Issue 66 / May 2016

FREE
Issue 66
May 2016
Trudy And The Romance by Sam Rowlands
Trudy And The Romance
You Can’t Be What You
Can’t See
LIMF Academy
Sound City 2016 Preview

TUE 19 APR 7pm
GAVIN JAMES
WED 20 APR 7pm
FUTURE OF THE LEFT
THU 21 APR 7pm
WE WERE PROMISED
JETPACKS
SAT 23 APR 7pm
NEW FACES
TOUR 2016
SAT 23 APR 7pm
MOOSE BLOOD
FRI 29 APR 7pm
DECLAN McKENNA
SAT 30 APR 10pm · 18+
MARTIN SOLVEIG
PRESENTS MY HOUSE
MON 2 MAY 7pm
BOY JUMPS SHIP
WED 4 MAY 7pm
SHONEN KNIFE
SAT 7 MAY 7pm
THE SPITFIRES
SAT 14 MAY 7pm
THE ISRIGHTS
+ DAEZ + STILLIA
+ BRICKHOUSE
SUN 15 MAY 7pm
SEPTEMBER GIRLS
WED 18 MAY 7pm
SPRING KINGS
THU 19 MAY 7pm
EMMA POLLOCK
SAT 21 MAY 7pm
MICHAEL SUTTAKORN
(IN AID OF TEENAGE CANCER TRUST)
TUE 24 MAY 7pm
WE CAME AS ROMANS
& MISS MAY I
WED 25 MAY 7pm
AS IT IS
WED 25 MAY 7pm
BEN WATT BAND FEAT.
BERNARD BUTLER
THU 26 MAY 7pm
BEN CAPLAN & THE
CASUAL SMOKERS
SUN 29 MAY 7pm
HANDS LIKE HOUSES
TUE 31 MAY 7pm
MOON HOOCH
THU 2 JUNE 7pm
SUNDARA KHARMA
TUE 7 JUNE 7pm
NORMA JEAN
MON 20 JUNE 7pm
BOYSETSFIRE
WED 22 JUNE 7pm
UNKNOWN MORTAL
ORCHESTRA
FRI 15 JULY 7pm
SPACE & STEPHEN
LANDSTAFF
+ SATIN BEIGE
TUE 9 AUG 7pm
BIG D & THE
KIDS TABLES
WED 10 AUG 7pm
SARA BETH
& GLEN MITCHELL
THU 15 SEPT 7pm
THE SHERLOCKS
WED 28 SEPT 7pm
JAKE QUICKENDEN
SAT 1 OCT 7pm
ELVANA - THE
WORLD’S FINEST
ELVIS FRONTED
TRIBUTE TO NIRVANA
SAT 26 NOV 7pm
MOTORHEADACHE
SAT 3 DEC 7pm
IAN PROWSE
& AMSTERDAM
LIVERPOOL’S
MOST ICONIC
STUDENT
NIGHT
EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT
11pm
Weds 27th April
LIVERPOOL
BLUETONES.BAND
TICKETS FOR ALL SHOWS ARE AVAILABLE FROM TICKETWEB.CO.UK
90
SEEL STREET, LIVERPOOL, L1 4BH

Bido Lito! May 2016
3
Bido Lito!
Issue Sixty Six / May 2016
bidolito.co.uk
Static Gallery
23 Roscoe Lane
Liverpool L1 9JD
Eleanor Nelly (Keith Ainsworth)
Editor
Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk
Editor-In-Chief / Publisher
Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk
Media Partnerships and Projects Manager
Sam Turner - sam@bidolito.co.uk
Reviews Editor
Philip Morris - live@bidolito.co.uk
Design
Mark McKellier - @mckellier
WE CAN BEAT THEM FOREVER AND EVER
Editorial
In his 1980 book I Me Mine where he’s in conversation with The Beatles’ spokesperson Derek Taylor, George Harrison described the reasoning
behind one of his first forays into songwriting on Taxman. “Taxman was when I first realised that, even though we had started earning money, we
were actually giving most of it away in taxes,” he said. “It was and still is typical.” The song came out in 1966, when the Fabs’ earnings were hit by
a ‘supertax’ of 95%, brought in by Harold Wilson’s Labour government. As well as bemoaning the fact that the band’s success had landed them in
the top tax bracket, Harrison was also giving voice to people’s own gripes with the tax collector bogeymen. "It's a song that goes regardless if it's
the 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s," Harrison said later in life. "There's always a taxman."
It’s quite amusing to reflect on this, 50 years on, and how public attitudes have changed: you don’t get many pop songs written about tax any
more. The tax men and women from HMRC still get a rough time of it today, but more so in relation to the overburdening of the less well off in paying
the nation’s tax bill, while the richest use their wealth to weave through various tax loopholes, offshore and onshore. This has come into sharper
focus recently with the publishing of the Panama Papers, from one of the largest offshore tax havens based in Panama City. The widespread use of
tax havens to squirrel away money, and the knowledge of its endemic nature, isn’t new – it’s been going on for decades. What the leaked Mossack
Fonseca papers show us is just who is benefiting from this cloak and dagger avoidance of tax, for once letting us see beneath the secretive gauze
these havens put up to ‘protect’ the identities of their clients. This time last year when we were gearing up for a General Election – which ended
up with our country voting in people who have benefited from financial gains through this system – I mentioned in my Editorial a book that I’d
just read written by Nicholas Shaxson. Treasure Islands is a fascinating and often shocking account of how wide and deep-rooted the web of tax
havens and ‘secrecy jurisdictions’ is right across the globe. What I found most shocking about the information was the fact that everything Shaxson
documented was all fairly common knowledge in academic and economic circles, but that the ruling elites had steadfastly refused to do anything
about closing the loopholes down. This mirrors a lot of the fallout from the Panama Papers leak – people are genuinely shocked by the moral
imbalance here, where governments say one thing about closing the loopholes to the public, and yet they let our banks and wealthiest companies
use the system to its advantage. All anyone wants is a level playing field: fairness and equality. Why does the fight for it have to be so convoluted?
In this month’s issue we tackle an imbalance that’s closer to home – namely that the music media is dominated by male commentators – through
Bethany Garrett’s You Can’t Be What You Can’t See article. Of late there has been a lot of discussion about the representation of women in music,
and how gender discrimination still seems to be rife in some quarters. Our specific focus within that whole debate is how the music media is still
largely made up of men rather than a more equal balance of men and women, and how this skews the view towards the male end of the spectrum.
This greatly affects the way all of us consume music; not in a sinister, calculated way, but more through the dominance of reviews and commentary
that come from male journalists’ and writers’ perspectives. The knock-on effect of this is that it further reinforces the perception of male dominance
from a consumer’s point of view, thus making it less likely that women would feel a part of it.
I’m well aware that Bido Lito! is as culpable as anyone in this: ever since I’ve been Editor, the overwhelming majority of our contributors have been
male. This has never been a conscious decision on my or anyone else’s part, but is symptomatic of the trend we're trying to highlight (over 80% of
our submissions from prospective new contributors come from men) – and hopefully change. The world needs strong female voices as much as it
needs strong male voices. If you’re interested in being part of this #MISSrep debate, come along to our event on 19th May at the Everyman Bistro,
or get in touch with us on Twitter or via submissions@bidolito.co.uk. Help us re-shape the way we view and consume music.
Christopher Torpey / @BidoLito
Editor
Proofreading
Debra Williams - debra@wordsanddeeds.co.uk
Digital Content Manager
Natalie Williams - online@bidolito.co.uk
Editorial Assistant
Bethany Garrett - editorial@bidolito.co.uk
Words
Christopher Torpey, Bethany Garrett, Richard
Lewis, Sam Turner, Jamie Carragher, Mick
Chrysalid, Stuart Miles O’Hara, Matthew
Wright, Glyn Akroyd, Del Pike, Philip
Morris, Alastair Dunn, Rosa Jane, Debra
Williams, Matthew Hogarth, Ian Salmon,
Gary Lambert, Harry Brown, Rob Longson,
Howard Storey, Amy Roberts, Steven Aston.
Photography, Illustration and Layout
Mark McKellier, Sam Rowlands, Keith
Ainsworth, Jack McVann, Leon Pearce, The
Invisible Wind Factory, Michael Sheerin,
Robert Workman, Jemma Timberlake,
Stuart Moulding, Aaron McManus, Georgia
Flynn, Lexi Sun, Darren Aston, Gaz Jones,
Paul McCoy, Gareth Arrowsmith.
Advertising
To advertise please contact
ads@bidolito.co.uk
Distributed By Middle Distance
Print, distribution and events support across
Merseyside and the North West.
middledistance.org
The views expressed in Bido Lito! are those of the
respective contributors and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the magazine, its staff or the
publishers. All rights reserved.
bidolito.co.uk

Words: Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Photography: Sam Rowlands /
samrowlandsphotography.tumblr.com
bidolito.co.uk

Bido Lito! May 2016
5
e’re all looking at the menu and thinking the same
thing: Do I order a Belly Buster breakfast or a normal
breakfast? Will I look like a greedy bastard if I get
one and no-one else does? Do I even need three sausages? This
mild existential drama is taking place in the company of TRUDY
AND THE ROMANCE, in a not-so-greasy greasy spoon café tucked
away down a city-centre side street. They – Olly Taylor, Lewis
Rollinson and Brad Mullins – have chosen this as the perfect
place to induct me into their world, a realm of cheeky, boyish
charm, mutant 50s pop and, alas, no Belly Buster breakfasts.
This is a realm that they previously inhabited simply as Trudy;
however, due to the name clashing with an act who formed
in the late-70s (no, us neither), the trio shall henceforth be
known with the addition of And The Romance. It’s an addition
that fits these three likely lads well, though you wouldn’t
think it to look at them. But then, hopeless romantics can
take many forms.
The nomadic existence of the three friends drew them to
the bosom of Liverpool music 12 months ago when softly-spoken
drummer Brad came to study at LIPA – he and chirpy guitarist/
vocalist Olly moved here from their native Chesterfield, whilst
laid-back, drawling bass player Lewis is from Bolton. What they’ve
found in Liverpool is a synergy with some likeminded souls that
makes them feel at home here, and a supportive audience for
their retro guitar pop manner.
There’s a little of the early music hall stylings of Pete ‘n’ Carl
about Trudy And The Romance, which harks back to a time when
the Libs were full-of-face and not ravaged by drugs, and kind of
charming in a classic British way. There will always be a place in
the hearts of British music lovers for a little bit of whimsy and
unabashed romance, and it’s the twin charms of Olly Taylor’s
winsome vocals and stunning guitar playing that gets you
hooked. At times it looks as if Taylor learned to play his guitar in
a broom closet: he juggles it about, sometimes pointing it straight
at the sky and occasionally strumming from just below his chin as
he fires out some frantic riffage in his thrilling, seat-of-the-pants
style. “I suppose it’s a bit like Jonathan Richman, in the way he
holds his guitar. I get told it’s a bit like other people, like Wilko
Johnson or The Beatles, but I don’t have any conscious thing I’m
going for,” Olly intones.
There’s a certain delicacy needed when navigating a retro
aesthetic, and Trudy And The Romance do this with great flair
through their vintage-feeling home-video films and artwork
– all coordinated with cartoonish panache by their friend
Amber McCall, an illustrator who goes under the name Hello
Thunderpuss. “Amber’s really good; I suppose she’s influenced
the image quite a lot,” agrees Olly. “It’s just a representation of
whatever we like, though.” The Trudy And The Romance jukebox of
“whatever they like” is fairly extensive: as well as the easy-to-hear
sonic influences of Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers,
The Beach Boys and classy 50s doo wop band The Flamingos in
the band’s freaky tunings, there are some interesting reference
points brought up – Gene Vincent, Foxygen, Benjamin Clementine,
Devandra Banhart, King Krule, and Christopher Owens’ original
band Girls. “They’ve got that kind of thing as well, a sort of 50s
old school vibe,” says Brad about the affinity they feel with Girls.
“Richard as well,” murmurs Brad, one of many times the group
refer to venerable Sheffield bard Richard Hawley by his first
name, as though he’s part of the fabric of the band. Olly is quick
to ascertain, however, that they’re still finding out what they are,
and are far from the complete article: “We don’t really wanna
listen to these bands too much in case we end up sounding like
them! I think that’s what is gonna get the next sound, trying to
achieve something like [our influences]. We’re not gonna sound
great, but it’s sort of the point. Just three scruffy lads…”
“There’s something quite cool about
three indie lads trying to sound like a pristine doo wop band,”
muses Brad, to which Olly replies: “Yeh – there aren’t many cool
takes on doo wop.”
We first encountered Trudy And The Romance at a show they
played for one of our Bido Social events at Aloft Hotel. First on but
with the biggest – and liveliest – crowd of the night, they were a
swirl of summery brightness and smiles. There was something
about their silly, sun-kissed, cheeky songs about girls and getting
drunk even then – an irreverence matched with a dedication to
delivering enough of a polished performance to make you see
that they meant every bit of it. They’ve fallen in with other gangs
too, bands of a similar ilk who share an affinity of togetherness
as mates. Talking of that Bido Social gig, when their mates came
out to support them en masse, Brad reckons it was an important
realisation for them. “There was a sense that we kind of had our
own little scene, with Pink Kink and Her’s and stuff like that, even
though the music isn’t super similar. It was the first time we saw
there was a foundation.” This mutual support is vital. They all go
to each other’s gigs and share a sense of having fun with what
they do, not taking everything overly seriously. It also makes it
easier for them to fit in, and gives them that protective shield to
allow them to be themselves while doing so.
However, one negative aspect of having a tight group around
you comes in trying to remain objective about what you’re doing.
It’s very easy to come across as too flippant if you and everyone
around you are goofing about and egging each other on, but it
is something the band are aware of. “It’s a weird line,” muses
Brad. “We want to have this image of being, kind of, hopeless
romantics – but then you also want people to take you
seriously as well.”
The next stage of development for Trudy And The
Romance is in the studio, where they see themselves
building on their initial suite of songs, Baby, I’m Blue,
Behave and All My Love, which they recorded with Spring
King’s Tarek Musa. “We kept adding little bits of stuff on all
the time. It was quite DIY,” explains Olly of this approach,
which I suggest is something that suits their style perfectly.
“Hmm, it’s a weird one…,” comes Olly’s noncommittal
response. “I think it does suit us: but at the same time, you
do wanna develop the sound.” “You can’t just limit yourself to
that style,” agrees Lewis.
In June 2015 they went into Parr Street Studios with Bill
Ryder-Jones to work on this new approach. The result is two
new tunes which are set to be released towards the end of
May on an exciting tastemaker label. These new tracks feel
like the band have filled out somewhat, and there’s definitely
more space for each part to be discerned, like bringing out the
warm tones in Olly’s voice. This approach is definitely more to
the band’s tastes. “We wanna do more stuff with Bill,” says
Brad, which Olly agrees with. “He’s cool; you can just trust
him. I think he has good vision as well – further than what
we can see with the band.”
They followed this up by supporting Ryder-Jones on
his UK tour in the spring, which saw them playing to
decent-sized crowds of likeminded people. The band
were then asked to support former Beautiful South pair
Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott on their UK and Ireland
tour, which was an altogether different proposition.
Playing to packed-out auditoriums of 2000-plus
Beautiful South devotees was a great experience
for the three lads, but it had its own challenges.
“It’s a different demographic totally, 50-plus,” Olly
explains, followed by Lewis’ rather more blunt
assessment. “Some people were sat watching us with their
fingers in their ears!” And it doesn’t stop there: after two weeks
off at the end of April, the band are back out on the road again
for the summer, playing Gold Sounds Festival in Leeds, an NME
Awards Tour date, The Great Escape in Brighton, and Liverpool
Sound City.
As for where they see themselves going musically in the future,
all three are in agreement that they’re far from at their complete,
final style. “We can’t keep doing what we’re doing forever, as in
we can’t always be scrappy,” explains Olly of their vison for what
Trudy And The Romance could become. “We wanna spend more
time in the studio, writing, trying to create a new thing. I like the
idea of changing it up. We’re not stubborn.” Lewis agrees: “I think
you’re dead in the water if you’re too set in your ways about how
you sound, because everything moves on and you’re left behind.”
“We like the idea of being quite cinematic, too,” continues Olly,
perhaps referencing back to their one constant guide, Richard
Hawley. “We’re trying to bring some of that to the live thing,
seeing how much we can push ourselves,” adds Lewis. “I think
it’s quite interesting to see how we could expand that cinematic
side – it could be quite impressive.”
Trudy And The Romance ambitious? You betcha. “One day we
want big orchestras and shit on stage, the whole shebang,” says
Brad, with half a smile on his face, but I realise they’re serious
about this as Olly looks me dead in the eye: “I don’t know how
we’re gonna do it, but we’re gonna try.”
Trudy And The Romance play Liverpool Sound City on Sunday 29th
May.
trudymylove.com
bidolito.co.uk

iverpool’s foremost young musician, Mark Simpson, is
weighing up his next move: return home to Merseyside
or relocate to Berlin? Sitting in the Everyman café, sun
streaming through the street-to-ceiling windows, the 27-yearold
clarinettist-composer admits, “I’m at a stage in my life where
it’s like:” – with mock exasperation – “What am I doing? Where
am I going?”
For Simpson, such self-examination isn’t new. In 2006,
he had an annus mirabilis plus, winning both BBC Young
Musician of the Year and BBC Young Composer of the Year, a
feat unmatched by anyone before or since. Do a double like
that and the phone doesn’t stop ringing. From the age of 17,
Simpson has had endless choice about where to go and what
to do. What’s impressive is how well he’s chartered his career
since its explosive beginnings. There seems to have barely been
a misstep along the way.
Words: Jamie Carragher / @CarragherJamie
Photography: Robert Workman
Ten years on, he’s back in town to talk about his new
composition, PLEASURE, his debut opera showing at the
Liverpool Playhouse for one night only on 4th May. Set in the
North of England in a gay club of the same name, Pleasure is
not only based on Simpson’s personal experiences but is directly
linked to that extraordinary period when he was first heralded
as the new prodigy of classical music in Britain.
“The idea came about back in 2008,” he tells me, slightly
disbelieving that the project is actually going to happen. “My life
was pretty crazy.” In the aftermath of the two accolades came a
year of frenzied activity: commissions as both a composer and as
a performer, concerts around the world. Lost in classical music,
Simpson relished the respite that coming back to Liverpool
offered. Here, he could go out to town with his mates and forget
all his worries, or at least try to.
Exhausted and stretched, one night Simpson found himself
confiding his troubles in an unlikely figure: “I was slumped in
the corner talking to this old woman who was a toilet cleaner
in one of those clubs.” He lights up remembering the encounter.
“She was this mother figure, you know? Had this angelic quality
almost. I basically poured out my heart and soul to her.”
What could have wound up as a half-recalled hangover
anecdote quickly morphed into something much bigger. In
the middle of their conversation, Simpson wondered who this
cleaner actually was, what kind of life she had led. He kept on
with his confessional, “at which point, I thought, I might not be
the only person in this club who’s doing this, and what if she
knows a lot more about the people in here than she’s letting
on? What if she has her own weird, dark history?”
His imagination set in motion, he “suddenly started to see
the creative potential of the characters in the club: drag queens,
young kids drunk and trying to lose themselves, other characters
who seemed to be darker and more mysterious.” A complete and
compelling world had revealed itself to Simpson and what’s
more he already knew it inside out.
The mystery cleaner, who may well still be in the employ of
the Pleasure Rooms or Garlands (Pleasure is based on no one
club in particular but rather “the essence of many”), provided the
inspiration for Val, the opera’s central character, who is played by
Lesley Garrett. A part of the Pleasure furniture, the all-seeing, alllistening
Val loses her peripheral status when Nathan (Timothy
Nelson), a beautiful and unpredictable young man, gives her a
gift. This gift marks the beginning of an emotional and violent
night, emotion and violence being the key ingredients of
Simpson’s ‘hyper-fairytale.’
Though Simpson knew little about opera back in 2008, he was
certain that it was the medium best suited to telling Val’s story.
I push him on this, why an opera and not a musical? “Because
that’s my world, my classical training,” he explains, talking me
through the operas that have inspired him since, “and I thought,
actually, opera as an art form can say much more in terms of
what I’m searching for.”
Mark Simpson has very clear ideas about what he wants.
Inversely, he knows what he doesn’t want. Tropes of musical
theatre infuriate him – “I hate it when it breaks into jazz hands” –
and a lot of modern opera, intellectualised to the point of saying
nothing, leaves him cold: “the idea of the story is lost; it’s too
abstract.” Pleasure is something of a middle path between the
two art forms, a mix of the cerebral and the emotional, so we
can expect a show with genuine drama as well as layered and
complex musicality. It’s billed as a thriller for a reason.
Pleasure is the result of collaboration. The lyrics have been
written by librettist Melanie Challenger, a celebrated poet with
whom Simpson previously worked, on The Immortal, an oratorio
which premiered to great acclaim at the Manchester International
Festival in 2015. However, their connection predates even this,
first finding expression when Simpson composed an orchestral
piece, The Mirror Fragment, based on one of Challenger’s poems.
After the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performed the piece
as part of the Capital of Culture celebrations, Challenger and
Simpson met for the first time in the old Everyman Bistro. There,
he put the idea of Pleasure to her and it was an immediate case
of “let’s do it”.
Under the Jerwood Opera Writing fellowship scheme,
Simpson and Challenger have had time and space to work out
their ideas. Simpson is effusive about Challenger’s role in the
project: “When I read her poetry, it unlocks the music in me. I
couldn’t do without it.” It’s clear that he trusts her implicitly,
even when she’s translating his own experiences to text. “It’s so
personal to me”, and yet it’s very much a case of a shared vision,
with Challenger providing lyrics to Simpson’s song.
Having sold out the opening two nights at Opera North in
Leeds, I ask Simpson about the audience he’s aiming for when
the show comes to Liverpool. “I hope there will be a lot of firsttime
opera goers there; I hope it will entice people.” Simpson
wants to show that opera is not an inaccessible art form,
although he admits it’s an expensive one to put on the stage:
“Throughout the process I had my publisher saying, ‘Are you sure
you want to write for 11 instruments? Can you get rid of one of
the synthesisers?’”
The financial aspect of classical music is something that
troubles Mark Simpson, particularly when it comes to education.
Looking back on his school years, he is grateful for the
opportunities which were afforded to him – free lessons, access
to bands – and dismayed that such opportunities no longer exist:
“Local Authority-funded music service was basically a pathway
to where I am now.” Where Simpson was taught in a class of
three, the rare free lessons available now have to accommodate
30 school kids at a time. “No-one wants to go on [in a career]
afterwards,” he intones. I ask him if he would be able to replicate
his achievements under the current system of music education.
He thinks for a while: “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
Simpson has ambitions to challenge the economic elitism
associated with classical music, and Pleasure is a part of that:
“I wanted to show you can have working-class people, reallife
ideas”. As well as using his public position to challenge
government policy, he also has plans to found a new classical
music festival in Liverpool to replace the one that fell to Tory
cuts. All this would be enough for getting on with, but then
there’s also the small matter of his career. He is Composer in
Association with the BBC Philharmonic, he’s currently working
on a new collaboration with Challenger, he’s booked to play the
Salzburg Festival and he’s releasing a CD, Night Music, on 20th
May which charts the evolution of his chamber music from 2006
to 2014. Oh, and he has to decide where to live for the next few
years too. I ask him if he ever feels overwhelmed by it all. He
admits to being a worrier, but goes on to say, “I wanna be that
person. If it was too difficult to deal with, I wouldn’t do it”. No
matter where he ends up, Mark Simpson knows what he’s doing
and he knows where he’s going.
Pleasure shows at The Playhouse Theatre on 4th May. Tickets are
available from everymanplayhouse.com/pleasure

