Issue 86 / March 2018

ISSUE 86 / MARCH 2018
NEW MUSIC + CREATIVE CULTURE
LIVERPOOL
ELEANOR NELLY / BREAKWAVE
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
JORJA SMITH / GARY NUMAN

Sat 3rd Feb • £12 adv
Cash: A Tribute To
The Man In Black
Sun 4th Feb • £18 adv
Rend Collective
Tue 6th Feb • £18.50 adv
Hayseed Dixie
+ Emma McGrath
Fri 9th Feb • £18.50 adv
Alestorm: Piratefest
2018
Mon 12th Feb • £30 adv
Natalie Imbruglia
Fri 16th Feb • £16 adv
British Sea Power
Sun 18th Feb • £17.50 adv
Max & Harvey
Mon19th Feb • SOLD OUT
Dappy
Tue 20th Feb • £8 adv
High Tyde
Fri 23rd Feb • £13 adv
Key West
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Scott Bradlee’s
Post Modern Jukebox
Sat 24th Feb • £11 adv
Nearly Noel Gallagher’s
High Flyin’ Birdz
Mon 26th Feb • SOLD OUT
Fredo
Wed 28th Feb • £14 adv
Electric Six
Tue 6th Mar • £27.50 adv
The Stranglers
Wed 7th Mar • £23.50 adv
The Wailers
Thu 8th Mar • £20 adv
Mr Eazi’s Life
Is Eazi UK Tour
Sat 10th Mar • £13.50 adv
The Clone Roses &
The Courtbetweeners
Wed 21st Mar • £12 adv
Fickle Friends
Sat 24th Mar • £15 adv
AC/DC UK
& Dizzy Lizzy
ticketmaster.co.uk
o2academyliverpool.co.uk
11-13 Hotham Street, Liverpool L3 5UF
Doors 7pm unless stated
Sat 24th Mar • £29.50 adv
Gary Numan
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Thu 29th Mar • £30 adv
The Wonder Stuff
& Ned’s Atomic Dustbin
Love From Stourbridge
+ DJ Graham Crabb (PWEI)
Fri 6th Apr • £22.50 adv
3 Generations of Ska
with Stranger Cole,
Neville Staples Band,
Sugary Staple
Sat 7th Apr • £18.50 adv
Showhawk Duo Live
Sat 7th Apr • £13 adv
The Smyths
Unite & Take Over Tour 2018
Sat 14th Apr • £17.50 adv
Aston Merrygold
Sat 14th Apr • £14 adv
The Amy Winehouse
Experience ...A.K.A
Lioness
Sat 21st Apr • £11 adv
The Verve Experience
Mon 7th May • £27.50 adv
Gomez
Thu 17th May • £10 adv
Tragedy: All Metal
Tribute To The Bee Gees
& Beyond
Sat 26th May • £15 adv
Deep Purple
Family Tree
Fri 1st Jun • £18 adv
The Beat starring
Dave Wakeling
Sat 2nd Jun • £22.50 adv
Nick Heyward
Sat 23rd Jun • £22.50 adv
The Skids
Sat 6th Oct • £12.50 adv
Definitely Mightbe
Fri 12th Oct • £13.50 adv
Elvana: Elvis
Fronted Nirvana
Sat 10th Nov • £12 adv
Antarctic Monkeys
Sat 24th Nov • £15 adv
Pearl Jam UK
Venue box office opening hours:
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BACK TO OUR ROOTS BACK TO THE HEART OF THE CITY
5TH - 6TH MAY • LIVERPOOL BALTIC TRIANGLE
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What’s On
Liverpool Philharmonic
March – May
Sunday 4 March 8pm
Music Room
STICK IN THE WHEEL
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Saturday 24 March 7.30pm
BETH NIELSEN CHAPMAN
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Thursday 12 April 8pm
Music Room
TALISK
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Monday 23 April 7.30pm
Film
12A
THE MERCY
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Thursday 17 May 8pm
NILS LOFGREN
–
Sunday 20 May 7.30pm
Writing on the Wall
THE LIFE AND RHYMES OF
BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH
Box Office
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0151 709 3789
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CONTENTS
New Music + Creative Culture
Liverpool
Issue 86 / March 2018
bidolito.co.uk
Second Floor
The Merchant
40-42 Slater Street
Liverpool L1 4BX
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
Assistant Editor
Bethany Garrett - editorial@bidolito.co.uk
Reviews Editor
Jonny Winship - live@bidolito.co.uk
Design
Mark McKellier - mark@andmark.co.uk
Branding
Thom Isom - hello@thomisom.com
Student Society Co-Chairs
Daisy Scott - daisy@bidolito.co.uk
Sophie Shields - sophie@bidolito.co.uk
Intern
Maya Jones
Cover Photography
Lauren Jade Keir
Words
Christopher Torpey, Maya Jones, Jessica Greenall,
Nick Booton, Damon Fairclough, James Davidson,
Ian R Abraham, Bethany Garrett, Sam Turner, Sophie
Shields, Richard Lewis, Daisy Scott, Jonny Winship,
Sinéad Nunes, Cath Bore, Glyn Akroyd, Paul Fitzgerald,
Joe Hale, Sophie Brereton, Georgia Turnbull, Conal
Cunningham, Alison McGovern.
