Issue 48 / September 2014

good) doesn’t provide. Even when LÅPSLEY takes
to the stage to provide live vocals, it still all
remains a touch constrained and neutered. The
challenge here is to translate these prodigious
young talents into a great live spectacle.
A host of well-known names keep the music
flowing between stages, with the likes of NICK
POWER, REVO ZIGANDA of EVOL, HARVEST SUN
and BIDO LITO! taking control of the DJ reins
throughout the day. A cake stand raising money
for The Open Door Centre – the Wirral-based
mental health charity behind today’s festival –
is readily available to provide for the inevitable
beer and music munchies, and highlights the
festival’s engagement with a cause that makes
it feel all the more like a worthy day out.
By now we’re in the home stretch, and the
performances become more accomplished and
that bit slicker. BILL RYDER-JONES knows, and
indeed shows, that attention-grabbing shows
aren’t all about wall-shaking ferocity, gliding
through his piano-based set here with aplomb.
It’s occasionally an effort to strain your ears
to catch the full depth of these songs, but it’s
worth the effort: Ryder-Jones’ breathy delivery
of his delicate tracks (mostly taken tonight from
the LP A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart) forces you
to pay closer attention to them, and unearths
the true majesty in his songwriting.
BIRD are, forgive the pun, flying high at
present, and for those who are seeing the band
for the first time tonight it would seem like it’s
ever been thus. The alchemy that they’ve found
on their debut album is on show in spades here
– no longer floaty, but weighty, and undulating
around a daring beat – but it’s taken some time
to refine. If they can continue to streamline
their output (which is basically a deliciously
Gothic Warpaint vibe) then albums two and
three will be serious prospects.
The influence of the night’s headliners THE
TEA STREET BAND is beginning to show as the
crowd thickens, so there’s some battling to
be done to get to the front of the crowd to
witness WE ARE CATCHERS’ first live outing,
and I’m glad I got my elbows out. Peter
Jackson leads the show on piano, alongside
percussion and some spidery electric guitar
work, but, much like his mentor Bill Ryder-
Jones, the songs revolve primarily around
Jackson’s lamenting delivery: Water’s Edge
and If You Decide see eyes screwed tight as if
blinking back the sting of tears (his or ours?).
If Brian Wilson was born on the banks of the
grey Mersey rather than the sun-kissed Pacific,
this is probably how he’d sound.
There’s just enough time to see the
collision of Mazes and Parquet Courts that is
a TEMPLE SONGS live set, before we all drift
in to the main room for Tea Street Band to
round things off. From the back of the room
it seems as though the rolls of dry ice are
being held aloft by the crowd, who have lost
themselves in their own personal moment of
bliss. And what a day of moments it’s been
down on the water’s edge. Is New Brighton
the new Brighton? I hope we don’t have to
wait another 12 months to find out.
Hannah McEvoy, Can Brannan and Dirk Hebel
THE TWILIGHT SAD
Strange Collective
I Love Live Events @ East Village Arts Club
When THE TWILIGHT SAD released their debut
album Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters in
2007, it was met with much critical acclaim and
quickly gained popularity in the underground
music world. Their next two records were
greeted with similar good will, but the first
effort remained somewhat of a glittering
gem. On this, their most recent tour, they have
been performing the record in its entirety
to appreciative audiences. Judging from the
abundance of dyed-black hair and bowl-cuts at
tonight's show, this evening promises to satisfy,
and to start things off STRANGE COLLECTIVE take
to the stage.
Fresh off the back of a series of highly
successful support shows – particularly, an
impressive display at this year's Sound City
– Strange Collective seem to be riding on the
crest of a momentous wave at the moment. The
energy that they pour into every performance
is quite staggering, and this is entertaining
enough a spectacle, but the musical quality is
also there to back it up. Still without available
recorded material, the group rely solely on their
live outings to spread their message, and that
message appears to be getting through to their
audience. With another blistering performance
under their belt, a predictably raucous and
dissonant finale, it is clear that this band are
moving from strength to strength and, although
the mystique of a purely live act is tempting
to maintain, it would be nice to hear some
recordings soon.
On the subject of live reputation, the
headliners are no strangers to sterling stagelit
expectancy. Their shows have been touted
as ear-splitting and memorable but, as The
Twilight Sad launch into first track Cold Days
From The Birdhouse, the volume is actually
fairly palatable. Anyone who was expecting an
MBV-style, tinnitus-inducing-head-fuck may be
slightly disappointed, but this does nothing to
detract from the show itself. Often regarded by
critics as "perennially sad", the band are actually
in high spirits, and between their discordant
wails of lament vocalist James Graham
indulges in light conversation with the crowd.
A comment that has been frequently made is
that their live shows differ greatly from the way
the songs sound on record, and though this can
never really be a bad thing, it is noticeable that
for this tour the band do seem to have stripped
the sound slightly, to emphasise the songs and
lyrical content.
The crowd, many of whom are wearing