Gig Review: MS MR – Norwich Waterfront 08/03/13

When we first started this blog we were advised of a few fundamental rules that should be followed. There are principles for writing about music and, in particular, reviewing concerts that should always be applied. For example;

Gig reviews must be written in the present tense.
Don’t write in the first person – the review is not about you.
Don’t write about the venue or your trip to the venue – see above.
Don’t be a fanboy – be professional, your love for the band should be apparent without being explicit.
Don’t swear unnecessarily – and if you must, be imaginative.

Let’s break some rules.

Like most of the music blogging community, I kind of lost my shit a bit when the then unknown and mysterious MS MR released “Hurricane” into the world with just a ‘popeleptic’ video to accompany it. I searched and searched, I googled like never before but found next to nothing about them online aside from other bloggers doing the same. Then I came across the Ghost City USA EP of demos and my hunger was briefly sated. Then in the summer of 2012 it was announced that this (still) mysterious duo would be coming to London to perform at one of the Guardian sponsored New Band Of The Day nights. Tickets were duly bought but my excitement soon turned to disappointment as it was announced that illness would prevent the band from travelling and performing.

Later they would come out, reveal themselves to the world and the gaps in the back story began to be filled in. More music was released, the Candy Bar Creep Show EP came out to rave reviews, taking some of the Ghost City… demos and building them into complete and wonderful tracks. Gigs and tours became more frequent, reviews were ever more effusive in their praise and the band’s profile kept rising. Then something remarkable happened; a gig in Norwich was announced. Sleepy little Norwich, which this year has already played host to some amazing acts, was going to be blessed with a visit by the Addams Family of glitchy pop. I was fucking stoked.

And so the gig came at last. Tonight at a Waterfront that was already buzzing from a storming set by The Ramona Flowers, I got to see one of my favourite new acts perform and it is fair to say that all my expectations were exceeded.

Immediately it is apparent that Lizzy has developed into an amazing and confident performer. The slightly nervy and restrained singer that was on show in the band’s session for Yours Truly has been replaced by a sassy and exuberant frontwoman whose persona owns the stage and whose voice fills the venue. They look and sound amazing, Lizzy in her black leather biker jacket with a yellow, cropped vest top underneath, her blue hair growing out, she’s like a Hells Angel Gwen Stefani while Max is resplendent in his denim vest top.

There’s more energy and vitality than I expected, the tracks feel more up-tempo, especially “Salty Sweet” which is high velocity, vibrant and clap-a-longer-crazy. Every track sounds superb and the venue is rocking. Judging on this performance, Second Hand Rapture (out in May) could well end up as one of the albums of the year.

What is surprising is just how damn sexy the pair’s performance is. These tracks, like “Bones”, “Dark Doo Wop” “Ash Tree Lane” etc, are quite dark and macabre, they shouldn’t be hot and smouldering, but they are. There are winks, saucy looking smiles, some groovy boogying and the best looking shoulder work there’s been since the Backsteet Boys rocked our bodies. The crowd is lapping it up, singing along and whooping and so am I. This is something special indeed. The beats are compulsive and as Lizzy works it on stage so too does the crowd. I’m reminded of that wonderful line uttered by Jason Lee in Almost Famous as the singer for Stillwater. ”You know what I do? I connect. I get people off. I look for the guy who isn’t getting off, and I make him get off”. There’s no need to look for that guy tonight as he won’t be found, everyone is getting off on the sound of MS MR and I imagine that they will be for many nights to come.

The Candy Bar Creep Show EP is available digitally or on ltd edition 7″ vinyl.

Read More: 2013 Preview: Listen Out For – MS MR / Review: MS MR – Candy Bar Creep Show EP

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Gig Review: The Joy Formidable, Norwich Waterfront 23/01/13

It is a bitingly cold evening in Norwich and just as the theme tune for Red Dwarf tells us, ‘it’s cold outside, there’s no kind of atmosphere’. Inside The Waterfront however, it’s a very different story. Sweaty bodies jostle and bristle with excitement as they await the arrival of tonight’s headline act. It’s been a couple of years since The Joy Formidable visited its second home of Norwich and there is a real buzz of anticipation in the room. As the opening guitars of “Cholla” snarl and roar, it’s clear that not only have the prodigals returned, they came to rock.

Ritzy is the proverbial wolf on stage, her demeanour one part raw intensity, one part charm. Throughout the set she prowls and struts; she is the big dog and this is her yard. As she looks out across the crowd the message is clear, ‘I came here to blow the roof off this place, what the fuck are you going to do about it?’ and then she smiles. She smiles like she’s having the best time and the crowd smiles, and whoops and jumps with her. They also crowd-surf in what must be record time with “Cholla” barely even over.

