There are some things that only Adam Green can get away with. Like covering a Beach Boys song well, or singing the words 'there's no wrong way to (insert expletive here) a girl with no legs' without sounding like a pervert with an amputee fetish. But I thought that crowd surfing at The Flower Pot was off limits, even to him. Boy was I wrong. Never before have I seen one man pull off quite so many oddities in one gig with so much confidence that nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Despite my former proclamation that the Flower Pot was my new favourite venue, I shamefully haven't ventured back since my chat with Charlotte Hatherley. So after hearing that Adam Green was playing a (not so) secret gig there, I thought I'd take a stroll down. Yet after one of my classic two hour walks to a venue two minutes down the road, I am after a cathartic outlet for my pent up rage, and the last thing I want is to listen to some mellow lounge singing. Right now I'd probably scare off the crowds at a Propaghandi gig I'm so angry. So when Adam Green topples through the door, makes a heroic leap over the bar, grabbing the microphone mid-landing, I am rather relieved. I should've known there would be nothing mellow about Adam Green bar his velvety voice.
In a game of 'match the voice to the body' you would never pair up the 1950s lounge singer tones to the petite young enthusiast flouting the ADHD inspired dance moves. Yet in true Adam Green style, he manages to pull off his look and his lyrics without anyone even begging the question, how can you be 'genital outlaws in a positive way'??
Unfortunately the gig isn't as secret as one might've hoped, and the Flower Pot is packed to the rafters. Quite literally, as people are hanging from poles, climbing on tables and balancing on sofas, bringing new meaning to the words 'couch surfing'. Catching a quick glimpse out of the window, I gloat mercilessly on the hoards of people desperate to get in and climb aboard a sofa for a spot of prime Green viewing.
He performs some of his rockier songs, and the superb drumming abilities of the aged Buddy Holly look alike gives a much needed kick to his otherwise placid songs. The crowd sufficiently riled up, he progresses to bounce off the walls and even makes a bit of an attempt at a pole dance. Throughout the night, Green makes a beeline for the audience, and crowd surfs his way around the fans, always making it back in perfect timing to sing the next line.
One of his more lyrically considered songs, 'Jessica', is an obvious hit with the punters, and as soon as the first lethargic guitar chords are strummed the entire audience raptures into applause. You can barely hear his smooth voice over the multitude of voices singing it back to him. You can tell he is enjoying the attention, and beams back at us with such a childish grin of delight that I can't help but fall in love with him a little bit.
He has this way of engaging eye contact with the whole crowd, and makes me feel like he is looking solely at me through the entire gig, whilst simultaneously inducing the same feeling in every other person in the room. I feel like a gushing 15 year old again, hanging about at mates band nights hoping that the lead singer looks at me. Smooth. Oh well, I'm sure there is enough of Adam Green to go around...
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