facebook.com/o2academyliverpool
twitter.com/o2academylpool
instagram.com/o2academyliverpool
youtube.com/o2academytv
Thurs 28th Apr • £20 adv
Earl Slick & Bernard Fowler
perform
David Bowie’s Station to Station
+ Lisa Ronson + Lover
Thurs 28th Apr • £13 adv
65daysofstatic
Tues 3rd May • £15 adv
Less Than Jake
Sat 7th May • £15 adv
ChameleonsVox
Thurs 12th May • £7 adv
Louis Berry
Fri 13th May • £16 adv
Foxes
Sun 15th May • £15 adv
Laura Mvula
Mon 16th May • £6 adv
Fort Hope
Wed 18th May • £15 adv
Hayseed Dixie
Sat 21st May • £11 adv
Guns 2 Roses
Tues 24th May • £15 adv
Adam Green
Sat 28th May • £10 adv
Novana (Nirvana Tribute)
Mon 6th Jun • £15 adv
Wheatus
Fri 10th Jun • £20 adv
Bad Manners
40th Anniversary Tour
Tues 14th Jun • £16 adv
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Fri 17th Jun • £10 adv
Stillmarillion
Sun 19th Jun • £17.50 adv
Blackberry Smoke
Thurs 14th Jul • £23 adv
The Maccabees
Sat 30th Jul • £10 / £15 adv
Keywest
Sat 3rd Sep • £15 adv • 7.30pm
Animal Collective
Sat 17th Sep • £12.50 adv
Definitely Mightbe
20th Anniversary of Maine Rd & Knebworth shows tour
with extra greatest hits show
Sat 8th Oct • £12.50 adv
UK Foo Fighters Tribute
Tues 11th Oct • £27.50 adv
All Saints
Thurs 20th Oct • £29.50 adv
Heaven 17 & British Electric
Foundation
Sun 30th Oct • £16.50 adv
Y&T
Fri 4th Nov • £25 adv
The Two Mikes
Fri 11th Nov • £14 adv
Absolute Bowie
Celebrate the life of David Bowie
In support of Teenage Cancer Trust
Sat 12th Nov • £11 adv
Antarctic Monkeys
Fri 25th Nov • £12 adv
The Doors Alive
Sun 27th Nov • £14 adv
Electric 6
Fri 2nd Dec • £13 adv
The Lancashire Hotpots
Sat 10th Dec • £15 adv
The Icicle Works
Sat 17th Dec • £20 adv
Cast
Sat 11th Jun • £28.50 adv
Dr John Cooper
Clarke
Sat 16th Jul • £18.50 adv • 7.30pm
Father John Misty
Sat 26th Nov • £23 adv
Soul II Soul
Ticketweb.co.uk • 0844 477 2000
liverpoolguild.org
Sat 11th Jun • £28.50 adv
Dr. John Cooper Clarke
Sat 16th Jul • £18.50 adv
Father John Misty
Sat 3rd Sep • £15 adv
Animal Collective
o2academyliverpool.co.uk
11-13 Hotham Street, Liverpool L3 5UF • Doors 7pm unless stated
Venue box office opening hours: Mon - Sat 11.30am - 5.30pm • No booking fee on cash transactions
ticketweb.co.uk • seetickets.com • gigantic.com • ticketmaster.co.uk

8
Bido Lito! May 2016
Often, when I come to write a feature, a review, or
even an essay, I start somewhere in the middle
of things. Openings entertain high expectations
– snappy, engaging, insightful and the rest – and, until
the middle falls into place, I tend to struggle to find
that first crucial syllable or sentence, the one that
in a logical world would set the ball rolling ever so
fluidly and fluently until that final satisfying full stop
or overzealous exclamation mark. Writing never takes
that straightforward a trajectory for me, and this feature
has been no less a struggle. Where do you start on an
issue so complex and multifaceted as gender inequality
in the music industry? Well, we could narrow down the
scope to the music media – we’re an independent music
publication, I’m a music journalist of some sorts, so it’s
what we know best.
Besides being close to home, there are other valid
reasons to focus on media: it’s inseparable from issues of
representation, informs culture and politics, and is complicit
in the reproduction of social and cultural values. Music
is also heavily entangled in this web of representation
and possesses the ability to reach vast audiences, and,
y’know, makes the people come together (like The Beatles
or Madonna and Ali G). The treatment of women and nonbinary
folk in music media influences, and is influenced
by, how we view and treat them in the wider world – if
incessantly subject to the male gaze, women in music
and women in public life will continue to be unnecessarily
trivialised and sexualised; their bodies and private lives
regarded as public property; free bait to be commented
on, judged, shamed, groped,
whatever.
If you’re not sure what the
male gaze is, it’s essentially
how views of the world and
women tend to be depicted in
terms of outdated male attitudes. Louise
Bruton of Headstuff does a better job of
making this tangible in her article If Male
Musicians Were Described The Same Way As
Female Musicians. Here’s an excerpt: “Known
to all as Taylor Swift’s best friend and Laura
Sheeran’s younger cousin, Ed Sheeran has
had a busy year. The flame-haired singer
has a habit of writing heartbroken songs
about his ex-girlfriends – including Ellie
Goulding, who allegedly cheated on him
with One Direction’s blond bombshell
Niall Horan – while maintaining a
happy-go-lucky, clean cut image in the
press. Who’s next on his list to break
his heart? Ladies, watch out. He’ll take
that heartache and will make a hit song
out of you.” She might not be your cup
of tea (not mine either), but how often is
Taylor Swift treated in this way without mention
of her becoming the first female solo artist to win the Album Of The Year Grammy more than once?
It’s patronising and poisonous.
Though a lot of men do resist the male gaze (and probably a fair amount of women relate to it),
it’s easier to be attuned to these misrepresentations as a woman or non-binary because it’s not your
natural line of sight. Essentially, including a diversity of world views and voices in music media prevents
the narrative around music from being told from a single, privileged perspective, without the balance
of comment from women, people of colour and other marginalised groups being heard at the same
level. And, at a time when mainstream media headlines are so worryingly warped, it’s extra important to
have independent media with a strong smorgasbord of voices shouting from all different walks of life.
bidolito.co.uk
YOU CAN’T
BE WHAT YOU
CAN’T SEE
(Miss)Representation
In The Music Media
Words: Bethany Garrett / @_bethanygarrett
Illustration: Jemma Timberlake / jemmatimberlake.co.uk
So, what now? Let’s hone things down a little more.
Let’s think about representation, let’s think about
barriers, let’s think about how we can try and break
down these barriers or overcome them. Let’s team up
with cultural and literary festival Writing On The Wall
to gather a panel of music and cultural journalists from
the North West, headed by LAURA SNAPES of Pitchfork
and, formerly, NME, and get them talking. Let’s invite
whoever we can to come along, learn, question and get
involved. Let’s get more women writing for Bido Lito! And
let’s not forget that there are plenty of other injustices of
representation that revolve around trans rights, sexuality,
cisnormativity, race, ethnicity, religion and ableism that
also need to be tackled and which often intersect to form
a complex entanglement of inequalities – intersectional
feminism is key.
Music journalism has a massive, throbbing hangover
from its early days in the 1970s when practices in music
were messy, misogynistic, fashioned by, and weighted
heavily in favour of, blokes. In essence, like much of
the rest of the industry, it’s a man’s world. The way
female music fandom is so often trivialised as ‘teenage
fangirling’ when, in actuality, teenage girls consistently
come out on top as the number one consumers of music,
is categorically damaging, as well as ridiculous. To be told
that your love of music, and the way you consume it, is
not legitimate, when really your fan power helps to sustain
the entire industry is absolute bullshit. As music and culture
critic Jessica Hopper puts it: “This idea that there is a right
way to like music and a right music to like and a right way to
express that – it all works together in this prescribed
idea of how women are supposed to participate in
music. Decades and decades of women being
told we like music in the wrong way. It’s all
just a myth.”
This myth pervades and plays into the
treatment of women in the industry. In
August, when Hopper called out on Twitter
to ask women and “other marginalised
folks” to share their first brush with the
idea that they didn’t count in music, the
responses ranged from dealing with
repeated misogynistic comments and
lazy presumptions (“Is your boyfriend
in the band?”, “Do you need help with
those pedals, honey?” etc.) to the
absolutely horrifying and sickening
reality of sexual harassment, assault
and rape (a Brooklyn-based music
journalist tweeted her experience
of date rape by an artist she was
profiling). It goes without saying that
this is not OK.
On International Women’s Day this
year – the same day we launched our event with
Writing On The Wall – we were reminded again of the shit women music journalists have to deal
with when Spin published Rachel Brodsky’s piece interviewing The Last Shadow Puppets, in
which she details the harassment she received from Miles Kane. As well as asking if she would
like to go upstairs (the interview was being conducted in a hotel) and making lewd comments,
he plants an unwelcome farewell kiss on her. After the article’s publication, Kane sent Brodsky
an apology for his “ill-judged humour”, confessing that he was “mortified that it made [her] feel
uncomfortable”. Interviews in music journalism aren’t always carried out in the formal settings
of an office: sometimes they’ll take place in bars, venues, backstage at festivals, or even in hotel
lobbies, and this seems to confuse some musicians. As Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Jezebel

Bido Lito! May 2016
9
pointed out when writing about Brodsky’s experience, the blurred line between formality and
informality may change the context of interviews, but it does not change the fact that unwanted
sexual attention in the workplace is, by definition, sexual harassment.
“So what if someone made a few jokes and went in for a peck on the cheek? It’s only a bit of
harmless fun.” Not so. It’s a genuine barrier when the musicians you’re meant to be profiling can’t
make the distinction between sex and work. From personal experience, what happened to Rachel
Brodsky, or to any of the women who responded to Jessica Hopper’s call, isn’t an exceptional
occurrence at all. I’ve never been assaulted when interviewing a band but I’ve definitely been
propositioned. Mostly (but not always without a bit of persistence first), the proposition has then
been passed off as a joke – a bit of cheeky-chappy, goodhearted, old-time Carry On slapstick (but,
seriously, how about a bit of slap ‘n’ tickle?) humour.
It’s partly that ‘trying one’s luck and then passing it off as a joke’ game that is so undermining
for women in a working capacity – you know you’re not being taken seriously at all and that, if
you were a man, you almost certainly wouldn’t have those insinuations made of you. Essentially,
you’re considered a sexual object rather than a working person, and it’s no joke – it’s damaging
for your self-esteem to find yourself conceding that others value your worth in terms of your
physical potential and willingness, as opposed to, say, your nuanced, well-researched interview
questions, vast cultural knowledge and adept way with words. Or something to that effect.
That’s one of the reasons this discussion is open to all: it’s just as valuable if an artist reads
this article and thinks, “Shit, maybe I shouldn’t ask female music journalists for an invitation
back to their tent”, as it is if a teenage girl who lives for English Literature and fights to put BBC
6Music on in the sixth-form common room reads
it and thinks she can put two of her
passions to good use and get
published.
Another reason
we’re running
the panel, and
another barrier
to women in
music media, is
that you can’t be what
you can’t see. As a young
woman, it might be difficult
to imagine yourself dipping that first
tentative toe into something that from the outside looks like a man’s world. This is precisely
why we want to make prominent women within music media visible to as wide an audience
as possible, giving women who are interested the opportunity to find out more about getting
involved in music media without feeling so intimidated or out of place.
So, as well as Laura Snapes, who is a regular contributor to The Guardian, Uncut, The Observer
and Tavi Gevinson’s Rookie Magazine, we’ve gathered SARAH LAY, editor at alternative music mag
Louder Than War; AMY ROBERTS, editor at insightful feminist pop culture blog Clarissa Explains
Fuck All; LORNA GRAY, music journalist and founder of Liverpool-based intersectional feminist
girl gang Fierce Babe Network, and yours truly, to get together, educate and discuss strategies
for tackling industry misogyny and the misrepresentations women face, while empowering more
women with the skills to get involved. The event is open to all because there’s room for everyone
to learn something – whether that’s writing tips or strategies for dealing with dickheads – and
because the people in positions to change things in music media still tend to be men.
As for those strategies, we could make a nod to Brodsky’s honesty in writing any discrimination
and harassment faced into features as part of the experience of profiling the artist in question.
We can encourage, promote and celebrate women in music media, educate and call out sexism
where necessary, and stick it to the man or the powers that be when we feel powerless. We can
resist focusing so adamantly on looks (style is a different kettle of fish) and private affairs when
writing about women artists, or any artists for that matter. And we can most definitely take a tip
out of Jessica Hopper’s book: “Being a fangirl is all the qualification you need. And don’t wait for
anyone to give you permission. They won’t. And you should do it anyway”. Sounds about right – so
come along and do it. The world needs fresh perspectives and at Bido Lito! we wanna hear yours.
You Can’t Be What You Can’t See: (Miss)Representation in the Music Media takes place on 19th
May at Everyman Bistro from 8pm, as part of Writing On The Wall festival. The panel discussion is
followed with a gig from Pink Kink and very special guests. Head to bidolito.co.uk to buy tickets,
and to read an exclusive interview with Laura Snapes.
Writing On The Wall writing and literature festival runs throughout May, with dozens of events
taking place across multiple venues. For full details of this year’s packed programme, head to
writingonthewall.org.uk.
bidolito.co.uk

Quickly being hailed as one of the break-out new talents
of the year, SHURA is an artist with so many strings
to her bow that it’s hard to pin down what her best
suit is. A singer, producer, re-mixer and video editor, Shura was
born Aleksandra Lilah Yakunina-Denton in Moscow to a Russian
actress and an English documentary filmmaker. Keen to impress
her DJ brother, Shura began building her own songs when she
was 16, immersing herself in the textured sounds of Janet
Jackson, Blood Orange and early Madonna. A few years later
she headed off to the Amazon rainforest on a gap year, in a bid
to fully immerse herself in her songwriting.
Her trademark soft, retro pop filtered through 90s RnB is
supremely modern and in keeping with a lot of today’s forwardthinking
pop music. Shura’s first two tracks, Touch and Just Once,
have racked up Radio 1 playlists, over a million online hits and
praise from the likes of Dev Hynes and Jessie Ware. She stands
poised to release her debut album Nothing’s Real on Polydor
in July this year, with a whole clutch of people eager to find out
which direction this remarkable artist will go next.
Ahead of her Sound City performance on 29 th May, we caught
up with Shura in the middle of her busy schedule as she was
putting the finishing touches to her debut record.
Bido Lito!: How’s work progressing with your album? It’s been
quite a slow burn since you released your first single Touch in
2014 (and even longer back to River): is this a reflection of your
process of writing and making songs?
Shura: The album is nearly there. Just the finishing touches. I’m
really proud of it, so pretty freakin’ stoked to share it with the
world this year. Joel [Pott, Athlete] and I have been working on
it for the last few years so it’s been a real labour of love.
Everyone’s different when it comes to writing songs. Some people
write five in one week and maybe one of them is good, whereas
I’ll probably write one and spend two to three weeks working
Believing your own hype is probably the worst thing that can
happen to you as an artist.
BL!: I love the way Touch has elements of trip hop and glassy,
more conventional pop. They’re obviously big influences to you
– did you find any challenges in creating something that brought
these important influences together?
S: The pop that I love is always slightly left-of-centre – be it Dev
Hynes or Grimes – so I think that’s what influences the poppier
side of my music. I’m also a huge fan of Madonna, Janet Jackson
and Fleetwood Mac, so I guess that influences my style a lot. I
grew up listening to a lot of trip hop, so when it came to making
my own music it’s only natural to pull [out] elements from the
stuff you love and try and make it work. Sometimes it doesn’t,
but that’s the fun part – trying.
BL!: It sometimes feels pointless trying to describe music made
today in terms of certain established genres. Do you think we’re
moving towards a genre-less world?
S: I think it’s hard to imagine truly new genres emerging. For
instance, can you imagine what it would have been like to have
listened to The Beach Boys back in ‘66? It must have blown
people’s minds. No one had heard anything like that before. I
don’t know if that’ll ever happen in the same way. I guess the
new genres that are emerging now are an amalgamation of
genres that haven’t ever been put together before. It’s normally
technology or new instruments that start huge shifts in the
way popular music sounds. Just look at the synthesiser, which
was initially created to replace organic sounds. Now it’s an
instrument in its own right.
BL!: Do you find any catharsis in being so raw and
vulnerable in your lyrics?
S: I definitely find it easier to talk about how I
feel in a song than I do with humans. I think
that stems from being socially awkward, so
S: I haven’t spent enough time in Russia to have even the
slightest clue if there’s a difference in approaching making
music, whether it’s more or less conservative. There are lots of
incredible electronic music producers in Russia, so I’m not sure
it’s necessarily that different. I’m sure there are differences in
what’s popular between the UK and Russia but that’s true of a
lot of countries and cultures. What’s popular here may not be
in Italy, what’s huge in the US might not go down so well here.
It’s strange being half Russian and half English because, in
a way, you don’t quite fit in anywhere. I feel very Russian in
England in that I’m very proud of my heritage, but then when I
get to Russia I think, “Nope, I’m definitely English”. Ha!
BL!: Do you still enjoy having a hand in your videos as well? Three
Years seems to show that you’ve got a lot more ambition for this
side of your identity.
S: I love being involved in making music videos. That’s one of the
great things about being a musician, that you can dip your toe
into so many worlds. I always try to be involved as much as I
can, mainly because it’s really fucking fun, but also because I
think that, if you’re making the music, you’re in kind of the best
position to know what’s appropriate visually. It’s all connected.
Shura plays Liverpool Sound City on 29 th May, appearing on the
Atlantic Stage. Her debut album Nothing’s Real comes out on 8 th
July on Polydor.
weareshura.com
SHURA
on it until I’m happy that it’s a fair representation sonically of
what was in my brain at the start. River was a song that I wrote
that was remixed by Hiatus and started a collaboration project
between the two of us, which naturally sounds very different
to my work as a solo artist. Touch was my first ever release as
just me so, whilst the work I did with Hiatus is very much a part
of my development as a songwriter, it doesn’t really feel like I
started or launched as a solo artist until Touch. I’m definitely
a perfectionist, the good thing is once you learn to let go of a
song you begin to love it for its flaws as well as its strengths.
BL!: What kind of world did being on the BBC’s Sound Of 2015
list open up to you?
S: It’s hard to imagine what opened up for me because I was
fortunate enough to be on that list, and so in order to fully
understand what it gave me I’d have to imagine what would
have happened without it, which is a very difficult thing to do. It
obviously meant that my songs were being played on the radio
more and that people discovered me as a result of getting more
airplay. Maybe people who hadn’t clicked on a SoundCloud link
before suddenly felt compelled to – I dunno! It was definitely
nice to have that nod of approval, that recognition, but so many
artists who don’t make that list are also brilliant. I think that it’s
important to take both criticism and praise with a pinch of salt.
of course there is a kind of catharsis. The
good thing is that, once you release a song,
that emotion or thought that sparked it no
longer belongs only to you. It’s embraced
and interpreted by your fans – ‘a problem
shared is a problem halved’ in action.
BL!: An outsider might presume
that there would be a more
conservative approach
to making music (and
indeed art) in Russia
– would that be
true, in your
experience? Did
your mother
being an actress
encourage you
to be more
adventurous
with your
creative
output?
Words: Christopher Torpey / @CATorp

