Issue 47 / August 2014

28
Bido Lito! August 2014
Reviews
subside, festival-goers are treated to a tranquil
evening of silent film, with live soundtracks
from several acts. PADDY STEER is always a
firm favourite at any show, and tonight is no
different. His intense and inventive performance
utilises homemade analogue synthesizers and
fanatical drumming. If Aardvark were Satan's
computer, then Paddy Steer is God's synth, and
his barely-held-together instrumentation is a
perfect way to end this festival.
These hugely enjoyable three days have
provided a timely reminder of the importance
of places such as MelloMello to the artistic
community in Liverpool. Though in a few
months the doors will close on the Parr Street
premises, a new incarnation in a new space
awaits, and it is not so much the building as
the spirit of Mello that is worth preserving. For
a good underground music scene to flourish
in the city, these are the kind of independent
businesses that need the community's
support, and so it is really pleasing to see the
big turnout for Mellostock II. Cheers Mello, it’s
been a blast.
Alastair Dunn
PAUL WELLER
East Village Arts Club
Lee Ranaldo, is bellowed back to the stage.
If there is a difference between this band
and the one that supported the likes of The
Others many NME fads ago, it is perhaps in the
assured posturing of guitarist Gary Jarman. He
perhaps lets down the persona by excitedly
declaring his hair is at “the longest it’s ever
been” but such uncool admissions are fine
amongst relationships as strong as this.
Sam Turner / @samturner1984
MELLOSTOCK II
MelloMello
Liverpool is nothing if not a creative city,
and for many years now MelloMello has been
one of the best independent institutions
supporting that creativity. Putting on bands
and displays of art has come as naturally as
the superlative vegetarian food they serve, and
so MELLOSTOCK II is in some ways a sad affair
in that it is a farewell to one of the city's most
appreciated venues. However, Mello will not
be disappearing completely, as they plan to
move to a new building next year, and rather
than scurry away into the shadows they have
decided to put on a show to say goodbye to
their current abode.
With a stage for bands upstairs and a DJ
dungeon in the basement, the three-day
festival promises to be a diverse display, and
it certainly is. There is a host of great bands
during the first day, the highlight of which has
to be SEAWITCHES, who use this opportunity
to debut their new line-up. Now a four-piece,
they saunter through a set of hooky vocals
and persistent basslines, all inflected with a
Warpaint-esque tone.
Saturday night continues the theme of
playing host to regular Mello residents and
collaborators when LONG FINGER BANDITS
take to the stage. With at least eight members,
it is reassuring to notice several familiar faces
from other local bands coming together, and
the performance is both organic and tight. The
songs concern shopping, feminism and being
horny – all commendable topics when mixed
with a solid horn section and frenetic energy.
It is a very entertaining way to spend half an
hour, and seems in keeping with the Mello
vibe.
Upstairs is not the only place to be, however,
and in the basement there are two rooms
which are equally deserving of attention.
Down the stairs, next to the toilets, is a small
alcove that for tonight's purposes has become
AARDVARK'S COAL DROP RAVE CAVE, which is as
ridiculous and brilliant as it sounds. With four
electronic musicians improvising alongside
each other for several hours at a time, a
trip inside the rave cave sounds a bit like
wandering around the circuit boards of Satan’s
own terrifying, malfunctioning computer. This
is definitely a good thing, and if you can't
handle it for long then a trip next door to the
studio for the DEEP HEDONIA/UPITUP RECORDS
mash-up should set you straight.
Paul Weller (Ray Kilpatrick)
Back upstairs ARKALEPSY are in full flow,
demonstrating their unique and impressive
take on funk music. They sound almost like a
cross between James Brown and Joy Division, a
combination I think we should all get on board
with. Their blaring horns and descending vocal
lines offer a bit of aural refreshment after the
chaos in the basement, and is a nice reminder
of the often-dichotomous musical community
that Liverpool, and indeed MelloMello, fosters.
The third and final day of Mellostock II begins
with some free vegetarian tapas and cocktails.
As the now pretty ingrained hangover begins to
Held to raise the profile of drummer Steve
Pilgrim’s co-founded charity Be One Percent,
the gig tonight in East Village Arts Club is,
by PAUL WELLER's standards, roughly a tenth
of the size of venues he usually plays. After
a recent show at legendary punk mecca
Dingwalls, his first at the venue since the days
of The Jam, spaces where the back of the room
is visible from the stage seem to be on the
singer’s mind of late.
With no support act, The Modfather’s
appearance onstage at 8pm sharp wrong-foots
many of the audience as the club swells to
sardines capacity within minutes of the doors
opening. After much milling around in the
corridor and wandering back and forth to the
club’s main bar, the balcony is pressed into
service. Despite being capacious enough, the
heat in the low-ceilinged space is comparable
to attending an evening’s soirée in the jungles
of Borneo where the dress code requires a boiler
suit. One beneficial side effect, however, is that
it becomes near impossible to do anything
other than simply watch the man onstage.
With More Modern Classics, the second dustoff
of Weller’s solo career recently issued, the
set understandably focuses on Weller’s postmillennium
purple patch. Putting theories
about musicians’ entry into middle age leading
to inevitable artistic decline to the sword,
recent album troika 22 Dreams, Wake Up The
Nation and Sonik Kicks has received the best
critical notices of Weller’s career thus far.
Setting the pace with energised renditions
of Wake Up The Nation, From The Floorboards
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