Athlete and Fonda 500 @ the Astoria, London 30/04/03
Maybe this isn't the way to perform in the biggest gig of your career so far, but Fonda 500 aren't your typical type of band. Turning up just 5 minutes before the doors opened, they still managed to perform a great gig, by their usual shambolic way. Whether the audience got what they were doing was a different matter. Watching them this time, for the first time, felt like watching a proper band, but it's still a bit nervewracking. Simon Fonda tangles himself up in the mike leads, climbs ontop of his panda keyboard stand, at any time it could go wrong. Sometimes you wonder why they can't just play a normal show.
The fact that Athlete could headline and pretty much sell out the Astoria at this stage of their career is quite scary. Maybe it's because everyone wants to say that they were there first. The contrast between them and Fonda pretty much sums up what you have to do to be in a successful band. They don't have as much character as FOnda, and even with all their equipment they stage still felt empty. Somehow everyone loved them, but then the whole place erupted just for a bit of flashing lights. Opening with all the straighforward songs, such as El Savador they could have been Travis or Coldplay or many other bands like that. They turning point came at You've Got the Style with all its quirky noises. You have to admire a band who can been successful but still be able to mess around with the effects on their keyboard.