NEW GIGS
Liverpool Philharmonic
May – July
TINDERSTICKS
The Waiting Room, Cine-Concert
Sunday 1 May 8pm
–
25th Anniversary Tour
JOHN MCCUSKER
Wednesday 4 May 8pm
–
FAIRPORT
CONVENTION
Wednesday 11 May 8pm
–
SPIRO
Saturday 14 May 8pm
–
TEDDY THOMPSON
& KELLY JONES
Thursday 26 May 8pm
SELLING FAST
SELLING FAST
–
LUKA BLOOM
Friday 27 May 8pm
–
BEVERLEY KNIGHT
Sunday 29 May 7.30pm
–
ERIC BIBB & BAND
Moday 30 May 7.30pm
BRIAN WILSON
PRESENTS PET
SOUNDS
Tuesday 31 May 7.30pm
–
BEN FOLDS
WITH YMUSIC
Support from Lera Lynn
Wednesday 15 June 7.30pm
–
CHINA CRISIS
Friday 17 June 8pm
Saturday 18 June 8pm
–
GEORGE BENSON
Monday 20 June 7.30pm
–
BURT BACHARACH
Wednesday 29 June 7.30pm
–
ELVIS COSTELLO
& THE IMPOSTERS
Monday 11 July 7.30pm
–
IAN PROWSE
Friday 15 July 8pm
–
MARY CHAPIN
CARPENTER
Wednesday 27 July 7.30pm
–
LIMF: FROM THE
SOUL LIVE WITH
GILES PETERSON
Thursday 21 July 7pm
SOLD OUT
EXTRA DATE
SOLD OUT
SELLING FAST
Box Office
liverpoolphil.com
0151 709 3789
Image Elvis Costello

Words: Sam Turner / @samturner1984
Photography: Keith Ainsworth / arkimages.co.uk
NO WORST,
THE
More so than any other art form, a piece of music can very
easily take on a life of its own. A song can gain poignancy
throughout someone’s life, given special meaning
through a person’s memory. An artist’s carefully honed ballad
can be destroyed through appropriation by a car brand or kitchen
cleaning product. Commonly, songs are picked up by other artists
and resuscitated by a new perspective and gain a fresh relationship
with the world. Interpretation, context and perspective can change
and shift music’s effects on people.
DANIEL THORNE, who has worked with music in numerous
capacities, most famously as part of the collective IMMIX Ensemble,
is no stranger to adapting other people’s work or putting his own
spin on it. For a project which comes to fruition this month, Thorne is
taking a composition originally produced in response to yet another
piece of art and arranging it for a special performance in one of
Liverpool’s most awe-inspiring buildings.
Bill Ryder-Jones wrote No Worst, There Is None in response to the
Gerard Manley Hopkins poem of the same name last year for Ad Hoc
Creative; a collaborative project between Bido Lito! and a property
organisation by the name of Ad Hoc. Based on a European idea of
taking empty buildings and allowing people to live in them on super
cheap rents, Ad Hoc have been helping to breathe life into a variety
of spaces including churches, schools and empty office blocks
around the city. As a project, Ad Hoc Creative commissions artists
to work together to produce collaborative works which are either
exhibited or conceived within buildings under the Ad Hoc scheme.
Ryder-Jones’ original piece was set within a shifting, immersive
visual environment imagined and constructed by artists Sam and
Damien Wiehl, and exhibited at the first Ad Hoc Creative happening
at Calderstones Mansion in May last year. The stunning Georgian
abode in Calderstones Park is part of the Ad Hoc scheme and also
home to The Reader, a fabulous, internationally regarded literature
organisation (the piece’s source text, No Worst, There Is None, was
taken from one of The Reader’s anthology publications). This year,
Ryder-Jones’ composition will reverberate around the spectacular
interior of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral as part of LightNight (13th
May), having been arranged by Thorne to accommodate a choir,
brass section, piano and the building’s famous organ, set with a
large-scale light and visual realm.
“It’s a really stunning space and it’s very conducive to
contemplation, which I think will work perfectly with the music Bill
has written because it is similarly contemplative,” says Thorne when
I meet him in the Cathedral’s imposing surrounds of the St James’
Mound edifice. “It’s one of the places I always bring visiting friends
to. I still remember, just after I had moved to Liverpool I had a friend
visiting and we were walking around, the organist was practising.
It was the first time I really clocked just how long that reverb trail is:
you can just hear a note finishing and then dropping like a feather.”
The sheer scale of the building will also be the challenge for Sam
and Damien Wiehl when they provide an immersive, multimedia,
light and AV environment for the occasion. The brothers, whose CV
boasts AV and lighting provision for Liverpool International Festival
Of Psychedelia, Mugstar, The Coral and IMMIX Ensemble, plan to
provide an immersive, multimedia light show that will add another
dimension of interpretation to the source material on the night.
“When we first looked at the nature of the poem and the music,
the way they hold together space and sound, it felt like we had
to create something that allowed people to contemplate things
and think about the content and narrative which existed,” says
Sam Wiehl, echoing Thorne’s thoughts on the piece. “Part of it is to
create a kind of atmosphere and let the music as well as the visual
elements almost overwhelm people, yet allow them to take their
own meaning from the situation.” The Wiehl brothers’ contribution
to the event will no doubt affect how people experience the music
on the night, while the challenge for them when building the initial
visuals for the Calderstones event was to interpret and represent the
original piece. “My job is to allow people to take what they want from
the poem’s narrative,” says Wiehl. “There are some direct narrative
elements in the visual content, but there are also some abstract
elements. I don’t want to be too prescriptive, and have deliberately
left ambiguity.”
The project is a multi-layered collaboration between at least
three artists – Thorne, Wiehl and Ryder-Jones, not to mention
Manley Hopkins or indeed the various musicians who will perform
on the evening. The three creatives all have excellent collaborative
credentials, with Ryder-Jones previously working with Thorne
and Wiehl providing visuals for IMMIX Ensemble’s recent album
Transition. “That element of collaboration is something I really enjoy,
and there’s always room for interpretation from the musical piece
and the visual piece,” says Wiehl, clearly enthused by the subject.
“There’s room for there to be two different interpretations of a piece.
I do enjoy it when the sound artist feels what I’m producing is about
them as well as what they’ve produced. It’s not simply a case of me
going off on one; I want there to be a balance. You’re not bombarding
people constantly; you’re allowing people to take moments out of
watching the video to just listen to the music as well. It’s that balance
that I’ve really got excited about doing in the last couple of years.”
The event at the Cathedral is part of LightNight, the city’s annual
cultural crawl, an evening of special events hosted by Liverpool’s

RE IS NONE
myriad arts and culture venues which draws in tens of thousands of and one of the things I like about it is it gives you a lot of space when
people each year. It’s this very event which Bill Ryder-Jones had in you listen to it to form your own conclusions, so I’ve tried not to load
mind when he observed “once again Liverpool proves itself to be a it too heavily, whereas if I was writing my own response to the text
home for esoteric and conceptual happenings and, as we all know, I might be inclined to put a certain slant or take on it. But I think it’s
a place where people want more from the arts than the posturing a lot more open the way Bill has written it, particularly when you
and showboating that is offered in the main.”
combine it with readings of the text as well.”
Thorne, an advocate of LightNight and a recurrent visitor, had the The readings in question will be performed by members of The
event’s sprawling scope in mind when arranging the piece for the Reader’s community reading groups, seeing personal renditions of
happening, which will be performed twice for a duration of around No Worst, There Is None ringing out over the composition to add yet
30 minutes (adapted from Ryder-Jones’s seven-minute original. another dimension to the performance. Alongside this, The Reader
“Because of the nature of LightNight and there are so many things will be leading group reading workshops throughout the evening
happening, the idea is, rather than it being a performance where you at the Cathedral, delving deep into the world of Manley Hopkins
come and watch a band or an orchestra from start to finish, I hope and helping people draw their own interpretations from his text.
that it is something that, if you wander up the steps and stay for the The event on 13th May will allow plenty of scope for the piece
whole thing, you gain an insight towards the text. Or if you wander of music to take on new meaning for people, whether that is the
up 10 minutes late, catch five minutes of the next thing, it still works: musicians collaborating to perform the piece, the artists working on
that idea of it creating an environment rather than ‘a piece’. I hope the visual response, the readers supplying the oration of the source
you can enjoy it on a few different levels, whether you are there for material or the hundreds, maybe thousands, of people who will
the whole thing or five minutes.”
experience the performance on the night, for a one-off spectacular.
Typically modest, and repeatedly stressing the fact that the piece A veritable tower of song.
of music is “Bill’s piece”, Thorne is careful to ensure it is known that
he is simply translating the piece for the various instrumentations There will be two performances of No Worst, There Is None at Liverpool
rather than composing. Like Wiehl, he is also intent that the audience Anglican Cathedral on 13th May, at 9pm and 10pm. Entry is free for
can bring their own meaning to the piece on the night: “The main both performances.
thing for me [is that] the piece is Bill’s piece. I really like the piece, adhoccreative.co.uk
LIGHTNIGHT’S
MUSICAL MUSINGS
As is only right, Liverpool’s annual cultural crawl
features a healthy dosage of music in its itinerary.
As well as the spectacular at the Cathedral, there
is a raft of events all over the city with interesting audio
elements.
Continuing the sounds in special places theme, Roger
Hill’s PMS Radio team present a live version of their Music For
Empty Spaces project, and have compiled a downloadable
soundtrack of specially commissioned pieces to accompany
a walking tour of the city, which begins at the Metropolitan
Cathedral. Also exploring the relationship between
music and the importance of space for performance, the
Mindset Ensemble present one of several commissioned
music-related events for LightNight. City Sites is an AV and
performance event which was put together in response to
the much-mourned loss of some of Liverpool’s key music
venues and takes place at the wonderful Nordic Church.
Experimental collective Friend Or Foe will produce a
special multi-channel sound and video environment to
transform the Victoria Gallery and Museum’s Leggate
Theatre with works written on a three-month residency in
a remote town in northern Iceland. Afloat, In Land merges
live performance with field recordings and audio-reactive
visual projections to represent the merciless landscapes of
the places they encountered.
Illumaphonium is another commission for the 2016
festival; this massive, multi-sensory installation can be
played by visitors as patterns of light evolve from the sounds
played and are cast over the object. Murmurate at FACT is
a workshop and performance that teaches visitors how to
use their smartphones to create music and installations
with an interactive performance as the climax. The Black-E
plays host to Carlos Bernal’s immersive light and sound
installation, which creates a space-time tunnel that transfers
and transforms the energy of light: you don’t get that at a
Noel Gallagher gig. To round off the night, there’s a shindig
over at Constellations with No Fakin’ DJs, Abandon Silence’s
Andrew Hill and Faux Queens spinning the discs.
For further details on all of LightNight’s events head to
lightnightliverpool.co.uk.

Each March, Austin, Texas becomes the focus of the world’s music industry, as SOUTH BY SOUTH WEST takes over the city’s venues, bars, BBQ huts and car parks. Thousands of people descend
on the famously alternative city for the festival’s world-renowned, emerging technology-focused conference programme, and a glut of gigs from famous and hopeful bands, wedged into any
space which can fit an audience. This year, as well as playing host to Barack Obama’s interactive keynote address, SXSW welcomed three Liverpool bands – SUGARMEN, STEALING SHEEP and
HOOTON TENNIS CLUB – who took cameras with them to document their trip. Here are their conclusions.
LIVERPOO
People are pretty friendly in Austin and it seemed
to be a left-leaning city politically: plenty of
Bernie Sanders bumper stickers and yard signs.
It’s a brilliant city, I didn't want to leave!
After the festival had finished, Chris Taylor [from
Parr Street Studios] rented a Chevvy and we just
drove around Austin. Later we went to a Texan BBQ
place with Hooton Tennis Club and watched the best
thunder and lightning storm I’ve ever seen!
SUGARMEN
“We got to go halfway across the globe to see and experience
a culture that’s really familiar but also completely different. We
stayed in the suburbs and it’s sort of like being in Clerks, hanging
outside a one stop shop or a 7/11 - and then you realise people
actually live here and you’re not on a film set or in a Green Day
video. The Talking Heads song Nothing But Flowers makes
more sense to me now, too. We also got to play to some pretty
reasonably big American audiences (considering it was our first
time), who were great!”
We sampled A LOT of the US culture: tacos and Lone
Star [the national beer of Texas]! We actually made
it on to local ABC news talking about food trucks - we
talked about the gigs we played but they cut that out.
This picture was actually taken at a tex mex place
called El Sapo a few days after their showcase,
but it was Heavenly all the same! Half the Heavenly
gang were there and playing -I never got up but
Chris Taylor got on stage and played tambourine!

Photography: Sugarmen, Hooton Tennis Club, Stealing Sheep,
Leon Pearce and Jack McVann
L @ SXSW
Austin is massive! The roads are gigantic,
the cars are bigger, the food comes in bigger
portions, the buildings are really... big. But
that's just major American cities for you.
The city looked incredible from our kayaks.
We kept stopping and saying ‘what are we
doing kayaking in fucking Texas!?’ Kayaking
in Texas felt too strange to be true.
We played five shows altogether - this was the first
one we played, on a boat full of tech people coming to
SXSW for the 'interactive' bit of the festival. We were
the live entertainment for the technophiles to cruise
down the river and sip free Pims and Texan beer to.
HOOTON TENNIS CLUB
“It’s an absolutely huge festival and you shouldn’t expect to see
everything you want to, you just have to go with the flow. We
got a lot out of going, as you may have notice in these pictures:
we went swimming; ate loads of great food (Terry Black’s BBQ);
Callum and Ryan went kayaking on the Colorado river; we saw
Thee Oh Sees (twice!) and Ryan crowd surfed (which he couldn’t
do when he saw them at The Kazimier because he was ill); we
spotted Elijah Wood crate digging in a great record store called
End Of An Ear… But it all blurs into one big mush, especially on
6th Street. It’s a free-for-all! You can stand in one spot on that
street and hear up to six different bands playing at one time.”
Ah, 'Hooton Postcard Club'! We started this up because
we'd read somewhere about this girl who lived in Bootle
that would keep and respond to The Beatles’ fan mail
while the boys were out of town. Visit hootonpostcardclub.
tumblr.com to sign up for 'hilarious' insights into tour!

LIVERPOOL @ SXSW
We have absolutely no idea why there
was a llama at the festival – the poor
creature must have been terrified!
STEALING SHEEP
“We met loads of amazing people in Austin - we got the chance
to see the city and the Colorado river with lots of wildlife. We also
drank lots of coffee and margaritas! The shows we did were great
fun, and we were really well received out there. We also played
one show inside a giant white cube with people observing us
from the outside… this was quite strange as you sort of forgot
they were there until you were just chatting away and they could
all hear our personal goings on of the day! Basically, we had the
best time ever, mainly down to all the people we met and the
music we saw!”
It was ace being out there and seeing fellow label
mates Hooton Tennis Club, and sharing the experience
with them. And it was amazing to meet The
Parrots, another addition to the Heavenly family!
We stayed in a proper Texan house with a group
of people from different places in Texas. They
looked after us really well, taking us out every
day and showing us the sights and general vibes.
Head to bidolito.co.uk to see a full gallery of photos of the bands’
trip to Austin for SXSW, along with a few more reminiscences
from each of them.

The craft of songwriting, for so long revered in pop music before being replaced by carefully
constructed image, has always been the key to a long career in music. True artistry shines
through in the end, even if it takes a while for everyone to catch up, which is certainly
true for former Beta Band main man STEVE MASON. The softly spoken Scotsman has added
another compelling chapter to his oeuvre in latest album Meet The Humans, marking him out
as one of Britain’s best living songwriters. His third solo album continues in a similar vein to
previous LPs Boys Outside and Monkey Minds In The Devil’s Time, but when you can craft music
as effortlessly listenable as Mason can, what’s the need for change?
Since teaming up with Jimmy Edgar to form Black Affair and dropping his King Biscuit Time
moniker, Mason made his mark in his own right. His modern balladry sees him appealing to
both fans of his former bands and newcomers who stumble across him. On Meet The Humans,
Mason worked with producer Craig Potter (Elbow) to craft a lush-sounding record that bristles
with anger, and Mick Chrysalid was keen to peer a little closer under its hood. So, he picked up
the phone and spoke to Mason, ahead of his headline show at FestEVOL on 1 st May.
Bido Lito!: Congratulations on your new album Steve. To get right down to it, after several listens
there appears to be a defiance to it that reaches out to people – as on the line from Water Bored
“don’t think that this pain is forever...break the grip of a terror”.
Steve Mason: Really, that line is trying to condense my last album into one line. The last album
was a political kind of album with a message running through it to start valuing love and
compassion above capital gain. What I’m learning about now is the endgame of capitalism;
people say to me a lot, “You’re always going on about capitalism, what is the alternative, what
are we supposed to do?” People are really afraid of change, really afraid of seriously thinking
about any alternative. That line is supposed to say, “Until you are mentally ready to take a leap
and mentally ready to break the grip that [capitalism] has on us all, then you’ll be the person
saying ‘Tell me what to do’.”
BL!: Another lyric in that song states “there’s not one human amongst us that thinks this is
right”. There is a section of society that does demean the poor as undeserving, etc., so there is
a section of people that do see it as right.
SM: Well, I don’t see those people as human. I don’t know what they are. Being human to me
is feeling empathy. Especially if you’re in a privileged position. You would think that empathy
would go by degrees, people with the least in society would feel the least in empathy and
people with the most would have the most empathy, but in fact it is
completely in reverse. The game of capitalism rewards people who
are generally unhinged. Capitalism doesn’t reward empathy and
love and good deeds. It is a system that rewards the reverse of
that. People with a lot generally are psychopaths.
BL!: Over the last few years some people have moaned about
the lack of protest music. I see a lot of politics in music, almost
innately. You just don’t need to hit people over the head with
a banjo to get a message across.
SM: To me violence as a tool is totally overrated.
Violence is the tool of the oppressor. That’s what is
used against us. You only need to use violence when
you’re really afraid that you can’t be understood or
get your point across. I would much prefer to take a
kicking than deal one out. I refuse to communicate
on that level.
STEVE MASON
BL!: Onto another song, To A Door: how do you get claps to sound
that good? I’ve been recording claps for years and they’re always
shit.
SM: Ha ha! Really, really gentle. I love those claps. I think from
memory I have a drum machine called Sequential Circuits from
the early eighties, maybe. I think it’s from that.
BL!: The production on this album is lush. I believe it’s Craig
Potter.
SM: Yes. Also, the string work makes a big difference. We were
pretty careful with the strings. They’re not all over every track, so
when they come in it’s quite a moment that adds to the richness
of the sound. Producer and strings did a great job.
BL!: Hardly Go Through is another standout track and, dare I say
it, there are a good few songs that I can already hear playing
at festivals. I can hear multiple influences on this album, from
John Cale to Warren Zevon, but that’s all probably in my head.
SM: Ha ha! It’s all about what the listener brings to the table.
With the Beta Band, the amount of things that people said we
were like was probably because we threw everything into the
pot.
BL!: You share an inclusiveness and honesty with another artist
in that you’re putting your personal trials and tribulations into
your work, and that’s John Grant. I’m not saying that you sound
like him, but there is a similarity in approach.
SM: Yes. That’s really important. I don’t really see the importance
of not being honest. Unless you’re a pop artist, where it’s not
really required, I think you have to be like that.
BL!: I heard a rumour that Adele has to get her tweets signed off
by a number of people.
SM: Yes, but anyone at that level is highly controlled; they are
not in any way artists. I put stuff like that into fake culture. It is
not real on any level.
BL!: I notice you moved to Brighton around the time of making
Meet The Humans: does that mean the period of self-imposed
isolation is over?
SM: There’s a lot to be said about it. It depends if you’re someone
who can handle your own company. I am, but I didn’t want to
become a weirdo in the woods subscribing to army magazines
who could strip and reassemble a Kalashnikov blindfolded. It’s
good, man; I feel totally different these days. I feel very lucky
I’ve come through the dark passage.
Steve Mason plays FestEVOL at Camp and Furnace on 1 st May. Meet
The Humans is out now on Double Six Records.
stevemasontheartist.com
Words: Mick Chrysalid
bidolito.co.uk

