A World With No Mirrors

The show last night was...transcendent for lack of a less fruity word.

Edward came out like the doomsaying prophet we all know and love, torn between heaven and hell like an anguished transient. He showed us moments of humility and sadness, and brief moments of joy and humor...but mostly he showed us something otherworldly and horrible.

Silverman was absolutely driving his synths, a little topknot of white bobbing on his head as he rocked the keyboards. He looked like a samurai, focused and deadly.

Martijn was on point with the washed guitars, smearing a tapestry of dirty waves over Silverman's thumping bass. The sounds were coursing through every person there, Edward smashed away at crackling static noise and Neils was out in the crowd almost as much as he was on stage.

I would not call this the absolute best Dots show I've seen, but overcoming the first time I saw them play Brightest Star live is going to be pretty much impossible to achieve.

We got to talk with Neils after the show, he's working on a new solo album with David J from Bauhaus and a dozen other random folks he rattled off to me while we were talking. He was his usual jovial self and it was great seeing him again. Silverman was jovial as could be, and gave us a hearty laugh when I ribbed him about Frostie. He remembers Ben's cries well, and seemed really happy to have his Texas fans in tow.

I picked up Plutonium Blonde from the merch stand, dropped my money and wandered around for half an hour...but when I got to the car...NO CD!! We popped it open and it was empty. Lindsey went on a mad scramble to get back inside, and after a few goth kids helped us out, we managed to get in. Martijn and the merch girl were there luckily, and they fixed us up right quick with a new copy. I jibed him a little about the lack of fiddle, but he gave me an airplane excuse and I let him off the hook.

I'll be counting days until they come back...as always, it was an experience more than the sum of its parts. A good soul cleansing before the New Year.

Oh and the new album is great, mellow and moody like the Whispering Wall, but cleaner. Definitely worth picking up!