From then on we are treated to a mélange of tracks, new and old, thundering around the venue. It is an explosive, rawkus affair with riffs, bass and drums seemingly in competition to send the greatest vibrations through the crowd’s collective bodies. It’s like standing behind a jet engine just as it fires up, there’s no way you can stay on your feet.

Respite comes almost exclusively in the form of banter of the highest and sweetest order. Throughout the night there are jokes, reminisces of starting out, gratitude for the support of Norwich as they began their journey and discussions of tour etiquette and the underwear the guys wear (or don’t, as the case may be). All of which are delivered with a modest and engaging humour, except when Ritzy talks about not being able to sell the new album on the merch stand; then it is f-bomb city and the crowd loves it.

The pace of the evening is slowed for an acoustic rendition of “Silent Treatment”, the delicacy of which is a stark but beautiful contrast to the throbbing aggression that preceded it. Immediately the foot is slammed back to the floor as it is followed by “Maw Maw Song”, a track blessed with a riff so good, the band have to sing it as well. The brakes are not applied again either, the bass lines continue to drive headlong into the thrash of guitar and the drums are pounded so hard, sticks appear to be splintering. “I Don’t Want To See You Like This” and “The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie” take us to the defacto end of set but as the crowd howls for more and the obligatory encore of “Wolfs Law” and “Whirring” is delivered with relish. As “Whirring” draws the evening to a close, Ritzy abandons the stage and her illuminated wolf head screen backdrop (which from certain angles looks like a Totoro, so gets even more cool points) and jumps to the floor. One last rock out moment to be provided face to face with the adoring masses who are so enraptured this evening.

It is a triumphant return to Norwich for the band and while some things, like the aforementioned Red Dwarf for example, clearly don’t age well, The Joy Formidable just keep getting better and better.

Gig Review: The Penelopes, Norwich UEA 11/12/12

They say you should never meet your heroes but that’s something The Penelopes clearly don’t subscribe to as they have spent the last three weeks in close proximity to theirs. The Human League’s UK tour is coming to an end this evening and for the two kids who grew up outside Paris listening to Phil, Susan and Joanne, supporting them has represented a dream come true. Not that it has left them in anyway overawed.

From the off it is clear that confidence is not an issue for the band, or singer Axel in particular. It is quite possible that Almost Famous has been on repeat on the tour bus as he kneels to the side of stage, directly engaging those at the front while he sings. “I look for the guy who isn’t getting off, and I make him get off” indeed. Looking eminently stylish in his suit jacket over a basketball vest combo topped off with aviators and a giant hair band, he sweeps across the stage like it is his own, air kicking at will and flexing the mic stand above his head.

The tracks are incessantly energetic; bounding along with the kind of dexterity that, alas, the majority of this Norwich crowd has long since forgotten was possible. Laura’s assertion that “The Sweet Song” will make them want to jump up and dance falls on deaf ears and replaced hips, despite it sounding massive.

The show is coming to an end and so is the tour. Thank you’s are said and the finale of “Now Now Now” begins. To the side of the stage Axel is crouched down where he started, engaging the crowd in his own indomitable and entertaining, Cantona-esque even, fashion.

It is a headline worthy performance from The Penelopes and one that is surely destined to be oft repeated at the top of their own bill in the near future.

Gig Review: Gabriel Bruce, Norwich Arts Centre 05/12/12

Every once in a while you come across a performer or a sound that appears out of nowhere and leaves you reeling like a kick in the balls, if a kick in the balls can ever be an amazing and spectacular experience. Tonight we are experiencing the magnificence of Gabriel Bruce for the first time and both performance and sound are knocking us off our feet.

The start is an inauspicious one with a mic that seemingly doesn’t work and Gabriel left mute as his church-organ sounds drone underneath the emptiness. The problem fixed and we are given our first taste of his deep, granular baritone, like Leonard Cohen calling us in for prayer as the organ plays on then boom, from nowhere we have a big poppy sound and the first of many collective steps back in amazement are taken by the audience.

From then on it is wall to wall incredible as Gabriel and his drummer are joined on stage by a dedicated keyboard player and two backing singers, both of whom are dressed in black and who evoke memories of The Commitments as they dance out their simple but oh-so effective dance routines. Like much of Gabriel’s set, such minute details enhance the performance immeasurably.

The sound is vast. These big, brash songs that are ringing out are incredible. There is soul, there is funk, there are horns, big choruses; there is even the feeling that this could all be a John Hughes soundtrack. He sings like Bowie, Cave, Cohen and Tears for Fears all rolled into one and performs in a way that an in-his-pomp James Brown would struggle with.