LIVERPOOL SOUND
20
Bido Lito! May 2016
A
sign that spring (well, something approaching it) has
arrived and an early marker for the upcoming festival
season, LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY returns in a refreshed
format for 2016. Having made a hugely successful debut at
Bramley Moore Dock last year following
its relocation from the city centre,
the festival will be running a
leaner, two-day format over
the weekend of 28th and
29th May, leaving very
little room to breathe
amid the 100+ acts
from more than 20
countries.
The site, part
of Peel Holdings’
Liverpool Waters
regeneration scheme,
has been subject to a
redesign, with improved
routes for punters walking
between stages plus a clearer
The Coral
layout of stages. The main Atlantic
Stage, where festival headliners THE
CORAL and CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN will perform, will once
again be impressively flanked by the city skyline and the now
iconic sight of the Docker’s Clock. A series of installations – both
interactive and decorative – will animate the site over the weekend
too, accentuating the heritage of the setting’s links to Liverpool’s
former industrial glories. The festival’s accompanying conference,
Sound City+, has also been re-worked this year, taking place a
day before the music festivities in and around the Titanic Hotel
(see sidebar). In a slight twist, Sound City’s famed In Conversation
Following the West Midlands duo, headliners Catfish And
The Bottlemen step up to the plate. The Bottlemen are a group
who have won an audience through non-stop touring over the
past half-decade, and they complete a remarkable rise through
the Sound City ranks here, having played the festival in 2011
through its Apply To Play scheme. The Brit Award-garlanded
quartet’s set takes place the day after their second
LP The Ride hits the shelves. Indie rock trio
BAND OF SKULLS, making their first trip
to the city in 18 months, also bring
their acclaimed live show to
the Atlantic Stage, alongside
London alt. rock hype kids
PALMA VIOLETS.
On the Sunday,
homegrown acts proliferate
throughout the bill, headed
up by a hugely anticipated
headline performance from THE
CORAL, their first gig in the city since
2010. Returning to the fray with their first
LP in six years, the warmly received voodoo psych
set Distance Inbetween, The Coral have been plugging their
wares across the UK and Europe in the months before the festival,
scooping shedloads of press plaudits through the live excursion.
This will be one storming homecoming show to finish the festival
on a high.
Immediately before the Wirralians, indie rock doyens CIRCA
WAVES are set to tread the boards on the Atlantic stage. A band
who have become a formidable live draw through a seemingly
endless touring schedule since the release of their acclaimed
debut LP Young Chasers in March 2015, the locally-cultivated
quartet have honed their razor-sharp live set to a fine point. With
The Dandy Warhols
events will take place on the festival site this year, with former
Haçienda DJ Dave Haslam interviewing Alexei
Sayle, Roisin Murphy and Paddy
Considine among others.
We begin our preview
with a look at Saturday’s
big hitters, a duo who
provide some of the
most bracing stage
spectacle seen on the
live circuit in recent
times, SLEAFORD
MODS. Returning
to Liverpool after a
swiftly sold-out and
much-lauded show at
The Kazimier in March last
year, the pair are guaranteed
to be major crowd-pullers for
Young Fathers
the penultimate Atlantic Stage slot.
The dazzlingly abrasive missives of vocalist
Jason Williamson, paired with Andrew Fearn’s brutally to the point
musical backdrops, are a potent live force unlike much else out
there at present.
their surprise, unannounced set on one of the festival’s smaller
stages last year causing near pandemonium, their graduation to
the main stage is not before time.
A band whose festival gigography now runs
into four figures, US psych/alt. rock troupe
par excellence THE DANDY WARHOLS
return to Merseyside for the first
time in a decade. On the road to
spread word of Distortland,
their best LP in some time,
the Portland, Oregon fourpiece
are resolute festival
favourites. BILL RYDER-
JONES, recipient of heavy
praise for his recent live shows,
returns from tour to perform
tracks from his critically applauded
West Kirby County Primary LP. The openers
of last year’s festival, the swooning Scottish
indie/folk rock collective NEON WALTZ, are also present in
the Atlantic Stage mix.
Providing definitive proof that the Mercury Prize don’t always
get it wrong, hip hop trio YOUNG FATHERS headline Sound City’s
second stage (the North Stage) on Saturday. A group who set
Leftfield
Words: Richard Lewis
bidolito.co.uk

tongues wagging following a standout pre-Mercurys performance
at FestEVOL in August 2013, the band have been busy supporting
trip hop legends Massive Attack on tour. With second LP White
Men Are Black Men Too proving beyond doubt that their Mercury
Award-winning debut LP Dead was no fluke, the trio offer
great balance to Saturday’s bill. The following
night, Libertines man PETER DOHERTY takes
on headline duties on the North Stage,
and will doubtless draw a fanatical
crowd who will be hanging on his
solo work away from The Libs. The
North Stage also plays host to
a swathe of breaking hot acts,
something with which Sound
City has become synonymous.
THE BIG MOON, BLICK BASSY
and KAGOULE all come highly
recommended on this tip.
The Baltic Warehouse, the
cavernous structure that dominates
the Bramley Moore site, plays host
MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE, JOHN TALABOT and ROMAN FLÜGEL
add some heavyweight ballast to Freeze’s line-up – and keep your
eyes open for exclusive after parties at Freeze’s Greenland Street
Garage venue each night.
Alongside the storied acts is a smorgasbord of under
the radar, up-and-coming and quite frankly nearunknown
new acts to investigate, spread
across the festival’s stages. A quick
selection of delights we urge you to
check out include Korean rock ‘n’ roll
duo DEAD BUTTONS, Canadian alt.
rockers DILLY DALLY (who amassed
considerable praise for last year’s
debut LP Sore), Glaswegian
quartet HOLY ESQUE (who have
just released their formidable
first album At Hope’s Ravine), plus
South London grime MC NOVELIST
– all of these acts are making waves
ahead of their appearances at Sound
City this year.
to the club-oriented portion of the
festival this year. Proceedings at this space
are overseen by Liverpool dance music stalwarts
Sleaford Mods
In addition to the newly laid-out stages,
the outlying gig spaces have been given greater
emphasis this year. The Captain Morgan Tall Ship will be
FREEZE, who over the past decade have become a mainstay on
the city’s clubbing scene, famed for their eclectic combinations of
live and DJ-focused events at venues including St George’s Hall,
the Anglican Cathedral and the Williamson Tunnels. Saturday’s
Baltic headliners LEFTFIELD bring a crossover appeal that extends
far beyond their initial audience. Breaking through in 1993 with
the breathtaking John Lydon-assisted Open Up, Neil Barnes’
outfit have remained on the front line as innovators in the dance
music field, as their fusing of house, reggae and thunderous dub
docked on site and will host gigs and parties across the two days,
including sets from BLUE SAINT and newly-minted Glastonbury
Emerging Talent Competition winners SHE DREW THE GUN.
The Cavern Stage sees PINK KINK and FERAL LOVE in amongst
the action, while elsewhere the TIM PEAKS DINER (founded by
Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess) hosts performances, film and DJ
sets, and is the setting for Dave Haslam’s In Conversation events.
In addition to various pop-up activities, the high probability of
some unannounced guests and other assorted diversions,
CITY 2016
basslines found a devoted following.
An outfit who have provided remixes for just about
every notable act of the past 15 years, Belgian
dancefloor alchemists 2MANYDJS (DJ set) are
joint headliners at the Baltic Warehouse
on Sunday. An offshoot of electro/alt.
rock project Soulwax, the Dewaele
brothers have spent the past
touring the world’s clubs and
festivals with their Sound City
appearance marking their first
showing on Merseyside in two
years. Co-headliners HOT CHIP
surely need no introduction, as
the synth pop types are focused
on the ones and twos for the
evening as the London crew take to
the Warehouse to play their DJ set.
The project of all-round electronic music
polymath Sam Shepherd, FLOATING POINTS
make their Liverpool debut at Freeze. Following a slow
The John Peel World Cup Table Football Competition makes an
appearance in the festival’s VIP area, with guests taking
on the festival’s artists in the ultimate test of
foosball skills.
Add in to this a record fair, the regular
Screenadelica poster exhibition,
and shuttle buses operating
from the city centre, everything
looks in place for Sound City
to once again take hold of the
city’s musical pulse for one
weekend. In view of all the
info above, you’d better get the
festival planner primed for the
weekend. Fuck yeah, Liverpool.
Liverpool Sound City takes place
on 28th and 29th May at Liverpool
Circa Waves
Waters Bramley Moore Dock. Make sure
to pick up your copy of the special edition Bido
Lito! Dockland Pink magazine on the festival site for
trickle of EPs and live performances over the years, Shepherd previews, news and interviews – and check bidolito.co.uk for even
released debut LP Elaenia to universal acclaim last year, with the more exclusive content.
album’s accompanying live shows securing similar accolades. liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk
SOUND CITY+
An aspect of Sound City that continues to
grow with each annual instalment is its
music and digital business conference,
which this year has been expanded and is now
operating under the name SOUND CITY+. Located at
the central hub of the Titanic Hotel, the intensive
programme of speakers, workshops and industry
showcases is being staged in partnership with
listings/entertainment website Skiddle.
A major new addition to Sound City+ this year
is the welcome appearance of the Label Market,
part of the conference’s Marketplace (which has
generated hundreds of business opportunities since
Sound City started in 2008). A slew of indie label
heavyweights such as Domino, 4AD, Bella Union and
Heavenly Records will be present, showcasing their
wares alongside local stables including Deltasonic
and Baltic Records.
On the industry side of things, there will be
presentations and TED-style talks with a variety
of people from across the music industry and
tech sectors. Former Creation Records supremo
ALAN MCGEE will be talking about his nationwide
Musicians Against Homelessness campaign, plus
representatives from The Musicians Union, Ditto
Music and Believe Digital will be engaging in talks
and panel sessions. A sector of the music industry
that is increasingly becoming one of the business’s
most important revenue streams, sync deals, tying
artists’ work into TV and film is also represented.
Representatives from broadcasting organisations
including the BBC, HBO and Fox will be present, with
Head of Music Licensing at the BBC, Nicky Bignell,
hosting a workshop as part of the programme.
There will also be a series of one-to-one
networking sessions with some big hitters of the
live festival circuit in the UK and abroad, including
Coachella, Outlook and Dimensions, and Kendal
Calling. Grassroots venues including Manchester’s
Islington Mill and Sheffield Leadmill are represented
in networking sessions, as are national businesses
such as BT Sport, Lime Pictures and Bis Synch.
Sound City+ Delegate Passes are on sale now from Skiddle;
they guarantee the holder access to all conferences held
on Friday 27th May, plus the festival itself.

Words: Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Illustrations: The Invisible Wind Factory
ETERNAL ENERGY
In a part of the Vauxhall area around the north Liverpool
docks, there’s a place where gusts of wind blowing in off the
river seek you out with unerring inevitability. Streets of bleaklooking
factories and warehouses stalk this part of the city,
some forgotten remnants of industrial glory days, and some
housing new businesses that are bringing a renewed sense of
life to the area. I’ve taken the short trip out of town – and a big
step back in time – to Carlton Street, the heart of this former
manufacturing heartland, for a guided tour of a former factory
unit that once specialised in making wind turbines. After a short
wait, the rusting iron door in front of me opens, and I’m ushered
inside one of the most adventurous venue spaces in the whole
country: the INVISIBLE WIND FACTORY.
This isn’t the first time I’ve been inside this space: I was
here in December 2014 to witness its very first event, when
Dogshow played on a circular structure suspended 20ft above
the audience. It’s now the permanent home of the team behind
The Kazimier, and they’ve been plotting their various schemes
here for a while. Now operating as the Invisible Wind Factory,
the group of artists, scientists and experimenters are working
on the first phase of the IWF venue complex proper, an absurdly
ambitious project which is unlike anything ever constructed
before. This will manifest itself in the immersive spectacle of
OMPHALOS – ETERNAL ENERGY, the IWF’s launch event and
introduction to a whole new world.
“IWF believe the secrets of the universe will be
found in energy, frequency and vibration.”
I’m given a tour of the complex by one of the IWF team (no
names are exchanged), walking past a pile of assorted items
that is all that remains of The Kazimier club, through to the
workshop area. Here, various people (styled as IWF ‘operatives’)
are busy at benches and machinery, welding, sawing, grinding,
tinkering with absurdly complicated electronic equipment. The
adjoining wind factory venue itself is cavernous, and this is
where the Omphalos event will take place. Beginning on 19th
May and running over four days, each night will see the IWF team
take a group of 15-20 people on a two-hour promenade tour
through the facility, which will be divided into three sections: an
induction in the Visitor Centre, a ritualistic experience, and the
final experiment based round the Omphalos Eternal Conversion
Chamber, where the secrets of the team’s investigations into
the omnipresent eternal energy will be revealed. There’s also
a modular multi-course dining experience inspired by the IWF
team’s training regime on Saturday 21st May, for those who
want more of an insight into the process. There will also be an
Omphalos-flavoured launch party a week later in the venue, but
this doesn’t include any of the tour.
“The hypothesis of Invisible Wind proposed
that an unseen energy, radiating through
the ether could, if harnessed, hold
significant importance for humanity.”
In their explorations into the depths of collective
consciousness, the IWF team have happened upon an impressive
spiritual mythology. Ostensibly, their operatives began their
search by looking for the source of “invisible wind” – allegedly
the phenomenon that caused Dogshow’s suspended stage to
rotate when they played that opening night in 2014 – which the
team believe is a source of unseen energy radiating through
the ether. These investigations led them to the discovery of the
Extracted Energy
Four stages of extraction
Voided Energy
Four Terminals of Empyrean
Four Terminals of Khthon
Empyrean
Layers
Khthonic
Layers
Macrocosmic Flow: the movement of Invisible
Wind between the Empyrean World and our own.
Empyrean and Khthonic forces, positive and negative terminals
working from opposite ways towards the same goal – that of
harnessing invisible wind. For this event, the Invisible Wind
Factory becomes the navel of the world, where the heavenly
Empyreanaughts will meet with the underworld-dwelling
Khthonaughts in a struggle for the purest, most ancient form
of energy.
“Through our research we have come to a
profound realisation. From that realisation comes
an experience that must be shared. We invite you
to join us and take a journey into the Unseen.”
Disseminating information through a series of public service
information videos, the IWF team have slowly introduced us to
the world of this “secretive organisation” and “uncompromising
mission”. Through all their Kaizmier happenings, this team have
always structured their events around rich narratives, which give
rise to a flamboyant look and feel that is so convincing. The
insanely detailed layers of preparation in costume, set design
and content all take their cue from the extensive backstories
they concoct, and Omphalos is their boldest yet. This time the
narrative forms the exterior of the project, and they’re inviting
us to suspend our disbelief and step inside. As one of the
operatives tells me, “it’s all about the process”.
“Once inside the Omphalos you will
witness a manifestation of sound, light
and visions of unearthly potential.”
The chances are you still don’t really know what this
Omphalos event actually is; and, to be quite honest, I’m not
100% sure either. What I am sure of, however, is that it will be
an impressive spectacle of theatre, technology, lighting, music
and spirituality, a journey of discovery as much as an immersive
experience. The scale of the whole operation is baffling; epic
would be a suitable description of it, but I’m not even sure that
grasps the detail to which this team of experimenters have gone
in creating this experience. As Nietzsche himself said, “stare
long enough into the abyss and the abyss stares back at you.”
Disbelief duly suspended, I am willing to let the the eternal
energy of the Omphalos take me wherever I need to go.
Omphalos – Eternal Energy takes place at The Invisible Wind
Factory, Carlton Street, between 19th and 22nd May. On Friday
27th May there will be a launch party for the Invisible Wind Factory,
but this is not part of the Omphalos show. Book your ticket for
one of the shows now at thekazimier.co.uk.

The focus on this year’s Liverpool International Music Festival, which is often quoted as being the largest free music event in
Europe, will most likely fall on the eye-catching events in and around Sefton Park on the weekend of 22 nd -24 th July. Summer
Jam’s three days of live music bring some huge names to the heart of the city, in chart-topping acts Lianne La Havas, Sigma
and The Wombats, and in a series of world-class, one-off commissions. As we’re watching the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
and legendary Merseyside acts China Crisis, Mick Head And The Red Elastic Band and John Power on LIMF’s main stages, we can
be reassured that the city’s great tradition as a music hub is being strengthened by another strand of this sprawling festival: the
LIMF ACADEMY.
Words: Christopher Torpey / @CATorp
Photography: Michael Sheerin and Keith Ainsworth
In its basic premise, the LIMF Academy gives unsigned artists
from the area the unparalleled opportunity to perform alongside
the superstars at the LIMF Summer Jam, in front of thousands
on an international platform. It also provides the artists with
access to workshops from industry experts on many facets of
music production, songwriting and personal development. The
initiative is open to musicians aged 13-25 who are looking to take
to the next step in their promising career – and this year’s LIMF
Academy intake of 20 of the most promising artists has just been
finalised (see page opposite).
On top of that comes an Elite Music Development programme,
which serves to create a legacy that lasts long after the final
plastic beer cup is cleared away from the green fields of Sefton
Park. Each year, three of the Academy’s participating musicians –
deemed the ‘most ready’ artists by a panel of judges – are invited
to attend further masterclasses on performing, songwriting
and production, which form part of a year-long package of vital
support. This year, bedroom artist turned pop sensation LUMEN,
slick producer SUEDEBROWN, and 16-year-old bluesy singersongwriter
ELEANOR NELLY have been named the Academy’s
Most Ready artists, heading up a mightily impressive and eclectic
selection of musicians. As ambassadors of the festival, the three
musicians will play in a series of regional and national showcases
throughout the next year, and will also receive one-to-one
mentoring with LIMF curator Yaw Owusu. To further cement this
opportunity, each artist will receive a bursary of £2500. Quite a
package. It’s no surprise, then, that LIMF walked away with the
award for Best Festival For Emerging Talent at the 2015 UK Festival
Awards.
With traditional routes into the music industry on the
decline, programmes like LIMF Academy are becoming evermore
important to the development of young musicians. Since
launching in 2013, the LIMF Academy has provided opportunities
for almost 6,000 young artists to access the kind of industry
insights that would normally only be available to artists on major
label development deals. “As an incubator for local talent to reach
its full potential, it is invaluable,” says James Murtagh-Hopkins of
UK Music, one of the four judges I had the pleasure of joining to
select this year’s Academy artists. “In setting up the Academy, the
city of Liverpool is not only investing in its cultural future but also
establishing a respected platform for talent from Merseyside to
shine, whilst also building its own music industry infrastructure
that feeds directly into the wider sector.” This sentiment is echoed
by fellow judge Joe Frankland, who, as Investment Fund Manager
for PRS For Music Foundation (who invest a lot of money in LIMF
Academy), is well aware of the importance initiatives such as
this play in the music industry support network. “As a funder,
we’re increasingly seeing a need for support in early stages of
a music creator’s career. While support for young musicians is
really important, very few organisations mix creative support with
industry development – so when the two meet as effectively as
they do through this scheme, it’s only going to have a positive
effect. We expect others to mirror their approach soon.”
Another benefit of being named as one of the Most Ready artists
is the chance to work with Grammy Award-winning producer Steve
Levine. LUMEN, Eleanor Nelly and Suedebrown each spent a day
in Levine’s Liverpool studio working closely with the experienced
producer to record a track, getting the chance to benefit from
Levine’s boundless expertise and enthusiasm for new music. “This
year we had some outstanding entries,” Levine, who’s also one of
the Academy judging panel, told us after completing the sessions.
“I really love Eleanor’s vocal: it’s really special, and with her very
young age it will develop further. LUMEN is a very interesting
act; he has superb potential: he’s a multi-instrumentalist and
has great original vocal sound. Suedebrown is this year’s Micheal
Seary, who has blossomed since going through LIMF Academy as
one of our Most Ready artists in 2015. I feel Suedebrown, who
already has superb tracks, will also develop as a result of the
mentoring offered.”
The LIMF Academy is a fantastic development initiative for the
region’s young musicians, enabling LIMF to engage directly with
grassroots artists. Radio Merseyside’s BBC Introducing host Dave
Monks, the final piece in the Academy judging jigsaw, believes
that the process helps the festival to cement strong links to the
LUMEN
city’s infrastructure that will reap their rewards for many years
to come. “I think it’s vitally important for the festival to continue
to engage with emerging musicians from this region: having a
platform like LIMF Academy offers an inclusive route in for new
musicians, along with additional opportunities,” he says. “It’s not
a cliché to say that there are lots of amazing, talented musicians
here, so, for the longevity of the festival, building these early
relationships with new artists is a good thing. Every year, we
continue to discover artists with great potential who are given
brilliant opportunities throughout the year.”
“We’ve seen an amazing number of artists based in Merseyside
breaking through in recent years,” continues Joe Frankland. “It’s
clearly one of the most exciting scenes in the UK, so I think it’s
crucial the likes of LIMF Academy are helping the next generation
to break through.”
Our legacy is in safe hands.
See all the LIMF Academy artists performing on their own stage at
the LIMF Summer Jam on 23 rd and 24 th July, and keep up with the
progress of all the artists in the programme through the regular
updates at limfestival.com.
ELEANOR NELLY

HALEM
SPARES
THE BASEMENT EFFECT
I SEE RIVERS
ALEX HULME
KATIE MAC
SCARLET
LIMF ACADEMY
AT SUMMER JAM
Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th July
Sefton Park
AZTEX
DARYL DAVID
LUNA
SHRINKING MINDS
SUB BLUE
PAIGE LESLIE
HICARI
NATIVE KINGS
ASTLES
CLARE SOPHIA

