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Live Reviews Music

Working Men’s Club are fiercely independent and uncompromising

The lazy comparisons with New Order are inevitable. Their sound (post-punk guitars and attitude meet dance rhythms, electronica, and early ’80s synthpop) isn’t dissimilar. Their roots (the North) are shared. Even their make-up (three men, one woman) is the same.

But Working Men’s Club, who arrived with debut single Bad Blood in early 2019, are no nostalgic knock-offs. Clearly fiercely independent and uncompromising, they ditch convention. That’s certainly the case at a sold-out Electric Brixton on the final night of a national headlining tour.

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Live Reviews Music

Tankus The Henge bring the circus to Scala

To truly get Tankus The Henge, you need to see them live. Sure, three studio albums give an idea of a sound that “eclectic” doesn’t even come close to describing. Yes, the concert footage posted to YouTube by fans hints at their musical prowess and dynamic performance style.

But only when you’re in the same room as these seven musicians and 800 of their fans do you feel the full force of a band most easily described in terms of natural phenomena. Take your pick from tsunami, earthquake, or tornado.

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Live Reviews Music

Kid Kapichi create vivid memories

Towards the end of Kid Kapichi’s headline set at Scala, singer-guitarist Jack Wilson looks back on his first trip to the venue. He fondly remembers being dropped at the station by his mum, catching the train to London, and rushing across the city to see Slaves.

Based on the way they respond to every song, most of the punters listening to his story will have equally vivid memories of tonight’s gig.

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Live Reviews Music

Kasabian re-emerge stronger than ever

Serge Pizzorno was never “just” the guitarist in Kasabian. He wrote most of the songs. He single-handedly produced their last two albums. He increasingly provided lead or co-lead vocals. And, on stage, he was always as dazzling a hype man as a musician. So, when frontman Tom Meighan was convicted of domestic abuse and abruptly left in July 2020, Pizzorno stepped up.

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Live Reviews Music

Sea Girls show what it’s like to be young

Sea Girls’ social feeds are awash with groups of young people either beaming with their homemade banners, dancing energetically without a care in the world, or raising their hands in unison as they cheer.

They’re all clearly having such a good time that their photos could be used as marketing materials for a youth culture brand promising to make dreams come true. And yet, 30 seconds into Sea Girls’ sold-out Brixton Academy gig, it’s clear that the pictures completely undersell the experience.

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Live Reviews Music

Elbow bask in hope and elation

The first words out of Guy Garvey’s mouth suggest that something’s changed. “And I don’t know Jesus anymore,” he declares over the grimy guitar riff and glitchy stop-start rhythms of Dexter & Sinister. “How do you keep your eyes ablaze, In these faith-free, hope-free, charity-free days?” the Elbow singer asks.

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Live Reviews Music

Steve Hackett takes Seconds Out

Seconds Out is an inspired choice for Steve Hackett to revisit in concert. Not only the guitarist’s swansong with Genesis, the live album is a ready-made greatest hits collection of his tenure with the band.

Recorded on the 1977 tour supporting their second Phil Collins-fronted LP, it showcases songs from the previous year’s A Trick Of The Tail and The Wind & Wuthering alongside choice singles and fan favourites from the Peter Gabriel era. So, over 90-something minutes and 12 tracks that he had an integral part in creating, Hackett can retrace the six-year journey from 1971’s Nursery Cryme to his decision to go solo full time.

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Live Reviews Music

The Sisters of Mercy still want more

When Andrew Eldritch roars “I want more” during the second encore of The Sisters Of Mercy’s third show in as many days, he obviously means it. Throughout his band’s final 40th anniversary London show, he’s performed with the untiring purpose of a man still looking ahead.

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Live Reviews Music

Heaven 17 go back to the beginning

Album anniversary shows are meant to follow a formula. Play your biggest-selling album from start to finish, a multiple-of-five years after its release. Let fans around the world relive the big songs of their youth. Give them the chance to go to the bar or bathroom during the filler tracks. And send them home happy with a few other hits from your catalogue.

But there’s nothing formulaic about Heaven 17’s celebration of 1979’s Reproduction and the following year’s Travelogue.

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Music Reviews

Steve Louw takes a trip

Steve Louw is a storyteller. From the slow train of 1990’s ‘Waiting On The Dawn’ that “takes us back to the dreams and hopes we had when we were young”, to the restless wanderer of 2008’s ‘The Wind Blows’, the singer-songwriter has created imagery as vivid as the music that accompanies it.

‘Headlight Dreams’, Louw’s first international solo release, is no different.

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