Mr. Skinny actually yelled during "The Only Way" was probably the best moment the Troubador has seen since the Manics played there two years ago.

And did I mention Marion's guitarist does the coolest Pete Townsend windmills? No? Oh, ok. Well there ya go. He seemed to enjoy ramming the headstock of his Les Paul into the amplifier at the shows end. Wouldn't YOU?? Damn straight.

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