26
Bido Lito! May 2016
MAY IN BRIEF
AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA
In partnership with Africa Oyé, the AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA project is making its Liverpool debut at 24 Kitchen Street. ATFA was founded by
Brooklyn-born Brian Shimkovitz whilst studying in Ghana in 2006. The project began as a blog, created to share Shimkovitz’s discoveries from the
continent's rich cassette culture with an international audience. AFTA sets are performed on twin tape-decks and explore Shimkovitz's archive of rare
and idiosyncratic regional sounds from highlife to disco, soul to pop.
24 Kitchen Street / 28th May
BOB LOG III
There could only be one way to mark Howl At The Moon’s 10th edition of outsider music gigs, and that is to invite slide guitar wizard BOG LOG III back
for his fifth appearance in Liverpool for HATM. Drop The Dumbulls will be the setting this time for Mr Log’s one-man punk blues maelstrom, allowing
you to get closer to the be-jumpsuited Arizonan than you’ve ever wanted to before. The amazing GIRL SWEAT will join Bob Log on the night, so there
really is no excuse not to go and get your weird on.
Drop The Dumbulls / 25th May
X&Y LINE-UP ANNOUCEMENTS
X&Y FESTIVAL recently took to Facebook to share the first of this year's line-up announcements, and those out for a Sefton Park singalong will be
delighted to see folk punk singer-songwriter FRANK TURNER (pictured) billed to headline this year’s event. The line-up also features a selection of
up-and-coming acts including VANT, BABEHEAVEN and THE JAPANESE HOUSE and favourites BASEMENT, THEME PARK and THE HUNNA. This year's X&Y
is spread across four dates – a three-day increase on last year's festival – all of which are set to take place at Sefton Park's Palm House across two
weekends (9th-10th June and 8th-10th July). Hold tight for more announcements in the coming weeks.
PARTY IN THE PARK
The folks at LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL have been hard at work ensuring that 2016 will be another fantastic year. Details of this year’s
commissions have arrived with a celebration of Liverpool’s counter-culture in the shape of From Eric’s To Evol, which will feature performances from
BUZZCOCKS, JULIAN COPE, and CLINIC amongst the highlights. Further commissions will see 6Music’s Gilles Peterson exploring British soul music, and
Liverpool-based DJ Yousef turning the Palm House into House Nation. Elsewhere, a slew of fantastic local talent – including STEALING SHEEP and this
month’s cover artist TRUDY & THE ROMANCE – have been added to the Summer Jam programme (21st-24th July). limfestival.com
FROM LIVERPOOL WITH LOVE
As part of LIMF 2016 we’re delighted to announce FROM LIVERPOOL WITH LOVE, a celebration of the music of Arthur Lee and Love and its connection
to Liverpool, a decade after Arthur Lee’s passing. We're huge Love fans at Bido Lito! – the magazine is in fact named after the LA club in which they cut
their teeth – and this one-off performance, produced by ourselves in Sefton Park, sees original Love guitarist Johnny Echols joined by a series of very
special Liverpudlian guests. Members of some of Liverpool’s most bands will join Johnny to play a show encompassing songs from Love’s three
seminal LPs, including Forever Changes. This will be a once in a lifetime celebration of a very ‘Liverpool’ trans-Atlantic love affair.
IN FOCUS
FOCUS WALES is fast becoming one of the UK’s premiere urban festivals, consistently providing a fantastic line-up of music, comedy and visual art.
To ensure that they continue their ascent this year, an extra day has been added to the already stellar line-up. THE MAGIC NUMBERS (pictured) make
a timely return to head up the festival’s Sunday bill, along with EN GARDE and GINTIS, among some great acts from Wales and beyond. Elsewhere,
the Wrexham knees-up welcomes THE JOY FORMIDABLE, panel discussions featuring VIV ALBERTINE, and top names in comedy.
Various Venues, Wrexham / 12th-15th May
FRANCIS BACON’S INVISIBLE ROOMS
Tate Liverpool are bringing the works of a true giant in 20th Century art to the city this summer. Invisible Rooms will be the largest FRANCIS BACON
exhibition to ever come to the north of England. The influential Irish painter’s haunting images have had a huge effect on a range of artists in the fields
of painting, film and music and the exhibition will explore some of Bacon’s most powerful works. Alongside Invisible Rooms, Tate will be displaying
a retrospective of another great figurative painter, Austria’s Maria Lassnig, for the first time in the UK. Both exhibitions open at the end of May.
Tate Liverpool / 18th May
bidolito.co.uk

Bido Lito! May 2016
27
SHONEN KNIFE
Kurt Cobain once claimed that, when he finally got to see SHONEN KNIFE, he “was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles
concert.” Japan's finest all-girl punk pop outfit draw influence from 60s girl groups, the Beach Boys, and early punk, and they’ve even performed as a
Ramones tribute band under the name The Osaka Ramones. With a catalogue of super-positive and endearingly simple pop anthems, their May gig
at Arts Club promises to be a riot.
Arts Club / 4th May
PZYK FOR SORE EYES
Belt up for another drone voyage – LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA is back on 23rd and 24th September, and the line-up looking
typically mind-altering with SUPER FURRY ANIMALS and THE HORRORS (pictured) headlining the two-day celebration of the PZYK diaspora. Japanese
label GURUGURU BRAIN will provide a taste of the happening Asian underground with Narrow Road To The Deep Mind, while elsewhere on the bill
THE MOONLANDINGZ, DEMDIKE STARE and local legends THE STAIRS will ensure the event lives up to its growing reputation. Full line-up and ticket
details can be found at liverpoolpsychfest.com.
DR FEELGOOD W/ EDDIE AND THE HOTRODS
The energy, pace and attitude of the music of pub rock veterans EDDIE AND THE HOTRODS and DR FEELGOOD has led many to credit them as founding
fathers of punk. And, even if The Hotrods claimed that they were “simply interested in playing loud, fast, in your face rock ‘n’ roll rather than bad mouthing
the Queen or fermenting anarchy”, this double header will still be a fiery one. With a history of over 40 years in the business each, their legacies include
number one albums, tours with the likes of The Ramones, Talking Heads and The Police, and a considerable influence on the rock ‘n’ roll tradition.
Floral Pavilion / 7th May
MARK PRITCHARD @ VINYL STATION
The latest offering for our monthly record listening series with Metal is the new LP from producer MARK PRITCHARD, Under The Sun. The record, which
is released on Warp on 13th May, will be Pritchard’s first solo album release in five years, after a trilogy of EP releases in 2013 that explored jungle and
footwork. Under The Sun features guest collaborations with Linda Perhacs, Bibio and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, and you’ll be able to hear it before it is
released by coming to Metal’s Edge Hill station home on Monday 9th May from 6.30pm, where host Bernie Connor will lead a listening and discussion
session around the LP. Sign up for your free tickets at metalculture.com.
OYÉ MOLY
There’s more news from Oyé HQ as we count down to Summer’s unofficial opening party in Sefton Park. An already sterling bill featuring DR Congo
heroes MBONGWANA STAR has been added to with a raft of fantastic artists. Joining the bill is the trail-blazing SONA JOBARTEH (pictured), who has
made a name for herself on the international stage playing traditionally male-dominated kora music and displaying her remarkable voice. Jamaican
singer/songwriter/producer RANDY VALENTINE is a breakthrough reggae artist who will bring the sunshine vibes to the Park in June, and also included
in the latest Oyé announcement is Madagascar’s DAMILY.
THE MERCHANT
Liverpool’s newest haunt THE MERCHANT opens its doors on the first May bank holiday weekend with three days of events to introduce itself to the
city. Celebrations commence with the city’s premier disc spinners taking to the decks for the Friday opening party with Abandon Silence and Bernie
Connor as well as Bido Lito! DJs and a host of others taking up turntable duties while The Merchant’s adjoining Nightcrawler Pizza provides sustenance.
There’ll be another chance to check out the bar, canteen and garden on Sunday, as XL Recordings funksters Jungle (pictured) provide the DJ set, while
Monday sees the crown prince of banter Johnny Bongo host his pub quiz.
GIT AWARD FINAL
It’s getting close to decision time for this year’s GIT Award, where one of 12 shortlisted acts will be crowned as the 2016 victor, following in the
footsteps of Loved Ones, Baltic Fleet, Forest Swords and All We Are. The final itself is always a riot of a night and, with plans for this year’s event
starting in January, we’ve high hopes for even more mayhem for this year’s shindig at Constellations on 14th May. Host Roger Hill will guide attendees
through the various nominees, performances and winners with his own uniquely graceful style, and festivities (and possibly arguments) will carry
on late in to the night at the after party at Black Lodge, featuring guest DJs.
THE BUFFALO RIOT ALBUM LAUNCH
Liverpool country-rockers THE BUFFALO RIOT have recently announced that their debut album, Pale Blue Oceans, will be released on 29th May.
To celebrate, they are having an album launch night at Buyers Club on 14th May, featuring special guests SEAFOAM GREEN and a DJ set from THE
SUNDOWNERS. It is set to be a busy month for the group, who are also billed for the Smithdown Road Festival on 1st May. Powered by their infectious,
Americana-influenced anthems, the album is opening doors for this band at an impressive rate.
Buyers Club / 14th May
bidolito.co.uk

28
Bido Lito! May 2016 Reviews
Bathymetry (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu)
THRESHOLD
The Baltic Triangle
The sixth version of THRESHOLD FESTIVAL kicks
off for three days of what always promises to
be a varied and eclectic event. As usual the lineup
over the weekend boasts some of the most
innovative local talents as well as an array of
performers from across the globe, and it is a
daunting process to have to pick a path through
so many inviting prospects.
Getting things started on the Unit 51 Stage
on Friday night are SILENT CITIES. Consisting
of drums, vocals and heavily effected acoustic
guitar, they create a subdued and poignant
atmosphere that befits the intimacy of the
venue. The song-crafting is impressive and the
vocal performance even more so, capturing a
sense of fragility present in both the lyrical
content and tonal aesthetic. It is a subtle and
satisfying way to begin the evening.
Over at the Black Lodge stage, INDIGO
SKY provide a set that could be not be more
different in terms of tempo and ambience. A
sort of classic, indie rock five-piece, their songs
are tight, driving and well-polished but lacking
in any real substance. The up-beat choruses and
climatic middle-eights are enjoyable enough
and the crowd are clearly having a good time,
but the bland lyrics and circa-2003 winklepicker
guitar fiddling quickly grow tiresome. It
is, nevertheless a rousing display that sets the
stage for tonight’s headliner.
Local favourite NATALIE MCCOOL is met
with a predictably warm reception by what
is now a capacity crowd. An early rendition
of new single Fortress showcases her new,
stripped-back sound and it is an approach that
appears to give the singer-songwriter a fresh
take on her own output. Accompanied by a
drummer and backing track, McCool’s guitar
is bass-laden and rhythmic, giving a fairly flat
foundation for her textured vocals to build
upon. This works particularly well for overtly
pop-orientated tracks like Oh Danger, where
the subtle instrumentation is complimented
perfectly by the hooky vocals and restrained
guitar playing.
Just across the road at 24 Kitchen Street
something far more beguiling awaits. Inside,
the room is sparsely populated and the
darkness only disturbed by a large disco
ball suspended from the ceiling. On stage
are five shadowy figures producing slowly
swirling psychedelia reminiscent of early BJM
mixed with Stereolab. As it turns out, they are
REFLECKTOR, an enigmatic group comprising
Natalie McCool (Georgia Flynn / georgiaflynn.com)
bidolito.co.uk

SOUNDS —
UNDERWORLD. JEAN-MICHEL JARRE. CARIBOU
AIR. DJ SHADOW. EVERYTHING EVERYTHING. FLOATING POINTS [ LIVE ]
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING. MERCURY REV. GEORGE FITZGERALD
STEVE MASON. 65DAYSOFSTATIC. BRITISH SEA POWER. MARC RILEY
BEYOND THE WIZARD’S SLEEVE. DJ YODA GOES TO THE SCI FI MOVIES. BEN UFO
MOON DUO. GWENNO. LONELADY. KRYSKO. STEALING SHEEP. DUTCH UNCLES. GALAXIANS
AZIZ & DAL. THE LUCID DREAM. SUNDARA KARMA. PLASTIC MERMAIDS. LET’S EAT GRANDMA
NAI HARVEST. THE VRYLL SOCIETY. POST WAR GLAMOUR GIRLS. COWTOWN
MI MYE. HOT VESTRY. RHAIN. THE WATCHMAKERS. SYMPATHISER. BODY CLOCKS
COSMIC CULTURE —
BRIAN ENO
INSTALLATION ON THE ICONIC
LOVELL TELESCOPE
EXPLORE THE CLANGERS MOON
LANTERNS ON THE LAKE PERFORMING WITH ROYAL NORTHERN SINFONIA
AIDEN BYRNE’S RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE
BE PERFORM ONE A MULTI SENSORY EXPERIENCE FEATURING 40,000 BEES
HONDARTZA FRAGA’S FROM DARK MATTER TO WHITE NOISE
TIM O’BRIEN, JIM SPENCER & DAN TOMBS PRESENT HELLO MOON
ERICA WAGNER HOSTS FIRST LIGHT A CELEBRATION OF ALAN GARNER
ANDREW SMITH TALKS MOONDUST AND MARS ONE
SCI-FI WRITING WORKSHOPS AND CHILDREN’S SCI-FI STORYTELLING
PHYSICAL THEATRE WITH THE URBAN ASTRONAUT
COMEDY —
INFINITE MONKEY CAGE
IT’S ROCKET SCIENCE WITH HELEN KEEN
FESTIVAL OF THE SPOKEN NERD’S HELEN ARNEY & STEVE MOULD
SCIENCE SHOW OFF WITH DR STEVE CROSS & FRIENDS
DOT CON WITH JAMES VEITCH
STAND UP WITH ROBIN INCE, TIERNAN DOUIEB, ADAM KAY
GO 8 BIT PRESENT WI-FI WARS
I.T. ROCK & ROLL WITH FOXDOG STUDIOS
INCOMING ANNOUNCEMENTS — SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / G’ASTRONOMY VILLAGE
& REAL ALE FESTIVAL / FILM & GAMING / FAMILY ENCOUNTERS
WWW.DISCOVERTHEBLUEDOT.COM
WEEKEND CAMPING FROM £129 / DAY TICKETS FROM £35
BOUTIQUE CAMPING OPTIONS FROM £495
BBC RADIO 4 PRESENT
PROF BRIAN COX & ROBIN INCE
JODRELL BANK OBSERVATORY
UK. EARTH
22.23.24 JULY 2016

merger
E.C.C
Scarlet. (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu)
9
7
8
2
1
3
6
4
5
DJs and more ‘traditional’ musicians. It quickly
develops into the most enthralling show of
the night with repetitive, melodic female
vocals and drawn-out, progressive tracks that
ebb and flow but never lose momentum. To me
this is what Threshold is all about. Standing in
an old, dark room on the outskirts of Liverpool
with 20 other people watching an amazing
band for the very first time.
Up at The Baltic Social, whose gig space is
decked out like a living room – sofa, easy chair,
and old lampstand – all-female band PEANESS
take to the stage. The brash, confrontational
attitude of the performance, music and lyrics
is tempered by a bouncy, almost Bangles,
feel; all found in Fortune Favours The Bold.
RAIN MAY FALL follow, and, my, they’re heavy
(with a grungey side). I rediscover my inner
headbanger, getting down to tracks like the
anthemic, driving No Second Chances.
Saturday’s action eases in with a solo
set from RONY BERREBI (RONY TRIO) in Unit
51, where there’s a nice vibe going on over
brunch. The delicate acoustic folk of tracks like
Mystery has an upbeat, reggae feel. Soulful
RnB act DELIAH follow on in Unit 51, a duo (with
added drums and synthesiser) whose female
vocalist’s spine-tingling vocals are utilised to
great effect on new single Marble Heart.
This uplifting start to the second day is
continued at The Baltic Social, where CHARLIE
MCKEOWN cements his growing reputation with
a set of folk/blues notable for its exceptional
fretwork and songwriting. The Bicycle Thieves
gives an age-old tale of vengeance a neat,
humorous twist, and My Love Is A Preacher
airs McKeon’s bluesy inclinations with some
sneaky little riffs.
Sultry, sensual trip hop band I AM OF THE
UNIVERSE and their female vocalist’s gorgeous
vocals are showcased in Unit 51, with The
Hierophant, with its more upbeat feel and

32
Bido Lito! May 2016 Reviews
theremin, being a standout. They finish with
The Alchemist, asking “Is this love or alchemy?”
– how appropriate for Threshold Six.
Evening comes and THE MONO LPS, a
mixture of swooping guitar riffs and strings,
squeeze on to 24 Kitchen Street’s small
stage. It’s a rousing set, with crowd-favourite
Emilia pulsing through the room not once but
twice – as Emilia (Threshold’s own) missed it
first time round. Following The Mono LPs are
SCARLET., and it’s clear that their sound and
stage presence have matured. They seem less
self-conscious on stage, which allows them
the space to develop their sound. There’s still
a Cranberries feel to earlier tunes, the bloody
gorgeous Anyway being a case in point, but
there’s also an exciting heavier edge in their
new material.
Down at the fabulous Hobo Kiosk, amongst
the vintage oddities and rarities, sits LISA
WRIGHT, fresh from recording an EP in Nashville.
She introduces Before I Die, from said EP, as “a
happy song”, and, with a pure, vintage country
voice, strong melodies and her clean picking
style, it proves to be just so.
Over to Constellations, where out in the
garden THE FRANKLEYS blow away any lingering
cobwebs with a Styrene-esque vocal, post-punk
barrage, while indoors at the Merseyrail Sound
Station stage, DAN WILSON and his band lay
down an excellent set of bluesy, jazzy virtuosity.
Wilson’s gritty voice evokes Waits and Cave, and
there are some lovely sax and clarinet passages
to embellish the slapping, skipping bass lines.
A treat for what is a pretty good sized and
appreciative mid-afternoon crowd.
There is certainly no (Miss)representation at
Threshold. The evening sees CHANEL AND THE
CIRCUS’ infectious blend of pop and speakeasy
jazz get the crowd dancing at Constellations.
Back at Kitchen Street, the much-anticipated
PINK KINK set lives up to the hype. There is
plenty of light and shade in their songs, which
build in intensity and are repeatedly stripped
back to the rhythmic bones. The melodies
are bright, the harmonies tight, there’s even
a kazoo, and a riotous 100 mph ending sees
band and audience bouncing off the Kitchen
Street walls. BATHYMETRY’s set is a darker but
no less assured affair, which sees them shift
gears between power-pop surges, laid-back
skanks and some dreamy psych pop with their
by now expected vitality.
Sometimes you walk into a venue and think,
“Nah - this isn’t gonna be my thing”. Such was
the case with ELEVANT’s guitar squall at Kitchen
Street on Sunday evening, but after a couple of
numbers the band’s energy starts to worm its
way under my skin and when they shred their
way through a brilliant cover of Brian Eno’s
Baby’s On Fire I am converted. The dynamic
between guitarist/vocalist Michael Edward
Bill Ryder-Jones (Gaz Jones / @GJMphoto)
Threshold Six (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu)
and bassist Hannah Lodge is electric and when
Edward thrusts his guitar into the hands of the
crowd, falls to his knees and just screams while
they flail away, you can’t help but love it.
Lest we forget, Threshold is never just about
the music and, staged at various venues, this
year’s visual arts exhibition is entitled Alchemy,
and what a broad spectrum of interpretations
that theme has elicited. Painting, photography
and 3D installations demand your attention.
There are some striking pieces, too many to
do justice to here: JEN ALLANSON’s strangely
alluring manikin fortune teller tells me,
somewhat disturbingly, that I have “a heart of
ice”; ROBYN WOOLSTON’s display cabinet full of
animal skulls, jawbones and small scent bottles
has a beautifully balanced, earthy colour
palette; JAMES MASSIE’s hanging crocuses
bring life and colour into Unit 51. The whole
exhibition is a superb realisation of the brief
from the region’s visual artists.
There’s something thrilling about the multivenue
festival model that is quite difficult to
grasp unless you’ve been in the middle of it.
Each of Threshold’s venues in the Baltic quarter
add as much to the feel of this celebratory
festival as any of the artists, and it creates a
unifying bond for all who experience it. Long
may that continue.
Alastair Dunn, Debra
Williams and Glyn Akroyd
BILL RYDER-JONES
Harvest Sun @ Arts Club
Tonight there is a subdued air of celebration, as if
the crowd are welcoming back one of their own
who has set out to prove himself to the outside
world and returned validated. RYDER-JONES
has, of course, been touring his various works
for a good portion of his life; however, since the
release of second LP West Kirby County Primary
last year, there has been a sense of Ryder-Jones
being recognised as a genuinely great artists
outside of his home city, making this return
seem all the more poignant.
Bill’s characteristically demure on-stage
demeanour is strangely juxtaposed to the
shouts of “Go ‘ed Bill” emanating from some
parts of a crowd that greet him with frenzy
when he comes on stage, and this is a dynamic
that lasts throughout most of the set. As offputting
as this sometimes is, it does little to
detract from the quality on stage; and with
his four-piece band to back him, Ryder-Jones
commands the room from start to finish. He
is at his most impressive when embracing
his heavier urges and the 90s garageinflected
Satellites is a testament to this. The
dichotomous pairing of blistering refrains and
restrained, gravelly vocal delivery seems to
epitomise his new approach to songwriting,
bidolito.co.uk

