Tonight I should have been going to see Restorations play in London. They were playing the arse-end of London and the journey there and back from Oxford is a huge pain, but it was going to be worth it. I love Restorations; every time I've seen them play they put a huge smile on my face and I just can't get enough of them. Last time they played, I drove to Newport to see them and dragged some friends along too - the band commented they didn't know when they'd get a chance to play here again, and I worried it might be the last time I'd see them. When they announced their little tour I was so pleased. Bloody coronavirus. This show being cancelled, along with the Vile Creature and Bismuth show in the Black Heart, really hit the hardest. I miss live music, even if as a parent I don't get to go to anywhere near as many shows as I'd like in normal times.
To make up for not seeing Restorations, here are three live songs from their Little Elephant session in 2016. All are from the first half of LP3, an album I adore (number 4 in my albums of the year in 2014). A few years later I was on holiday (back when holidays were a thing) and I only had a few albums on my phone, and no iPod; LP3 was one of them and I played it to death. We'd not long found out we were expecting our first child and I remember sitting on the balcony one evening, reading my parenting book and listening to these songs. I think of that evening every time I hear Separate Songs.
All three songs are great examples of why I love this band so much - great, earnest rock songs with one moment where it all comes together into something absolutely huge - on Separate Songs it's around the lines "Imagine that focus in real life / Imagine going outside / Imagine not waiting for something to come along" (the middle line being very apt right now); on Tiny Prayers it all comes together around the lines "I don't know what's worse / No opinion or no thirst"; on Wales it's in the chorus (and the abrupt ending).
This is the only Little Elephant record I have, although I'd definitely buy more if the exchange rate wasn't so shitty and international post and customs so expensive. They've recorded a lot of great bands. The sound isn't great at the start of the record but soon clears up, so might just be this copy (each one is lathe-cut, which I don't really understand). I ordered this one from the band when they were selling off a bunch of stuff, I assume to fund the recording of LP5000. I also got the Jena Berlin album and 7" at the same time. I got stung on customs charges, so the whole lot proved expensive, but I'm glad to have this record in my collection. Right now I'm just happy to be listening to Restorations play live in any setting, even if it's just three songs and no way near as fun as singing along with a bunch of strangers in a bar in deepest south-east London.
Format: 12", one-sided, lathe-cut, hand-stamped and numbered (#35)
Tracks: 3
Cost: £22 new
Bought: Band's website
When: 03/08/17
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: none
