Slap pop

So they all laughed in the Council Office when I told them. Wifey had a similar response at her office. "Level 42 ????" they all said scoffing. I pointed out that Mark King is just an awesome bass player with his percussive slap pop style. Anyway it was at the Royal Albert Hall and as I had never been there I was looking forward to it .

Now upon entering the hall which I must say appeared smaller than on telly. I noticed by looking around me that the make up of the audience was predominantly over 30 perhaps mostly late 30s and into 40s 50s and I would say 99.9% white........which would account for the fact that no one could dance....seriously...it was like watching your parents at a family wedding...everyone knows white dudes can't dance (Eddie Murphy talks about this at length on his Delirious Video).

The band were however really really good and King did not disappoint . The band as a whole were really tight especially Mark King's trousers he has (like a lot of us) eat a few pies since the 80s. The concert flew by and the encore of "Chinese Way " was brilliant.

Now I like my live music and yeah I will wear a band t-shirt maybe get quite excited and jump up and down at the likes of Kula shaker ,U2 and Wolfmother concerts but I was doing my usual people watching and saw in the seats in front of the stage (about half way down ) two blokes. They were like Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee they were about 25 stone each and had shaven heads. They were obvious Level 42 fanatics as they were wearing American Football shirts with Level 42 on the back...matching ones of course . They were well into them and you could see them stood up even in the ballads much to the annoyance of a small woman behind them who remonstrated profusely.You can tell a fanatic ...they will look to the sky and lift their arms up like they are saluting the heavens at certain points. They will also shout out the most obscure song the band may have released on a B side before they were famous demanding they play it. As they walk out after the concert they will also use the bands first names and say stuff like" Mark played well tonight...yeah yeah they didn't play ( naming that obscure song again ) though"

I also noticed that Level 42 fans don't air guitar....oh no ...they air bass...and slap and pop their chests like the Bass maestro himself .

It was a great night and I'm glad I endured the scoffing........anyway off to do some slap pop .