and it is hard to keep the spine from tingling
when the band are really in full flow.
For those familiar with the more subtle,
piano-based melancholia of 2014’s A Bad
Wind Blows In My Heart, there is a welcome
reprieve mid-set when the four other members
disappear, leaving Ryder-Jones alone on
the stage. Several beautiful solo renditions
follow, of which Christina That’s The Saddest
Thing is the highlight. It becomes clear that he
is a performer who can captivate an audience
without any assistance, even if he appears
slightly uncomfortable whilst doing so.
The band now re-appear to finish what
they started, and single Two To Birkenhead is
a triumphant and joyous summation of what
has been a pretty special night. Although
this show has had all the warm feeling of a
homecoming, it has been much more than
that. Perhaps it has even been more simple
than that: an incredibly talented artist riding
high on the crest of an album that is so far
undoubtedly his greatest achievement. Go
‘ed Bill.
Alastair Dunn
SLOWCOACHES
Bad Meds – Strange Collective – OHMNS
Maguire’s Pizza Bar
A chance to see Liverpool’s holy trinity of
garage is not one to turn your nose up at.
Whenever these lads get together you’re
guaranteed a show. Pair this with the chance
to see one of Britain’s most exciting new
bands who are hot off a session for Marc Riley
on 6Music, and you’d be an utter fool to miss
this.
OHMNS arrive up first, fuelled by a brutal
concoction of wine and pizza, and they’re
ready to tear the place a new arsehole with
their raucous primal splurge. Like Thee Oh
Sees’ twisted cousin, this four-piece play a
demonic sort of trance-inducing mantra that
captivates the crowd, before stabbing them in
the heart with a harsh kick of savage, visceral,
screaming fuzz. The wounds caused by the
two-minute attacks are healed quickly by
dripping syrupy spoonfuls of dry humour. With
cries of “We might not play our best tonight
cos we’ve all got horrible runny shits”, and
song names such as the now infamous Free
El Chapo/Sean Penn’s A Grass, the group rarely
fail to disappoint.
After the ‘in-yer-face’ hard rock comes a
slightly softer note in the form of STRANGE
COLLECTIVE. Their cheeky, drunken surf rock
has been a cornerstone of Merseyside’s
trashy garage rock scene for a few years now,
and the lads can pull quite a crowd on the
merit of their excellent clutch of singles. Their
soaring, ballsy rock ‘n’ roll is perfectly fitted to
the room: sweaty, cramped and crowded. As
the set goes on, more and more on-lookers
seem to be hypnotised into a manic frenzy, led
by the OHMNS lads. Things reach a pinnacle
during Strange Collective’s final song, the
superb new single Super Touchy. OHMNS’
drummer finds himself on top of an amp, clad
in nothing more than a pair of ball stranglers,
rhythmically tapping himself to the beat. Like
a catalyst the crowd erupts into a riot with
mic stands flying, guitarist pile-ons and the
ever-persistent chants of “super touchy!” As
the band finish the much-extended version of
the track, sweating and breathless, it appears
that’ll it’ll be difficult to top such a spectacle
tonight, if not this year.
Bravely tackling the post-carnage scenery
are BAD MEDS, who are perhaps the best
equipped to do so. Their own brand of moody
sullen punk is tinged with a dark humour
which beautifully haunts the room. The band
dole out some moments of pure genius, such
as their cover of Grim Up North and their
six-and-a-half-minute doom-layered ballad
Release The Bees. Their sound rumbles
through the room perfectly as it juxtaposes
their fast, punk-laden two-minuters, against
gloomy tracks of epic lengths.
After what seems a show in itself from the
support acts alone, on come slacker metal
trio SLOWCOACHES. The band play hard and
fast through their fuzzy hits, with lead singer
Heather Perkins adopting an intimidating
expression that leaves the audience half
mesmerised/half scared. Their sonic grunge
pop seems to keep the crowd on edge – but
something seems to be slightly lacking for
Slowcoaches, with their unreleased tracks not
quite packing the punch of singles Ex Head
and Sucker.
THE UNTHANKS
Liverpool Acoustic Festival
@ Philharmonic Hall
Matthew Hogarth
Billed as a ‘symphonic adventure with THE
UNTHANKS’, tonight’s performance is the
first time the folk ensemble (or members
thereof) have attempted to wed their esoteric
brand of new folk to a fully formed orchestra.
Perhaps this development is not so much of a
surprise as they’ve got previous, continually
developing and adding unexpected layers to
the bedrock of traditional folk storytelling, so
much so that one critic labelled them as being
“in a genre of one”.
The Philharmonic is full to the brim with
Phil regulars, the strings, brass and woodwind
producing that pleasing, anticipatory discord
that precedes all classical performances,
before the Unthank sisters, Rachel and
Becky, and their musical director and pianist,
Adrian McNally, take to the stage. The much-

BUY TICKETS ONLINE
LIVERPOOLCRAFTBEEREXPO.COM
USE DISCOUNT CODE ‘BIDO2016’

36
Bido Lito! May 2016 Reviews
The Unthanks (Glyn Akroyd)
lauded group, who throughout their career
have regularly garnered four- and five-star
reviews and made the annual folk award lists,
appear a little nervous and look as though the
experimental nature of the evening might be
weighing on their shoulders.
Even seven songs in, when invited by
Rachel to explain his new song The Foundling,
McNally declines, uttering a “No, too nervous”
response worthy of a shy schoolboy. However,
by this time it is obvious that the evening is
going to throw up some special moments as
the early part of the concert allays any fears
that this might be a grand folly. To my ears, the
arrangements sound as though they have been
created by someone who has worked in the
classical arena for decades, not by someone
who, by his own admission, neither reads nor
writes music. Conductor Charles Hazelwood,
a man on a mission to broaden the scope of
orchestral music generally, displays the body
language of someone who is more than happy
to direct the Phil on this occasion. Back to The
Foundling: an epic weepy, which features the
sisters as mother and missing daughter and
ends with a trumpet solo by Lizzy Jones which
begins sounding mournfully evocative of a
windswept English moorland and develops
towards a soaring climax which brings to
mind the burning Spanish landscapes of Miles
Davis’ Concierto De Aranjuez. We have already
Buy your £1 festival guide now
www.lightnightliverpool.co.uk
Open
your mind
on a Friday
night.
13 May Liverpool’s
5pm late-night
— arts
late festival

S.J.M. CONCERTS PRESENTS
SJM CONCERTS BY ARRANGEMENT WITH X-RAY PRESENTS
MANIC STREET
PREACHERS
CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF
EVERYTHING MUST GO
PERFORMING THEIR CLASSIC ALBUM AND MUCH MORE
FRIDAY 13
MAY 2016
ECHO
ARENA
ECHOARENA.CO.UK
0844 800 0400
GIGSANDTOURS.COM
TICKETMASTER.CO.UK
0844 811 0051 I 0844 826 2826
P E R F O R M E D B Y
THE HERITAGE ORCHESTRA
6 0 P I E C E O R C H E S T R A C O N D U C T E D B Y
JULES BUCKLEY
THURSDAY 1 ST DECEMBER • THE O2, LONDON
EXTRA DATE ADDED DUE TO PHENOMENAL DEMAND
FRIDAY 2 ND DECEMBER • MANCHESTER ARENA
S O L D O U T
GIGSANDTOURS.COM EVENTIM.CO.UK TICKETMASTER.CO.UK
A N S J M C O N C E R T S P R E S E N T A T I O N B Y A R R A N G E M E N T W I T H W M E
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
A MUSICAL JOURNEY THROUGH THE CAREER OF ONE
OF THE WORLD’S MOST ICONIC SINGER-SONGWRITERS
…a show that every Bob Dylan fan should see! Louder Than War
SIMPLY DYLAN
FOREVER YOUNG
CELEBRATING BOB DYLAN’S 75TH BIRTHDAY
FEATURING
JOHN O’CONNELL
FORMERLY OF GROUNDPIG
BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND
SUNDAY 29 MAY
THE AUDITORIUM
AT ECHO ARENA
LIVERPOOL
ECHOARENA.COM
GIGSANDTOURS.COM TICKETMASTER.CO.UK
SIMPLYDYLAN.COM
AN SJM CONCERTS & JOHN O’CONNELL PRESENTATION
MANICSTREETPREACHERS.COM
t@MANICS
f/MANICSTREETPREACHERS
‘Perfect in just about every way’ HHHHH THE TIMES
THU 27 OCT 2016
EMPIRE THEATRE
ATGTICKETS.COM / GIGSANDTOURS.COM / TICKETMASTER.CO.UK
0844 871 3017 / 0844 811 0051 / 0844 826 2826
AN SJM CONCERTS & LIVE NATION PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH UNITED TALENT AGENCY

heard songs from the latest album Mount The
Air, such as the beautiful Madam, and new
McNally composition Hymn For Syria, whose
refrain “we should take them all” should have
seen off any UKIP voters in the audience (I’m
sure there weren’t any really!) and whose
line “if the boat goes down, we will surely
drown” has a timeless empathy to it. These
songs are good enough to be played in any
style – you can imagine them a cappella,
acoustic, electric – and here they seem to
be sitting very happily in their orchestral
comfort blanket.
The second half of the concert continues
in the same vein. The Romantic Tees, written
for a film about the decline of the North-East
shipbuilding industry and which I hadn’t
heard before (I embarrassingly scribbled
‘The Romantic Tease’ in my notebook, but
maybe that’s a whole new song!), features
effervescent strings, beautiful brass and
a lovely harp fade out. The adaptation of
The Great Silkie Of Sule Skerry features the
audience in a three-part harmony, which they
fade out at the end delightfully.
There is a point midway through the
second half, maybe just for one song, where
I begin to feel a little as though I’m at a
West End musical, which is not somewhere
I generally like to be, but they bring it back
with a wonderful cover of King Crimson’s
Starless and the jazzy Mount The Air, both
of which feature beautiful Lizzy Jones
trumpet solos and sweeping orchestration
that complements Rachel and Becky’s
fragile, breathy voices. There is a childlike
quality to the Unthanks’ vocal delivery
which is disarming and which, when allied to
McNally’s more ethereal arrangements, gives
their age-old tales of wild romance, domestic
violence and social unrest an otherworldly
edge.
As experiments go, the logistical problems
of regularly assembling a 60-piece orchestra
aside, this is definitely a goer and the
audience are on their feet applauding wildly
at the end.
Glyn Akroyd
PHRASED & CONFUSED
Ana Silvera - Lizzie Nunnery – Isaiah Hull –
Asma Elbedawi — Luke Wright — Mark Grist
Liverpool Acoustic Festival @ The Music Room
A concatenation of lyrical spoken word
and poetic music is promised by Phrased
& Confused for tonight’s gig in the very
modern, indeed industrial, setting of the
Phil’s Music Room for Liverpool Acoustic
Festival. First act ISAIAH HULL, one of the
finalists of the BBC1 Xtra/Roundhouse Words
First project, bounces on to the stage and
prowls around it throughout his set, nervous
energy propelling both his tongue and his
feet. He’s young but his observations and use
of language have the weight of ages – “she
used to speak to me in tung-sten flames”. He
describes his poems as being like himself –
“dark and sad” – but his energy and attitude
temper the subject matter. In his own words,
“his image is a symphony and I’m stood here
listening” (Mirrors).
Visual artist and poet ASMA ELBEDAWI is
the second finalist. She has a different energy,
self-contained and motionless, although her
subject matter is deeply personal. Next up
is LIZZIE NUNNERY, premiering Liverpool
I Love Your Horny Handed Tons Of Soil, a
spoken-word piece with music inspired by a
fragment poem by Adrian Henri exploring the
changes to the L8 area 50 years after Mersey
Sound was published. She’s accompanied
by her band and TOSCA, a small robot built
by ‘maker-collective’ DoES, which traces her
journey on a map projected alongside the
stage. There’s also a backdrop of scenes of
‘old’ Liverpool, adding to the atmosphere her
words evoke.
In a spine-tingling, urgent whisper,
Nunnery builds up a list of images – “when
The Grapes was a dancehall” – as the band
provide a swirling jazz background. As she
speaks the words, “Didn’t I dance cholera
through courtyards like a […] lover?”, I see
the narrator as Death, stalking the streets.
It’s a beautiful, poetic, trippy piece, which
finishes by asking where does the city end?
St Helens? Ormskirk? Answer: Never.
There’s a Love Hearts poetry-writing
interlude next, and then compère LUKE
WRIGHT (whose use of the c*nt word starts
early and continues throughout) recites a
B-movie poem, Barry vs. the Blob, heavy on
alliteration. It’s bloody brilliant (sorry!). He
then introduces “poet of the moment” Hollie
McNish, whose set focuses on the earthier,
less discussed aspects of pregnancy and
motherhood, in a humorous yet serious
way. There is a queue to buy her diary/book
of poetry, Nobody Told Me, afterwards.
Serendipitously, Wright has a poem about
Iain Duncan Smith, who has just resigned
to join the Leave campaign – err, because of
his principles. It employs univocalism (only
using words with a single vowel, in this case
‘i’), and Wright explains that ‘i’ is “tricksy” and
“underhand”. No comparisons there, then!
Nunnery, now with guitar, and her band,
now including a bassist, return. They play a
short set and I reflect, not for the first time,
on how important percussion is in her work
– from the floor/scenery-slapping in her play,
Narvik, to the handclaps here in in 5,000
Birds and Vidar Norheim’s military-style
drumming in England Loves A Poor Boy.
Telling a true story rather than a series
of poems, comedian MARK GRIST keeps us
hooked, keen to find out: a) who won the rap

BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111
MANchesteracademy.net
ESKIMO DANCE
SATURDAY 23RD APRIL
CHRIS RAMSEY:
ALL GROWED UP
SATURDAY 7TH MAY
DAUGHTRY
SUNIDAY 22ND MAY
IN THIS MOMENT
FRIDAY 27TH MAY
GIGANTIC INDIE ALL DAYER - VOL. 3
FT. THE WONDER STUFF
PLUS VERY SPECIAL GUESTS
THE HOUSE OF LOVE
+ JESUS JONES, THE DARLING BUDS, BENTLEY
RHYTHM ACE (LIVE), THE FRANK AND WALTERS, BMX
BANDITS, BACK TO THE PLANET, CUD, S*M*A*S*H,
THE TELESCOPES, MENSWE@R, CREDIT TO THE
NATION, BIVOUAC & JACK ADAPTOR (THE FAMILY CAT)
SATURDAY 28TH MAY
THE BLUETONES
SATURDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER
ALL SAINTS
SATURDAY 8TH OCTOBER
SLEAFORD MODS
THURSDAY 27TH OCTOBER
KYTV FESTIVAL 2016
PLUS VERY SPECIAL GUESTS EMF
+ DUST JUNKYS + FEROCIOUS DOG
+ RINGO DEATHSTARR + DJ MILF (EMF)
SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER
LUSH
FRIDAY 25TH NOVEMBER
MARILLION
MONDAY 28TH NOVEMBER
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
SATURDAY 3RD DECEMBER
A TRIBUTE TO MANCHESTER VOL. 2:
THE SECOND COMING
FRIDAY 9TH DECEMBER
A MANCHESTER ACADEMY PRESENTATION
CHRIS
RAMSEY
ALL GROWED UP
SATURDAY 7TH MAY
FORMERLY THE MDH FORMERLY THE HOP & GRAPE FORMERLY THE CELLAR
STEVE MASON
SUNDAY 24TH APRIL
KIP MOORE
TUESDAY 26TH APRIL
THE RAINBAND
FRIDAY 29TH APRIL
WE ARE SCIENTISTS
TUESDAY 3RD MAY
BRANTLEY GILBERT
FRIDAY 6TH MAY
BAD MANNERS
SATURDAY 7TH MAY
KING KING
+ DAN PATLANSKY
THURSDAY 12TH MAY
THE HEAVY
FRIDAY 13TH MAY
THE JOY FORMIDABLE
SATURDAY 14TH MAY
TIM HECKER
MONDAY 16TH MAY
MAGNUM
SATURDAY 21ST MAY
TELEVISION
FRIDAY 10TH JUNE
ST PAUL AND THE
BROKEN BONES
WEDNESDAY 22ND JUNE
KAMASI WASHINGTON
TUESDAY 28TH JUNE
ULTIMATE EAGLES
SATURDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER
FROM THE JAM
SATURDAY 1ST OCTOBER
WALTER TROUT
TUESDAY 18TH OCTOBER
JP COOPER
THURSDAY 27TH OCTOBER
THE UNDERTONES
SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER
THE SMITHS LTD
SATURDAY 23RD APRIL
JAKE SIMS
THURSDAY 28TH APRIL
CASH
SATURDAY 30TH APRIL
KATE VOEGELE & TYLER HILTON
SATURDAY 7TH MAY
ANDY JORDAN
THURSDAY 12TH MAY
ELECTRIC 50
TUESDAY 17TH MAY
LUCKY CHOPS
SATURDAY 21ST MAY
HANDS LIKE HOUSES
WEDNESDAY 25TH MAY
KINGS KALEIDOSCOPE
FRIDAY 27TH MAY
PINKED FLOYD
SATURDAY 4TH JUNE
COASTS
TUESDAY 7TH JUNE
KING PRAWN
SATURDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER
TONY MORTIMER & HIS BAND
THURSDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER
CATS IN SPACE / SPACE ELEVATOR
FRIDAY 23RD SEPTEMBER
TOWNSMEN
THURSDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER
JAKE QUICKENDEN
SATURDAY 1ST OCTOBER
UK FOO FIGHTERS TRIBUTE
SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER
THE SOUTHMARTINS
SATURDAY 19TH NOVEMBER
ELECTRIC SIX
WEDNESDAY 23RD NOVEMBER
BIG COUNTRY - THE SEER TOUR
SATURDAY 3RD DECEMBER
AYNSLEY LISTER
SATURDAY 17TH DECEMBER
THE LONG RYDERS
SATURDAY 7TH MAY
HIP HOP JAM HEMP GRU
FRIDAY 13TH MAY
THE SUMMER SET
TUESDAY 17TH MAY
RADIO BIRDMAN
THURSDAY 23RD JUNE
COLLIE BUDDZ
WEDNESDAY 29TH JUNE
SUPERSUCKERS
THURSDAY 21ST JULY
ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD
WEDNESDAY 31ST AUGUST
SEX PISSED DOLLS
FRIDAY 7TH OCTOBER
THE TUBES
SATURDAY 8TH OCTOBER
THE GRAHAM BONNET BAND
SATURDAY 12TH NOVEMBER
THE LANCASHIRE HOTPOTS
SATURDAY 3RD DECEMBER
PEARL JAM UK
SATURDAY 10TH DECEMBER
MANCHESTER ACADEMY PRESENTS
LISBON
TUESDAY 24TH MAY
EVIL BLIZZARD
SATURDAY 9TH JULY
PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT
FRIDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER
SOUND CONTROL
facebook.com/manchesteracademy @mancacademy FOR UP TO DATE LISTINGS VISIT MANChesteracademy.net

40
Bido Lito! May 2016 Reviews
battle and b) what happened to Jordan, the
catalyst for Grist’s surprising career change
(he was a teacher). We then adjourn to the bar
for the poetry battle between Grist and KNUT
(sigh) – honours are adjudged to be even –
and then it’s back to the Music Room for the
final act of the evening, singer-songwriter
ANA SILVERA, who sings delicate torch songs,
accompanying herself on guitar, keyboard
and ukulele.
It’s been an entertaining evening, and a
concept I’d gladly sit through again.
Debra Williams
BATTLES
Mixhell – Barberos
EVOL @ O2 Academy
Much has been said about Liverpool’s
revived status in the national touring nexus.
It wasn’t so long ago that international
bands would overlook the city when
visiting the UK, most preferring to hawk
their wares in the capital or in the bustling
second cities of Birmingham or Manchester.
It is precisely because of the relentless
endeavour of promoters like EVOL that
Liverpool has been able to punch above
its weight when it comes to attracting the
Battles (Darren Aston)
BIDO LITO! PRESENTS:
THE DOCKLAND PINK
A one-off special edition
for Sound City 2016

BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111
MANchesteracademy.net
After Show Special Guest DJ Mike Joyce (
) doors 1.30 / a big, big love...
SCHUBERT DIP 25TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW
SATURDAY OCT 29TH 2016 / MANCHESTER ACADEMY
facebook.com/manchesteracademy @mancacademy FOR UP TO DATE LISTINGS VISIT MANChesteracademy.net

