The Beth effect: TMC review the Gossip’s London gig

review by Anna, pictures by Holly

Gossip at The Forum, London 28th Nov 09

“I really love her. I love her so much” the girl next to me in the Forum, Kentish Town said as Beth Ditto toddled off stage after forty minutes of singing, charming, chatting and kissing people.

With a glittery cropped jump-suit clinging to that famous chalky-white flesh, Beth Ditto, lead singer of the Gossip, issued a sonic boom of charisma and everybody fell for it. The southern drawl and those old-school manners tinged by the bad-ass riot grrrl attitude make for knock-out powerful stage presence.

The Beth effect is huge. And the singing, dancing crowd loved it.

Knickers, boxers and a tampon all got thrown on stage.

“Ahm using that”, Beth informed us, sliding the tampon down her bra.  A few minutes before she’d told us that her period had just started… the sort of Ditto chat that sets fragile indie boys blushing, but makes her a punk and feminist’s hero. “You might like these Hannah” she said, waving the boxers at the Gossip’s cute butch drummer, “a little too big?” she put them on her head and related a little anecdote about Calvin Klein before tossing them back into the crowd.

While the charm was on full throttle, Beth’s epic voice was a little muted on Saturday – she was struggling with a throat infection that forced the band to cancel gigs in Brussels and Birmingham, the days before and after. “Ah got the brawhn-chi-tisss” she said, “but..” glugging some beer “..this’ll fix it right up”.

Clearly there was a bit more than what beer could fix. The tone of her voice was still there, just some of the power was missing and some of the purity on the higher notes. Still, Beth’s impromptu pop mash-ups: starting to sing bits of Amy Winehouse, Tina Turner and Fleetwood Mac made the gig so sweet and quirky that you didn’t mourn the punk power-fest that it might have been.

With Hannah Blile’s rib-cage thumping beats the Gossip still managed to ramp it up for the heavier hits from the new album: Music for Men and Heavy Cross and for a final raucous Standing in the Way of the Control that came, teasingly, after the encore.

Some extra throatiness on the darker disco of Love Long Distance didn’t do it any harm either. And the crowd loved hearing first album hits, Yr Mangled Heart and Listen Up.

Not sparing herself exertions on stage, Beth did little sweet stompy dances all the way through the songs and in quite a beautiful finale, she got drummer Hannah to sit on her back and duetted a brief version of We Are the Champions.

The set over and the band off-stage, Beth clambered into the crowd, patting the security guards aside and hugging and kissing some fan girls in the front. In true Gossip style, Beth then climbed back up on stage, asked for the backing music to be cut and delivered one of those empowering demand-respect-for-yourself and go-make-the-world-a-better-place speeches that the Gossip and the DIY scene that gave birth to them are so famous for.

She speaks like a pudgy, glitter-cased, flame-haired Barack Obama, and god everyone loved it.