An echo effect kicks in on the mic between tracks as Gabriel is regaling us, “I feel like God” he says as his earthquake of a voice reverberates around the Arts Centre. He may feel like God but at times he resembles an evangelical preacher stirring his congregation as he implores us to ‘love one an other’. It’s a wonderful sentiment but the love in the room right now is directed at him.

‘This is a disco number’ he tell us. It’s not, not really. Donna Summer wouldn’t ever have performed something like this but it is groovy and Gabriel needs no excuse to move. He is into the crowd quick-smart embarrassing the girls and boys in the audience as he sings and dances to them, before leaping back onstage and embracing his singers at waist height. Their ability to sing on while stifling laughter is commendable.

All the while we stare, dumbfounded by this magnificent beast before us, flailing and cavorting around on-stage and singing some of the most wondrous old school pop music. All too soon the set concludes with the infectious “Cars Not Leaving”, complete with Footloosey, Breakfast Cluby style dancing from Gabriel and his backing singers. The crowd wants more but it is not to be. Leave them wanting more the old adage goes, we were desperate for it.

Photo Credit: Adam Shoesmith taken at The Victoria, Dalston, March 2012

Gig Review: Delphic, Norwich Arts Centre – 25/10/12

Expectation can be a bitch sometimes. When heading out to see the band responsible for possibly your favourite album of the last three years, a band you’ve seen live and been blown away by before and the best small venue in the country, you expect to see something special. Without them even knowing, you are putting a truckload of pressure on the band to live up to your, probably, unrealistic expectations.

Tonight Delphic will take to the stage at the Norwich Arts Centre in front of an excited and expectant audience. It has been nearly three years since they last performed here, shortly after the release of their white-hot and near faultless indie dance debut, Acolyte. It was supposed to be just the beginning for the boys from Manchester, tipped by many (they placed third in the BBC Sound of 2010 poll and the Guardian named them on of their 10 bands to watch) but after touring the album they dropped off the radar for quite a while. After taking their time writing new material they are back and ready to share the fruits of their labours.

A hush descends on the crowd as the light dims and the band steps on stage, a few whoops and cheers burst forth as the first sort of new track, it was released in the summer as one of the official tracks of the Olympics, “Good Life” opens the set. “We Wait/We Wait/We Wait/We Wait” they sing, echoing the thoughts of the crowd, so grateful to have them back after so long. It’s a high energy opening with a track that will prove to be a bridge from the old to the new.

The band moves seamlessly on, urging us to dance with “Halcyon” before dropping the first new track proper and the first indication of their new sound. “Baiya” is a sexified funky track which, as with all the new songs, downplays the dance and brings in new elements from other genres. Here it is a bit of hip-hop and a tight, Peaches sort-of vibe. Soaring synths and uplifting choruses it may not have, but it goes hard and doesn’t feel out of place in the set.

They may have been away from us for so long, but they are sounding as tight as ever and the drum patterns are crisper than Gary Lineker’s wildest fantasy. Banter is kept to the barest of minimums, the odd thanks is about as far is it goes as they prefer to rattle on. Tracks from Acolyte are played with, blended into one another, given extended mixes or breakdowns and the crowd laps it up. The instantly recognisable introduction to “Doubt” is slowed to a near standstill, giving it a surprisingly dark, sci-fi edge, as if it were the soundtrack to Prometheus, before kicking back in and hitting maximum warp.

New tracks are dropped in at opportune moments and met warmly, each one varying in style from the last. There is more rock, more wailing guitar, more hip-hop, more urging to “move sucka, dance sucka”, more relaxation, less corporeal, less dance and less synths. The crowd nods, dances, bounces its approval. “Atlas”, appropriately, sounds huge. A vast sprawling song that lurches in a variety of directions, collecting sounds from each location and getting bigger as it goes. It’s breathtaking stuff.

The evening draws to its close as old favourites “Counterpoint” and “Acolyte” finishes the set to leave the crowd buzzing. The time away has not hurt Delphic, they may have chosen a new musical path but they have not sacrificed quality in doing so. Expectations have been met and instead we feel only excitement for the old and new and hope that we won’t need to wait quite so long for their return.

Delphic played:
“Good Life”
“Halcyon”
“Baiya”
“Red Lights”
“This Momentary”
“Memeo”
“Clarion Call”
“Doubt”
“Atlas”
“Changes”
“Counterpoint”
“Acolyte”

Read More
Listen: Delphic – “Good Life” / Oh boy, this is good – Delphic Review