Photography, Illustration and Layout
Mark McKellier, Lauren Jade Keir, Adam Szabo, Paul
McCoy, Mook Loxley, Brian Roberts, John Johnson, Tom
Wood, Glyn Akroyd, Stuart Moulding, Day Howarth,
Darren Aston, Gareth Jones, Jerry Kiesewetter.
Distributed by Middle Distance
Print, distribution and events support across
Merseyside and the North West.
middledistance.org.uk
9 / EDITORIAL
Editor Christopher Torpey praises those giving
voice to the working class at a time when our
notions of class structures are more fractured
than ever.
10 / NEWS
The latest announcements, releases and nonfake
news from around the region.
12 / ELEANOR NELLY
Her name may already be familiar to Merseyside
music lovers, but ELEANOR NELLY’s journey to
stardom is just getting started.
16 / ROY LICHTENSTEIN
We invite artist and designer Nick Booton to
give his verdict of the pop art maestro, whose
iconic work is showing now in a major exhibition
at Tate Liverpool.
18 / BREAKWAVE
Promoter, producer, tastemaker and DJ: Jessica
Beaumont is using her music to open up space
for innovative new artists and venues.
20 / IN GOOD COMPANY
After a successful return in 2017, The
Everyman’s in-house repertory company look
set for another busy year in 2018. Two of the
theatres’ directors explain to us why they’re
once again going back to the future.
22 / YEP TO REP
As part of their desire to develop their own
homegrown rep company, the Everyman And
Playhouse are investing in some of stage and
screen’s future talents.
24 / THE EDGE OF FANTASY
In a world full of noise, contemporary orchestral
troupe MANCHESTER COLLECTIVE are making
a case for music. Will you be moved by their
intensely human experiences?
26 / GARY NUMAN
The electronic music pioneer has endured
some ups and downs across his 40-year career
in music, and is relishing his latest return to
Liverpool to reconnect with his devoted fanbase.
32 / SPOTLIGHT
We take a closer look at some artists who’ve
been impressing us of late: God On My Right,
Esme Bridie and Wild Fruit Art Collective.
34 / FIELD MUSIC
Over the course of seven albums, Sunderland
brothers David and Peter Brewis have quietly
gone about their business as one of the most
critically admired bands in the UK.
35 / PREVIEWS
Looking ahead to a busy March in Merseyside’s
creative and cultural community.
40 / REVIEWS
Born In Flames, Nadine Shah, Ezra Furman and
Nightmares On Wax reviewed by our team of
intrepid reporters.
54 / THE FINAL SAY
On the centenary of women in the UK being
given the right to vote for the first time, MP
for Wirral South Alison McGovern hails the
progress made, and reflects on the continuing
battle for universal acceptance.
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.

“I had
forgotten
that music
could make
you feel like
that.”
