Issue 4 / September 2010

28
Bido Lito! September 2010
Reviews
MISERY GUTS
Steve Pilgrim – The Big House feat.
Candie Payne
St. Brides Church
St. Brides’ reputation as Liverpool’s
forward-thinking church has been
cemented of late by a string of
credible gigs that showcase the city’s
most notable nu-folk talent, with this
particular line-up heralding something
special. It must be said that entering
the hall to the sight of a full band setup
beneath the building’s stunning
stained glass window, then joining
the smattering of punters who had
arrived as unnecessarily early as I had,
and resting our cans of Export on the
pew shelves, created a strange, solemn
atmosphere to which we heathens
aren’t usually susceptible. St. Brides, we
all agreed, is certainly a strange one.
The Big House (Sian Lloyd)
As the daylight began to fade and
THE BIG HOUSE came to the stage,
the hall began to breathe with the
wonderful, summer-evening energy
that has made the venue a success.
The Big House is the name of the new
collaboration between muso darling
CANDIE PAYNE (Vocals) and ex-Zuton
Paul Molloy (Guitar, Vocals). Between
them they create timeless, nostalgic
slices of Americana, some nothing
more than brief acoustic sketches,
but that work towards a set made up
of moments of fleeting beauty. The
appeal to these songs is that they
recall something familiar, yet never
feel derivative: the fabulous Pebble
Lane, for example, employs bass notes
that I feel I should be able to place
(surely not Bill Withers?!), and the
song has now slotted nicely into my
subconscious. With the pair intending
to expand and recruit a full band, they
are certainly an act to keep an eye on.
“I have a confession to make. I’m
a consumer. I’m a capitalist; you can
buy my CD at the back. But I don’t
like that I am. I don’t like that the
world’s like that,” was the baffling
opening sentiment of local favourite
STEVE PILGRIM, before he burst into
the crowd-pleasing Post-Thatcher
Consumer Market Blues. Pilgrim, an
accomplished drummer who currently
tours with Paul Weller, knows how
to parody Liverpudlian sensibilities,
while remaining firmly one of us. The
song itself is a feverish, vitriolic snarl
rather than a melody, which raised
smiles, but was a rough contrast to
the gorgeous Explode the Sun, which
received the warmest reception from
his swollen fan base, shifting between
the luscious and the rebellious
He set the scene for MISERY GUTS,
a comparatively new four-piece whose
latest EP, More Human Than Human,
featuring the unforgettable anthem
I NO U NO, has placed them among
Liverpool’s new folk elite. The band
played in semi-darkness, lit only by
the harsh, awkwardly positioned and
oversized stage lights, and, in many
ways, Misery Guts are a twilight
band. On record, their music occupies
the same space as Fleet Foxes, all
polished production and delicate
arrangements; however, it is on stage
before an audience where Misery
Guts show their pedigree - tight and
intricate across a changing line-up of
instruments from the glockenspiel
to the mandolin, and with an evercaptivating
set list. Their last single, the
scuttling, paranoid stomper Spiders,
was undoubtedly the highlight,
recalling the early Coral at their most
self-assured, sinister and strange.
Sam Andruskir
KENDAL CALLING
Lowther Deer Park, Cumbria
Returning late Sunday night to a car
that has been unwittingly unlocked for
the entire weekend in the vast rolling
expanses of the festival car park to
find not one item pick-pocketed nor
pilfered nor any vehicle upholstery
out of place sums up the amiable
atmosphere at KENDAL CALLING to a
tee.
After surprising ourselves by
pitching our tent with scouts honour
ease, the first act we catch is THE LUCID
DREAM, playing an early evening set
at the Calling Out stage. Contrary to
its name, it’s not a simply a stage
but a tent styled as a circus big top
which over the course of the weekend
hosts the highest concentration of
Merseyside born and based artists
with four of Liverpool and the Wirral
Peninsula’s finest gracing the stage.
Though The Lucid Dream themselves
call Carlisle their home, their pulsating
first single I Got The Devil deems them
worthy of Bido Lito! mention, with
frontman Mark Emmerson mercilessly
screaming and howling his lyrics
whilst brandishing an irregular, Ian
Curtis-esque, pentagon-shaped guitar,
it’s the highlight of a distinctive set.
On learning that the guitarist of the
next band to play the CO stage shares
his name with the late Godfather of
Soul, I prepare myself for a lifetime of
telling everyone that I have seen James
Brown live. Not the James Brown, but
they don’t have to know that. PULLED
APART BY HORSES’ performance sees
Brown and lead singer Tom Hudson
charging around the stage with little
regard of fellow bandmates though
drummer Lee Vincent doesn’t seem
the type to care, effortlessly pounding
away, his bare torso sporting a
mighty array of tattoos. You begin
to feel sorry for bassist Robert Lee
who seems shy and unassuming
compared to his bolshy bandmates.
Or maybe not. Halfway through the
set Lee perilously climbs the rafters
whilst Brown perches himself on top
of the speakers much to the dismay of
crowd control who exchange nervous
glances before Hudson leaps into the
crowd, the poor security men opting
to occupy themselves attempting to
retrieve him rather than disturbing
Brown and Lee who seem pretty
content with the heights they’ve
reached.
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