Jah Wobble: May 11, 2001

Jah Wobble is a much more exotic moniker than the man's given name, John Wardle. The stage name is also a better fit for the music he creates. Starting off as the bass player in the most respected and influential version of John Lydon's post-Pistols group, Public Image Ltd., as a solo artist Wobble has experimented with sounds from around the globe. His biggest commercial success came with the 1991 album Rising Above Bedlam and the Sinéad O'Connor duet "Visions of You." 

In 2001 Wobble embarked on a very brief U.S. tour (just five cities) in support of his album Passage to Hades with a group dubbed Deep Space. The opener was Chicago's 8 Bold Souls, a respected jazz ensemble that nicely complemented Wobble's worldly, experimental sounds.

The porkpie-topped Wobble and his band, which included keyboards and winds, were all business. Of course, part of the lack of stage banter was due to the nature of the music. Here's what I wrote in a blog just after the show: 

Saw Jah Wobble at the Double Door with ----. He played one song for the entire show. Good, sexy music, but not exciting to watch. The highlight was the bad white people going "native" with their dancing. At one point, ---- turned to me and said, "I feel like Chicken Tonight."

So, yeah. Droning, experimental sounds that looped and loped into each other for about an hour or 90 minutes. And then a cheerful and sincere-sounding "thanks" and off he went. Being a sucker for a good hook, I guess I'd have preferred to hear more pop-structured songs, but I admire Wobble's experimentation and musicianship and am glad I got to see one of his rare American appearances.

New Order, PiL, Sugarcubes: July 1, 1989

Rachel, Bonnie, and Rachel outside the show, '80s alt fashions on proud display.

The first thing I recall about this show is that it was rescheduled, so the date on the ticket is probably incorrect. We were actually almost to the parking lot of the venue by the time they announced the show was canceled; someone in the band (I think Peter Hook) had fallen ill. In retrospect, I think the show would have been just fine without him. I read one of the meanest, funniest, and truest reviews of this tour a few weeks after our show. It began, "No wonder Ian Curtis hanged himself."

I was a fan of all three bands on the bill so I figured it would be great. The Sugarcubes were still riding high on their amazing debut album but had just recorded the follow-up, so we got a taste of it, too. Bjork has always had a fantastic voice and she is just as dazzling live as on record. She was wearing platform sneakers and a clingy silver dress, this being the start of her "deranged club-hopper baby doll" fashion period. The Sugarcubes were good but Public Image were even better - tighter, more confident, with better songs. They  were supporting their album 9 at the time.

So it was a good day, the excitement had been building, dusk had come, and New Order took the stage. They stood there and did a song that sounded just like the record. They stood there and did another song that sounded just like the record. And so on. Lather, rinse, repeat. The highlight of the show was when John Lydon, clearly bored and annoyed out of his mind, came back onstage and shook his butt mockingly in the band's direction. It was hilarious and the crowd ate it up, but Bernard Sumner was absolutely shooting daggers from his eyes. It was brilliant. And then New Order stood there and did another song that sounded just like the record. We left before the encore and could hear the strains of "Blue Monday" as we were driving away. I was sort of sad to miss it, but then I realized I could put on the record, stare at a picture of the band, and get the same effect.