42
Bido Lito! May 2016 Reviews
biggest names on the live touring circuit.
Tonight’s headliners, the globally-revered
BATTLES, are testament to the city’s kickstarted
reputation – and should, to all intent
and purposes, be a fitting high watermark
for what is EVOL’s dozenth anniversary.
Nonetheless, we find ourselves in Academy
2, the bijou first-floor hub of the Academy. In
contrast, Battles’ last outing in Liverpool (a
vintage EVOL show), was an utterly jubilant
affair at a billowing Kazimier, packed to the
rafters with the gig-going faithful. It was 2011
and the band were at the peak of their powers
following the release of the sensational
Gloss Drop – the optimal reinvention of their
sound. To some, Battles’ latest studio album,
La Di Da Di, was seen as a bit of a rehash
of their established blueprint and was,
therefore, somewhat lacking in the startling
invention of its predecessors. Aside from
the mid-week scheduling, perhaps this goes
some way to explaining a certain lethargy
around this evening’s performance.
Thankfully, local support BARBEROS inject
some much-needed sizzle into the occasion
with an enigmatic and often frightening
barrage of poly-rhythmic mayhem. There’s
something instantly infatuating about two
drummers and a keyboard warrior – mithrilclad
– in Lycra morph suits and matching
balaclava combination.
After but a few numbers, Brazilian electro
dabblers MIXHELL have ruptured the ear and
the ether with a near-seismic assault of live
techno and tropically-metered trance. The
onslaught of four-to-the-floor rhythm is led by
Igor Cavalera, the former Sepultura drummer,
alongside his wife, Laima Leyton. For the once
thrash metal heavyweight, Mixhell is an odd
avenue of exploration; the group have more in
common with Soulwax than Soul Assassins.
Battles commence proceedings with Dot
Com, a stuttering disco of intricacy, driven as
ever by John Stanier’s motorik drum pattern.
For the easily pleased, Stanier breaks his
austere time keeping with the occasional
crash on a ludicrously extended cymbal. Ian
Williams stabs sporadically at strings and licks
at the fretboard before arriving swiftly at the
tip of Ice Cream – the widely synchronised and
lovingly-looped masterclass – still the band’s
most accessible work to date. For a moment,
Battles rock so hard that we’re plunged into
darkness as the lighting rig capitulates under
the intense scrutiny of a cacophony of cues.
The band regain confidence in their
surroundings with an emphatic rendition of
Mirrored centrepiece Atlas, a song symbolic
of why we first fell for Battles. Aside from
Dave Konopka’s astonishingly naive ad-lib (I’ll
spare you the details), the band work heroically
through some of Gloss Drop and La Di Da Di’s
most salient numbers: Futura, Summer Simmer
and The Yabba bounce by like a sonically
pitched parade or an off-kilter pep rally.
Philip Morris / @mauricedesade
THE BLUE SOUL
Joni O’Shea - Paul Birtill
La Violette Societa @ Buyers Club
We’ll come to the worst-kept secret in the
Liverpool music scene in a bit. First, though,
this: I turn to a mate as we’re listening to
PAUL BIRTILL reading from his current volume
of poetry (New And Selected Poems – it’s
excellent, hunt it down immediately) and I say,
“I’m not sure if we should be laughing at this”.
Birtill’s quite possibly the Leonard Cohen of
Walton: a deliciously dark heart with a wicked
humour running through everything he does.
There’s a real probability that he’s pouring out
his most honest moments of utter despair in
front of us and we’re laughing uproariously at
them. This could be a man in real crisis on the
stage but, let’s be honest, he’s bloody funny
with it. Liverpool’s greatest living poet.
Birtill may be the key to what La Violette
Societa actually is: an anything-goes night
that can see the famous, the unknown, the
spoken word, the dramatic, the poetic and
the musical co-exist with equal emphasis.
No stars, no egos. It may come from the label
that is home to Michael Head & The Red Elastic
Band but it’s determinedly not about Mick.
Except for the bit that is. I’d heard a whisper,
seen Twitter-based mutterings; lyrics had been
La Violette Societa (Paul McCoy / photomccoy.tumblr.com)

NO WORST, THERE IS NONE
A LARGE SCALE IMMERSIVE PERFORMANCE
COMMISSIONED BY AD HOC CREATIVE
FOR LIGHT NIGHT 2016
13th MAY 2016
LIVERPOOL ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL
ORIGINAL MUSIC BY BILL RYDER-JONES.
ARRANGED BY DANIEL THORNE (IMMIX ENSEMBLE).
LIVE VISUALS BY SAM & DAMIEN WIEHL.
FEATURING LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL YOUTH CHOIR &
IN COLLABORATION WITH THE READER.

44
Bido Lito! May 2016 Reviews
ascribed to the mysterious ‘JONI O’SHEA’ that
were clearly from the more obscure corners of
Mr Head’s current repertoire. As the worst-kept
secret in town suddenly broke, tickets, much
less mysteriously, disappeared. The perception
became that ‘La Societa’ was a secret Michael
Head gig. Except it wasn’t. Mick’s second on,
solo, acoustic, dedicating a blistering 11-song set
to Jérôme de Missolz, director of the legendary
1992 YNWA documentary, and Peter Whelan,
brother of Pale Fountains’ drummer Jock, both
tragically lost recently.
A beautiful Something Like You stands as
testament to both. From there it’s the nowtraditional
mix of Shack, Strands and REB
material; a furious Streets Of Kenny, an eversupportive
As Long As I’ve Got You, the always
powerful, always dedicated to his daughter The
Prize, the stunning Newby Street and Cadiz,
American Kid – genuinely as good as anything
he’s ever written – and a stupendous Comedy –
genuinely as good as anything anybody has ever
written.
It’s another imperious set from a man currently
in the form of a lifetime in whichever shape the
Red Elastic Band takes – solo, trio, septet – and
the only possible negative is that people think
the point of the evening has been made.
It hasn’t; the point of the evening is that
everybody is equal, everybody is as important to
the night. Those who leave miss the sheer might
Teleman (Aaron McManus / ampix.co.uk)
of THE BLUE SOUL. In contrast to Nick Ellis’ solo
acoustic folk, The Blue Soul are a pounding thing.
They’re a night at the Cavern in 1961 where the
band have somehow heard the sound of 1968 and
intend to use it. They’re proper R’n’B as it should
be and they sound massive. They’re as traditional
as you could want, a real four-piece, two guitars,
drums and bass band; they have songs and they
have power. They’re massive and people missed
them. Missing them was a mistake.
That’s the lesson of La Violette Societa: you
don’t miss a moment, as you have no idea what
that next moment might be. Next time out? Parr
Street, May. Aviator, Marvin Powell, Dan Rhodes
and a bloke called Roy. Those of us who were
there think we know who that is but you can’t be
sure, can you? Don’t miss a moment.
Ian Salmon / @IanRSalmon
TELEMAN
Harvest Sun @ Buyers Club
With Buyers Club packed to the rafters, it is
difficult to make out how many members of
TELEMAN are on stage beyond the melange of
greying and balding heads. For better or worse, it’s
very much a BBC 6Music crowd in tonight, thanks,
likely, to the unerring support of evening DJ and
premier tastemaker Marc Riley.

Distribution is what we do...
Leaflets
Magazines
Posters
Bido Lito!
0151 708 0166
bookings@middledistance.org
www.middledistance.org

46
Bido Lito! May 2016 Reviews
Nightmares On Wax (Lexi Sun / @Gieesio)
As ever, the mouth formerly known as Lard is
bang on the money with this London four-piece
(I think there are four). Whilst former incarnation
Pete And The Pirates could be dismissed as a
fairly average indie band, Teleman are an entirely
different and more interesting proposition.
A guitar-driven Futureheads-light mood has
been exchanged for Buggles-inflected synth pop
at its finest. There are still the hooks which got
the Pirates noticed (if you’ll pardon the pun) in the
mid-noughties, but the addition of drummer Hiro
Amamiya has given the band a focus and more
idiosyncratic sound.
Mid-set highlight and single Cristina is greeted
warmly by the crowd as they contemplate a
weekend of DIY or taking the kids to Sunday
league. Frontman Thomas Sanders is as charming
as his chipper vocals suggest, addressing the
crowd as if it’s a first date between band and
audience as this is the opening night of Teleman’s
tour, supporting forthcoming album Brilliant
Sanity.
As dates go, while the band are the perfect
hosts the crowd are a little subdued for the first
half of the set, perhaps wondering if this is the
best way to spend their Friday night. However,
while the darker tone of some of the newer tracks
are met with respectful consideration, Monday
Morning, Skeleton Dance and others from 2014’s
Breakfast start to get heads and feet moving.
That is not to say singles from the new album
do not match in quality. Düsseldorf, which has
predictably enjoyed much airplay on music
fans’ favourite radio station, sounds huge in the
bricked-up confines of Buyers tonight. From the
synthy opening and the metronomic drumbeat
to the soaring chorus, it’s what Teleman do best –
distilling 30 years of British pop music, with all its
eccentricities and celebrations of hedonism, into
a four-minute gem.
The band finish with the paranoid beauty of Not
In Control. From demure beginnings to making the
venue bounce in unison, the track is the perfect
finale. Teleman have no doubt reminded many
tonight why they bother leaving the comfort of
their homes and radios and why it is worth seeing
music in a live context. There’ll be no-one claiming
‘music was better in my day’ this evening.
Sam Turner / @samturner1984
NIGHTMARES ON WAX
Kwinzola — Steve Cobby —
Madnice Soul Selector
Bam!Bam!Bam! @ 24 Kitchen Street
After the groundbreaking release of 1995
album Smokers Delight, George Evelyn aka
NIGHTMARES ON WAX has made his way back
to Liverpool to play a sold-out show in the
heart of the Baltic Triangle. With punters lining
up through the back doors of 24 Kitchen Street,
it’s set to be one hell of a night.
With first support MADNICE SOUL SELECTOR
playing a pleasing mix of jazz, Latin and hip
hop, the scene is set as the first of the crowd
filter in from the rain. In the background, an
interesting projection of animated crime thriller
A Scanner Darkly brings stars Woody Harrelson,
Robert Downey Jr and Keanu Reeves to the
rave. Although the music isn’t particularly
energetic, it’s an easy listen for the few people
who cautiously stand on the cobbles waiting
for the room to fill. The second support slot
of the night features DJs STEVE COBBY – best
known for his diverse remixes ranging from
Radiohead to Busta Rhymes – alongside
KWINZOLA, half of Liverpool DJ duo No Fakin’.
Playing back to back, these two selectors trade
a varied mix of hip hop and soul tunes, as well
as dropping The Original Trinidad Steel Band’s
tropical spin of Cissy Strut, which was brought
to fame by funk legends The Meters. Joined by
host MC KWASI, the room comes to life as he
effortlessly spits bars over the music, hyping
the crowd for the main event.
Representing Warp records, Nightmares On
Wax has been around for over two decades,
providing us with an eclectic mix of hip
hop, acid house, trip hop and down-tempo
electronica. After his last release, Feelin’ Good
in 2013, Evelyn released a compilation album
in 2014, N.O.W Is The Time, as a celebration of
his achievements and his time at Warp. Prior
to this, his career began with the release of
1991 debut album A Word Of Science: The First
And Final Chapter. With a significant interest
in soul and rap music, echoes of these genres
can often be heard within the depths of the
techno-tinged album and are reflected in his
live performance here in a bouncing Kitchen
Street.
Dropping a mix of classics from Luther
Vandross to Digital Human, James Brown
to Nico Gomez, Blondie to Run DMC, we are
treated to a selection that reflects Nightmares
On Wax’s personal musical preferences. It
certainly does not disappoint as the crowd
blast out a slightly slurry rendition of Never
Too Much under the oversized disco ball that
echoes undertones of a 1970s nightclub.
Despite his moniker, it is slightly disappointing
not to see Nightmares On Wax play any vinyl
like his supports, preferring to stick to his
CDJs. Not that the crowd seem to mind, with
the whole room dancing away and a full
house until the end. It’s safe to say that the
sold-out crowd are more than satisfied with
the nostalgic set that is a reflective collection
of music that influenced the birth of Evelyn’s
impressive career.
Rosa Jane
bidolito.co.uk

Ceremony Concerts Present
Submotion Orchestra
+ Catching Flies
24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool - Friday 29 th April 2016
China Crisis
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – Saturday 18 th June 2016
SECOND DATE ADDED – Friday 17 th June 2016
Mary Chapin Carpenter
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – Wednesday 27 th July 2016
Roddy Woomble
Performing 'My Secret is my Silence'
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – Friday 16 th September 2016
Heaven 17
& British Electric Foundation
O2 Academy, Liverpool – Thursday 20 th October 2016
George Monbiot
& Ewan McLennan
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool - Thursday 20 th October 2016
Robyn Hitchcock
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool - Saturday 22 nd October 2016
Sheelanagig
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool - Sunday 27 th November 2016
TicketQuarter / See Tickets / WeGotTickets / Gigantic
CRACKLE
&
DUST
May 2016
Thursday 5th May PHIL CHARNOCK
LISTINGS 2016
29.04 MEILYR JONES
+ guests TBA
Studio 2 (Parr St) / £7
30.04 GNOD +
guests TBA
Buyers Club
(Hardman St) / £7
07/05 THE GLAD
EYES (AKA THE SHE)
+ Rob Vincent
District (Jordan St) / £5
18.05 SPRING KING
+ guests TBA
Arts Club (Seel St) / £7
01.06 BC CAMPLIGHT
+ guests TBA
Leaf (Bold St) / £7
03.08 An Evening
With LOW
Epstein Theatre / £22.50
03.09 ANIMAL
COLLECTIVE +
guests TBA
o2 Academy
Liverpool w/ EVOL
23+24.09 LIVERPOOL
INTERNATIONAL
FESTIVAL OF
PSYCHEDELIA
Camp And Furnace +
Blade Factory + District
09.10 EXPLOSIONS
IN THE SKY
Liverpool Philharmonic
Hall (Hope St) / £22/£28
Thursday 12th May DANNY MARFANY
Thursday 19th May JOE FEARON
Thursday 26th May NO FAKIN
A vinyl-only analog excursion into hip-hop,
boogie, electronica, funk and disco.
Every Thursday at LEAF 8pm-Late / FREE
03.06 MALCOLM
MIDDLETON + The
Pictish Trail
Leaf (Bold St) / £10
15.06 PARQUET
COURTS + guests TBA
The Invisible Wind
Factory / £12 / w/ EVOL
16.07 FATHER JOHN
MISTY + Bleeding
Heart Pigeons
Mountford Hall (Liverpool
Guild of Students) / £18.50
TICKETS AVAILABLE
ONLINE FROM
EVENTIM.CO.UK
SEETICKETS.COM
AND IN HAND FROM
PROBE RECORDS
(SCHOOL LN) AND THE
BRINK (PARR ST)
FACEBOOK:
HARVEST SUN
PROMOTIONS
TWITTER:
@HARVEST_SUN

PLUS GUEST JODIE ABACUS
SUNDAY 15 MAY
O2 ACADEMY2 LIVERPOOL
BOOKINGS AT GIGSANDTOURS.COM & VENUE BOX OFFICE
NEW ALBUM ‘THE DREAMING ROOM’ AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW, RELEASED 17 JUNE
LAURAMVULA.COM
A METROPOLIS MUSIC PRESENTATION BY ARRANGEMENT WITH CAA
John Joseph Brill (Lexi Sun / @Gieesio)
JOHN JOSEPH BRILL
Lives – Mick Roach
Harvest Sun @ The Scandinavian Church
Gigs in here have a memorable nature to them
– and, walking in to the octagonal church, this
evening feels no different. There is an extra
weight to silence when you are in a church and
the silence that is the audience’s response to
the playing of MICK ROACH feels engulfing.
There has been no misplaced joke or political
comment to create an awkwardness; this is just
an old-fashioned, respectful audience, happy
to sit and watch and, most of all, listen to a
gruff northerner sing tales of smiling lament.
This is a beautiful treat, increased with the
introduction of his singing partner who adds
a balance to the sound with her voice; the two
vastly different accents providing contrast and
bringing out the best in each other.
LIVES seem to have taken the silence of
the first set as an offence to their garage rock
sensibilities. With a brief warning of “this might
be loud”, the guitars start screaming and the
acoustics of the church are dragging us in to a
whirlpool of noise. This is unfair on Lives in a
way, as, through the visceral attack on the ears,
glimpses of more intelligent song-making are
appearing, but it is just too difficult to get to
them in this situation.
JOHN JOSEPH BRILL is the kind of man who
would dominate any room he finds himself
in. Tall, hirsute and loud like a beatnik Brian
Blessed, he draws the attention of all before

BREWING Co.
Reviews
Bido Lito! May 2016
49
he starts. As the first syllable fires from his
diaphragm, he and his band fade into the
shadows to be replaced by a truly dominant
beast, his baritone voice. The woman in front
of me swears in shock the first time she hears
him. Each song is dark in tone, feeling like a
folk tale of woe told with a wry smile and a
cunning way with words. Every song follows
the same quiet-deep then loud-deep vocal
pattern but, with subjects such as death,
terminal illness and alcoholism being covered,
nobody is expecting to get hit with a poppier
number. Instead, the pattern continues and it
is majestic and luxurious. It is a treat for all in
the audience to take this in. Brill mentions that
this is the third day in a row that he is singing in
a church and it seems that he is feeling a touch
unheavenly. He shouldn’t: the voice of a Hell’s
Angel suits him down to the ground.
Gary Lambert / @TheGaryLambert
THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS
Yak
The Olympia
This evening’s gig is certainly a hot ticket
but, judging by the ratio of feather cuts and
desert boots over Arctic Monkeys T-shirts, this
is without doubt a Miles Kane homecoming.
The Last Shadow Puppets (Michael Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com)
200 BANDS
20 STAGES
+ COMEDY, ART, FILM
& INTERACTIVE SESSIONS
A MULTI-VENUE FESTIVAL IN WREXHAM, NORTH WALES
THE JOY FORMIDABLE | THE MAGIC NUMBERS |
LOS CAMPESINOS! | THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND |
GOD DAMN | GWENNO | MEILYR JONES | H. HAWKLINE | KAGOULE |
PETER HOOK (ex NEW ORDER/JOY DIVISION) DJ set | WINTER VILLAINS |
KIZZY CRAWFORD | HIPPIES VS GHOSTS | SŴNAMI | THE ROSEVILLE BAND |
JOHNNY LLOYD | HMS MORRIS | WE ARE ANIMAL | CASTLES | CANDELAS |
JOHN LAWRENCE (ex GORKY’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI) | BABY BRAVE
+ OVER 200+ MORE NEW MUSIC PERFORMANCES & DJs OVER 4 DAYS!
+ INTERNATIONAL ACTS FROM: BELGIUM | CANADA | CZECH REPUBLIC |
FRANCE | ICELAND | JAPAN | POLAND | USA | NEW ZEALAND + MORE
STAND-UP: SEAN HUGHES | GARY DELANEY | PETE FIRMAN + MORE!
ARTS: PETE FOWLER | STEDHEAD | SOPHIE MCKEAND | VOICEBOX + MORE!
INTERACTIVE: Speakers from SXSW | 6 MUSIC | MUSIC GLUE + MORE!
+ KEYNOTES: VIV ALBERTINE (THE SLITS) | PETER HOOK (EX NEW ORDER/JOY DIVISION)
12-15 MAY 2016
FOCUSWALES.COM/TICKETS
Standard Festival Tickets £40
Young Persons Tickets £30 (14-17 Year Old’s)
#FOCUSWALES2016
FESTIVAL
WRISTBANDS
NOW ON SALE

50
Bido Lito! May 2016 Reviews
The Last Shadow Puppets (Michael Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com)
It’s going to be interesting, particularly in light
of recent reports concerning certain comments
to journalist Rachel Brodsky in New York. Kane
has apologised for his sexist behaviour but
social networking sites suggest this is not
enough, sparking a “Lock up your daughters”
moral panic.
London’s YAK are kicking the night off with
their Can-tinged delivery, pumping up the
decibels to the point where THE LAST SHADOW
PUPPETS could almost sound muted in
comparison. They make a brilliant noise, mainly
due to their drummer, Elliot Rawson, who at
times appears to be channelling Dave Grohl,
which is no bad thing. There are messages in
the music too, with Victorious being dedicated
to “All the secret Tories”. Their set, as always, is
too short and just as their irresistible frenetics
kicks in, they have gone. Yak are supporting
a lot of bands lately, when they should be
headlining.
When Kane and Turner appear to a deafening
roar, we get the boldest opening gambit you
could imagine. The Beatles’ I Want You (She’s
So Heavy), not only one of the Fabs’ finest but
just a brilliant choice period, not too obvious
and perfectly suited for this band. I could walk
out of the gig happy after just this first song,
but what would be the point? The song has
previously been saved for their encore, but they
are clearly reading their audience tonight. The
bravery doesn’t diminish either, with the duo
rattling through the best of their work in the
first 20-odd minutes. We get The Age Of The
Understatement, the brilliant Aviator and the
bombastic Bad Habits. It is only as the show
progresses that we comprehend that they
have more great songs up their sleeve than
we realise, so the quality is not diminishing in
any way.
Despite their excellent new album containing
more than enough songs to satisfy, they rely
heavily on their debut album to keep the fans
happy. New songs sound more like latter-day
Arctic Monkeys than the first Puppets album,
but Kane takes the lead for pretty much most
of the gig, leaving Turner subdued. Maybe it’s
the constant chants of “Miles! Miles! Miles!”
between songs, or just the fact that he is on
his home turf, but Kane pretty much owns
the stage tonight, the usually confident Alex
Turner only taking centre stage in the encore,
which is even more interesting in light of the
Telegraph’s claims that Turner owned the stage
at the Hackney Empire during their previous
show. However, the bromance between them
is worn on their sleeves, with Turner namechecking
Kane in the melancholy The Dream
Synopsis, and opportunities to big each
other up are never wasted. The gun-slinging
Butch And Sundance act is heightened by the
continuing penchant for Scott Walker-style
Western rumbles and galloping guitars. It is
this aspect that keeps the Monkeys apart from
the Puppets.
Songs like The Chamber, My Mistakes Were
Made For You, Only The Truth and Standing
Next To Me (which we get twice) remind us of
what an incredible project that first album was
and begs the question of why it has taken eight
years for part two to arrive.
Del Pike / @del_pike
BLOSSOMS
EVOL @ O2 Academy
It’s springtime and BLOSSOMS plant their
very own seed into the Liverpool music scene,
a kernel that will only keep on growing. The
five men from Stockport return to a sticky,
adolescent crowd in the O2 academy following
their previous visit in October. Only this time
the crowd has trebled, with waves and waves
of people lining the walls to get their fix of
easily one of the hottest bands of the year.
The hot theme continues when the band
ooze confidently onto the stage and begin
with Cut Me And I’ll Bleed. The emotion of
the crowd has been boiling in anticipation of
this moment, and voices erupt at the track’s
opening bars with bodies flying everywhere in
thrall to the rhythms of keyboard player Myles
Kellock. The melodies continue into the band’s
latest release from their EP At Most A Kiss,
which gives exactly what it says. You’re left
bidolito.co.uk

The extensive
range of products
in our basement
section includes
the following:
“
At Dawsons we provide personal,
one-to-one advice and help you
find the perfect equipment to get
your production sounding great
Terry Cooper, Pro-Audio Specialist
Dawsons Music Liverpool
”
We’ll help find the perfect guitar
from our huge selection
Spread over two floors, Dawsons
Liverpool stocks a vast range of
equipment and instruments for all
musicians. As well as the leading
brands at great prices, we also
have friendly, knowledgeable staff
who will do all they can to help
you find the right equipment.
10% OFF
CABLES AND ACCESSORIES
Cut out this coupon and bring it along to our Williamson Street store to claim 10% off products in our extensive
range of cables and accessories. Please note this offer does not extend to hardware.
Dawsons Liverpool I 14-16 Williamson Street Liverpool L1 1EB
0151 709 1455 I liverpool@dawsons.co.uk
@Dawsonsmusic
Dawsonsmusic
JIMMY CARR
THE BEST OF, ULTIMATE,
GOLD, GREATEST HITS TOUR
SAT 6th AUG - SOLD OUT EXTRA DATE ADDED THU 21st JUL 8:00pm
All Tickets £29.00 (Prices include a £1.50 fee per ticket.)
NEW WHAT’S ON GUIDE OUT NOW
FEATURING DRAMA, COMEDY, MUSIC,
DANCE & FAMILY SHOWS.
0151 666 0000 floralpavilion.com

Gareth Arrowsmith
SOUND MATTERS
In this monthly column, our friends at DAWSONS give expert tips and advice on how to achieve a
great sound in the studio or in the live environment. Armed with the knowledge to solve any musical
problem, the techy aficionados provide Bido Lito! readers with the benefit of their experience so you
can get the sound you want. Here, Dawsons’ selector sergeant Harry Brown discusses what elements
to consider to get the best out of your disc-jockeying skills.
DJing has changed dramatically since the
concept first hit the mainstream alongside hip hop
in the late 1970s. The practice of beat matching
one record to another, manually changing its
speed and placement in comparison to the record
already playing, has long since become the very
least a DJ is expected to do. Carrying around boxes
and boxes of vinyl, all of which the DJ has carefully
memorised and catalogued, has become a thing
of the past. Technology has significantly reduced
the size of the profession's tools, a memory stick
being all that a DJ might need for several hours'
worth of performance today.
So, by comparison, starting out in the world of
DJing now offers many more options than it used
to in terms of gear or hardware. If you’re steering
clear of the vinyl route, there are broadly two
options when it comes to what type of DJ gear you
can choose from now: self-contained units such
as CDJs/USB players, or a laptop and controller
combination. If you already have a powerful
laptop with most of your music collection loaded
on to it, then getting a controller that comes with
advanced software such as Serato or Traktor might
be a much quicker solution to get started with.
Numark's NS7 controller is a very comprehensive
example of a software controller, with very
extended feature control and an interface vaguely
similar to using CDJs and a mixer.
If you have a CD collection or intend to DJ in clubs
that have their own equipment, it is more likely
that they will have a CDJ and mixer setup such as
Pioneer's infamous Nexus series equipment, as
this doesn't require the kind of organisation and
upkeep that a computer requires. Purchasing a set
of CDJs and a mixer is much more straightforward
and simple than preparing a computer and
software controller. It is also very accessible: all
you need is either CDs or a USB stick loaded with
music, or both.
If you're intending to try your hand at DJing and
don't want to invest a fortune to find out if it’s for
you, then most major manufacturers have entrylevel
equipment available at an affordable price.
Pioneer's SB-2 and Denon's MC2000 controllers
both come with 'light' versions of the most popular
DJ software to install on to your computer, and
feature the same basic tools that the more
expensive controllers do to help you become
familiar with the stuff the pros use.
As is always the case with any software and
controller packages, ensure your computer is
compatible, powerful enough and has enough
memory to run the software before you buy. Some
hardware manufacturers such as Native
Instruments and Pioneer also produce their own
software. Native have been producing the popular
Traktor DJ software and the hardware designed
to control it for many years. Rekordbox is a more
recent creation by Pioneer, however, and works
slightly differently – as in the case of their XDJ-RX,
the software is loaded onto the actual controller
and can be synced to your phone (hosting all your
music) wirelessly. It also profiles all your music for
you, allowing you to sort through it by BPM (beats
per minute, or speed) or by genre.
The features made available by some of the
equipment I've listed would enable even beginner
DJs to take it far beyond simply beat matching one
track into another. Most mixers offer cue buttons or
pads, enabling you to set a point during playback
of the track to which you can return instantly from
anywhere else in the track. They also allow you
to drop in and out points throughout the track
that can be set to loop from point to point. These
features are effectively a way of producing a live
remix of the track playing.
Newer products such as Native's S8 are
designed specifically to be used with elements
of a track as opposed to the complete mix, such
as a cappella vocal tracks and drum loops to
create totally new tracks in the live performance,
as opposed to pre-made mixes. The Dicer,
produced by Novation, is another inventive way
of introducing a remixing tool to your set-up,
allowing you to loop sections of different lengths
and drop back to specific points in the track.
All these products are examples of where newer
technology can help you unlock your creativity
whilst DJing, adding more exciting elements to
your mixing, at home, in the studio and live.
You can find Dawsons at their new home at
14-16 Williamson Square. dawsons.co.uk
wanting more from Blossoms’ next effort, like
you’re begging for another kiss from the pretty
girl next door. With a year until the group’s full
album release, it feels like a heart-breaking
shame to wait so long.
Smoke move the crowd sideways, with
the chilled, hallucinatory mood of lead singer
Tom Ogden taking them on a journey through
the psychedelic underworld, which is almost
reminiscent of cancelled support act The Vryll
Society. The set list at times plays to the passive
listening audience rather than the euphoric
mood set at the beginning: Getaway, a track
from their unreleased LP, sounds amazing but
is far from memorable. Their infamous Radio
1 Live Lounge session is beautifully recreated
towards the end of the set, in the cover of
RnB group WSTRN’s track In2. The band
flaunt their full talent and potential, coming
close to a show-stealing performance as the
crowd bounce to every word. Self-describing
Blossoms (Darren Aston)
themselves to MTV last month as a “pop group”,
it’s obvious to see how the band can easily
open up to a larger demographic after this
track. Blossoms don’t fail to disappoint, with
fan favourites Charlemagne and Blow rubberstamping
their advanced stage on the path to
stardom. The anthem-like status of Blow, as
the diehard fans remember from way back in
2014, has the potential to become a “Yeah, but
I liked them back then” moment if the band are
to become world famous.
It is easy to explode with excitement about
Blossoms, but it will be very interesting to
see how they transition upwards to arena
status from being an Academy band. With the
recent announcement that they are playing
Glastonbury, this could be a huge test of
whether they can become the Blur/Oasis of
this generation, or if they will linger within a
diehard, loyal sub-culture.
Steven Aston / @Gigslutz_steve

camp and furnacE
b lade factory - DISTRICT
baltic triangle, liverpool
23+24 SEPTEMBER 2016
SUPER FURRY ANIMALS.
THE HORRORS.
DEMDIKE STARE. THE STAIRS.
DUNGEN. SILVER APPLES.
CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER.
ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE. the MOONLANDINGZ.
LA HELL GANG. POP.1280. SINGAPORE SLING.
THE OSCILLATION. JOSEFIN ÖHRN & THE LIBERATION.
ULTIMATE PAINTING. THE LUCID DREAM.
EARTHEATER. GNOOMES. ACID WASHED.
GUADALUPE PLATA. FLAMINGODS. FLAVOR CRYSTALS.
GURUGURU BRAIN PRESENTS:
NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP MIND FEATURING:
KIKAGAKU MOYO + MINAMI DEUTSCH
+ NAWKSH + PRAIRIE WWWW
10 000 RUSSOs. ASHTRAY NAVIGATIONS. BABA NAGA.
CAIROBI. CELLAR DOORS. CHUCK JOHNSON.
COOL GHOULS. GO!ZILLA. HELICON. HOWES.
MDME SPKR. PURE JOY. RATS ON RAFTS.
SILVER WAVES. SPECTRES. TAMAN SHUD.
TOMAGA. TREMENTINA. vanishing twin.
WOODEN INDIAN BURIAL GROUND. YE NUNS.
Plus, a further heavy terrain of
analogue fuzz and subterranean gloop,
digi-grit noize makers and kaleidoscopic
adventurers - in virtual and actual
realities - all to be announced...
JOIN THE PZYK COLONY.
TICKETS + ACCOMMODAITON PACKAGES AVAILABLE FROM SEETICKETS.COM
PROBE RECORDS (LIVERPOOL) + PICCADILLY RECORDS (MANCHESTER)
+ JUMBO RECORDS (LEEDS)

Credit
DIGGING A LITTLE DEEPER
with Listen & Learn with Howard & Rob
We’ve always got one ear cocked for some sharp new tunes and interesting selections, and our
latest fascination is the weekly podcast/radio show from LISTEN & LEARN. Hosted by the loveable
rogues Howard and Rob, Listen & Learn is a two-hour musical divergence of the best kind, taking
us deep inside the minds of the two madcap hosts. It’s the internet’s finest pirate radio station.
Ranging from fondly-remembered gems with fascinating back stories to modern discoveries –
and chucking in Rob’s penchant for Queen and Howard’s lurid (if slightly fanciful) tales alongside
them – Listen & Learn is brilliantly eclectic way to spend a couple of hours. Here, the two hosts
have picked out some of their favourite tracks from their transmissions to date – and over at
bidolito.co.uk, we’re streaming the latest episode. Go on, it’s good for your ears.
WHITE EYES
It’s for you
Rob: I’m fascinated by the recent trend of small labels reissuing
artists and tracks who were nothing more than swallowed up by their
contemporary sonic neighbours and have consequently never been
heard before now. We have a segment on the show called ‘Midnight at
the Lost and Found’ where we showcase such treasures. WHITE EYES
are a stunning example: recording a 1969 demo for a record deal that never materialised, the
tape was eventually given a release by “lost and found” specialists Numero Group in 2015. It’s
For You is a mind-blowing cover of a Lennon/McCartney composition that the lads gave away to
Cilla Black. This version, however, veers off-road with an extended mix of RnB, psych, soul, and
60s garage deviances.
THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
Bell Bottoms
Howard: 22 years ago an album called Orange came out by THE JON
SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION and it blew my mind. It was the most
authentic rock ‘n’ roll I’d heard in a very long time. My track, Bellbottoms,
opens the album and Elvis has re-entered the building There's a sense of
hysteria, punk, blues, screams, and Jon Spencer's slack-jawed, confident
delivery is a roundhouse kick to the chest. It pulled me in, my heart beat fast, I wore the varnish
off my floorboards, I just couldn't stop dancing. Rock ‘n’ roll once more had a sense of purpose.
ATA KAK
Medofo
Rob: We all have access to an overwhelming spectrum of music and
accompanying information that we can delve into and pore over
whenever we want. Anything from the White Eyes example above or, as is
the case here, a long-forgotten 90s rap tape from Ghana. This infectious
African rap, or highlife, is like nothing I’ve ever heard before: catchy,
playful, nostalgic, and exotic. It was unearthed by ethnomusicology
student Brian Shimkovitz, who posted it on his now hugely popular blog Awesome Tapes From
Africa, which is also now a record label releasing such curios. I can’t wait to catch his DJ set at
Kitchen Street in May!
BAUHAUS
Bela Lugosi’s Dead
Howard: This was a real turning point for me. It’s nearly 10 minutes long
and was recorded in one take. It came out in late ‘79, so it's Goth song
patient zero. Pete Murphy's monotone ushers in the dark new world…
“White on white translucent black capes, back on the rack”. And I am
goth. At Leeds Warehouse and Le Phonographique, as Bela Lugosi's Dead
came on, The Dead came alive. We wore winkle-picker Cuban-heeled boots, we back-combed our
crimped-up hair, and we danced the chicken dance. We were Goth and Pete Murphy spoke to us all.
Head to bidolito.co.uk now to listen to the latest Listen & Learn podcast, which features Bido Editor
Christopher Torpey taking on Howard & Rob’s fiendish quiz. You’ll also be able to find regular shows
on bidolito.co.uk in the coming months.
listenandlearnradio.com
THE FINAL SAY
Words: Amy Roberts
Each month we hand over the responsibility of having the final say to a guest columnist. This
issue, we’re delighted to have Amy Roberts – writer, musician and co-editor of the blog Clarissa
Explains Fuck All – contributing some of her thoughts on the imbalance of gender representation
in the music industry.
I keep having the same argument over and over As such, I regularly find myself speaking with
again: people question why it is that women aren’t women who would love to be in a band but who
more involved in music, why there are so few just don’t know where to start. Women who like
women playing instruments on stage and why the thought of being a guitarist but who lack the
there are so few in bands. It’s 2016 and people still confidence to even pick up a guitar and learn how
seem to be under the impression that women just to play it, never mind perform live with one. These
happen to like it this way, as if an XY chromosome sorts of inherent insecurities are reinforced in
can be directly connected to an inherent impulse women from an early age and we do girls no favours
to be a voyeur rather than a participant.
by continuously connecting female musicianship
Which, let’s be clear, is absolute hogwash, and to sensual performativity, or degrading female
even the people raising such simplistic nonsense talent by reducing them to a centrefold rather than
in their groundbreaking appraisals of gender and a fascinating interview subject.
music know that to be true, but it’s also a much As a result, there’s a very real apprehension that
easier conclusion to come to than the complexities can come with being the only woman trying to play
of what’s really happening.
music in a room full of men: it’s intimidating, for
To anyone with their eyes and ears open, the sure, and it can be nerve-wracking as hell. You feel
truth is harrowingly and blatantly obvious: the the need to constantly prove yourself and your
lack of female representation in music creates right to be there in a way that I’ve never witnessed
a perpetuating cycle wherein women don’t see my male musician friends face (even, bless their
themselves on stage and so don’t feel as though hearts, the truly terrible ones).
they belong up there, either. You can’t be what you There are female-oriented music festivals,
can’t see, after all, and that lack of visibility fails to which are crucial for celebrating women in music
provide women with the role models they require and for inspiring women to make music, too (such
to think, “Hey, maybe I could do that, too”.
as Ladyfest or Equal Fest), as well as international
People are always quick to scoff at this theory, movements such as the Girls Rock Camp Alliance,
as if the female musicians that we currently have which gives girls the instruments, spaces, mentors
completely owning their place within music should and support system possible to build self-esteem
be enough for a whole generation of women to take and to discover their own unique voices – all of
inspiration from, or that these women are somehow which are crucial in developing a progressive
proof that there isn’t actually much of a problem at environment for young girls and grown women
all. But there is a big problem, because the scales to feel confident and capable within. But there
are still completely uneven and, in order to make needs to be more done and it has to start at a local
women feel confident, comfortable and capable level, where all creativity can either be nurtured or
enough to become musicians themselves, then dulled; we need promoters to commit to gig lineups
where at least one of the bands has a woman
women need to be the norm and not the novelty.
After all, there’s nothing encouraging to female involved and we need practice rooms that aren’t
musicians or to female audience members stamped with territorial sexist graffiti in order
about an entire music festival only showcasing for women to not feel completely crushed when
a mere handful of women on stage, and that’s a they use them. Encourage your female friends to
repeated problem across many mainstream and sing, learn bass, smash drums or just jam it out
independent festivals within numerous genres of every now and then, and give them the sense of
music.
confident belonging that they deserve, because if
Our culture portrays a distorted image of female women can’t see the change, then they can’t be
musicians with a sense of passivity, as if music is the change, either.
less of an action and more of a look, maintaining
that archaic adage that girls should be seen and Amy Roberts is one of the panellists at our event You
not heard, which is dangerously disempowering Can’t Be What You Can’t See: (Miss)Representation
for the female creative. Is it so hard to fathom that In The Music Media, which takes place on Thursday
a female musician might not feel too confident 19th May at the Everyman Bistro as part of Writing
stepping on stage for the first time when she’s on the Wall Festival. Tickets are available now.
been brought up to value her talents in such a way? clarissaexplainsfuckall.com

Feel
the
Universe
Ryoichi Kurokawa, unfold
Exhibition at FACT until 15 June
Tuesday - Sunday, 11am - 6pm / FREE
Ryoichi Kurokawa, unfold, 2015. Photo by Brian Slater
Kurokawa Advert 2 2016.indd 1 11/04/2016 15:30

LIVERPOOL WATERS BRAMLEY-MOORE DOCK
SOUND CITY
MAY 28 & 29 • 2016 • LIVERPOOL
SAT 28 MAY
SUN 29 MAY
GEORGIA • VIOLA BEACH*
KYKO • SUGARMEN
NORMA JEAN MARTINE • DEAD BUTTONS
COLONEL MUSTARD & THE DIJON 5
NEON WALTZ • INHEAVEN • C DUNCAN
THE ANCHORESS • TEMENIK ELECTRIC
NOVELIST • LEVELZ
SERAMIC • MEZ
BLICK BASSY • XAMVOLO
1EYE • JUDAS • FALSE ADVERTISING
DILLY DALLY • THE BIG MOON
KAGOULE • HOLY ESQUE • POSTAAL • CROWS
BARBAGALLO • TRUDY • HORSEBEACH
THE NIGHT CAFE • SKY VALLEY MISTRESS
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
ÂME LIVE
DJ KOZE
FLOATING POINTS LIVE
GREG WILSON
MANO LE TOUGH
MOUNT KIMBIE DJ SET
FREEZE RESIDENTS
DEREK KAYE
THE
TALL SHIP
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
BALTIC WAREHOUSE
DJ SET
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
GERD JANSON
HENRIK SCHWARZ LIVE
JOHN TALABOT
MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE
ROMAN FLÜGEL
+ MORE TBA
FREEZE RESIDENTS
JEMMY • MAKES NO SENSE
DTSQ
FOXTROTT
KOALA VOICE
LA FOSTER
LAYBRICKS
LEYYA
PATIENTS
57
WAKE ISLAND
WE ARE THE NIGHT
BLUE SAINT • BOO SEEKA
DEADBEAR • FIZZY BLOOD
GALLERY CIRCUS • I SET THE SEA ON FIRE
JOHNNY SANDS • LAS AVES
LITTLE TRIGGERS • LOCK •
MISERABLE FAITH • O CAPTAIN
OH THE GUILT • PIT PONIES
ROPOPOROSE • SHE DREW THE GUN
THE SPOOK SCHOOL
THE BULLETPROOF BOMB
THE LOTTERY WINNERS • THE STAMP
TOM LOW
ATLAS WYND • BARRON
BRIDGES • CASTLES
CAVALRY • CONNAH EVANS
FERAL LOVE • FLEUR DE LYS
IRENE & THE DISAPPOINTMENTS
PINK KINK • RED RUM CLUB
SHRINKING MINDS
SOMERVILLE • STORME
VIOLET SKIES
WEEKEND WARS
WE’RE NO HEROES
YOUTH HOSTEL
BEAR GROWLS
BEDS IN PARKS
BLUE PRINT BLUE
BOWIE DISCO
CABBAGE
DOCUMENTA
HOT VESTRY
RIDING THE LOW
TEAR • THE G.O.D.
THE PHEROMOANS
THE TINUN’S
YUCATAN
IN CONVERSATION WITH HOSTED BY JOHN KENNEDY & DAVE HASLAM
PADDY CONSIDINE • ROISIN MURPHY • ALEXEI SAYLE • CIRCA WAVES • SLEAFORD MODS + MORE TBA
LIMITED SINGLE DAY & WEEKEND FESTIVAL TICKETS
ON SALE NOW
LIVERPOOLSOUNDCITY.CO.UK
*A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO THE BAND AND THEIR MANAGER