MANCHESTER COLLECTIVE
OLIVER COATES
DANIEL ELMS
VESSEL
100 DEMONS
£18/£5
MARCH 2
DOORS 7PM
INVISIBLE WIND FACTORY
manchestercollective.co.uk

EDITORIAL
This Is England
“If we’re to get away
from a fetishised
view of our class
structures, we need
to hear a wider
variety of voices”
Michael Parkinson’s TV interviews were often a sign of a
boring Saturday night in when I was growing up, a brief
period of televisual purgatory before Match Of The Day
came on. Though obviously a master of the one-onone
interview, Parky’s technique in teasing out stories from some of
the world’s A-listers (and Billy Connolly, every other bloody week,
seemingly) wasn’t so complicated that it couldn’t be deciphered by
a teenager with even a passing interest. After warming up his guest
with a jovial exchange and a chance to plug their latest vehicle, the
Yorkshire maestro would make his move. Hitching up his trouser legs
to reveal the tops of his socks, Parky would fold his arms and lean
back in his chair as he exhaled, half-conspiratorially, half with the air
of a challenge: “Now, you had a very difficult childhood…”
At first it was amusing how regularly this template was used
as a gateway to more serious territory, a clear signal that we were
transitioning from light-hearted mischief to deep and meaningful
discourse. And then it became kind of weird how similar the ensuing
stories were: a tough upbringing, strong parents, hard work.
Basically, Parky was giving our untouchable celebs a chance to talk
up their humble origins, a free hit. ‘Life wasn’t easy in that smalltown
rat race – but, underneath all this make up, I’m just like you,
y’know?’
Now, I’m under no illusion that these personal stories are
precisely what we want to hear in these circumstances – the
universal struggle, striving to overcome adversity. It’s also part of our
own fascination with the rich and famous. We all want to feel some
sort of connection with celebrities, on a human level; but we’re wary
of them spending too much time telling us that they’re just ‘normal
people’ – like us – for fear of them ruining our view that their status
is something to aspire to. When the stars of film and TV hit the red
carpets during awards season, this relationship becomes even more
finely balanced. Not only are these stars expected to look immaculate
in designer clothes, but their speeches need to show us that they’re
in touch with the issues of the ‘common man’. There’s no better
compliment we can find for a performer, while holding aloft their
award – an award they’ve been given for their talent – than to say
that they’re ‘down to earth’. Just like one of us.
This, I believe, points to a murky little thought festering in our
collective psyche that we still haven’t quite squared ourselves with
– that there’s something noble about being at the of bottom of the
ladder looking up. It’s a sign of our inverted view of social mobility
that the wealth and fame that comes with achieving success makes
us feel a bit uncomfortable, meaning that those that do manage to
climb a few rungs – get a better job, buy a bigger house – spend an
inordinate amount of time talking up their working-class credentials.
It’s part of the reason why certain sections of society scoff at
millennials and their privileges. There’s a snooty view that you can’t
live comfortably and afford things like cars, holidays and a university
education, and not be working class. More often than not, those that
come in for most ire are the children of people who have worked
their whole lives to create a comfortable existence – and when they
try to relate to their working class background, they’re criticised of
virtue signalling and playing down their entitlement.
And still there is even more hypocrisy at play. For every person
who identifies with their working class roots, there is someone ready
and waiting to paint those at the bottom of the societal ladder as
an underclass. “It seems as though working-class people are the
one group in society that you can say practically anything about,”
wrote Owen Jones in his brilliant book Chavs. It’s the conflation of
working class with poverty that exacerbates this view, and creates
a polarising vision of a section of society who can be neatly blamed
for, among other things, Brexit’s ‘howl of rage’.
One way of changing this toxic narrative is to encourage more
voices to be heard. Know Your Place is a collection of essays on the
working class, by the working class – for which one of our regular
contributors, Cath Bore, has written an excellent piece. At the time of
commissioning the book in 2017 – in reaction to a tweet by novelist
Nikesh Shukla – Know Your Place’s Editor Nathan Connolly felt that
the post-Brexit, post-Grenfell debate in the country had spiralled
so far away from the point as to being ridiculous. “It felt as though
a lot of commentators felt justified placing their own opinions in the
mouths of the working class,” he says in his introduction. “What we
rarely found was the working class allowed to speak for themselves.
An awful lot could be justified in their name without actually giving
them a chance to speak.”
Another writer who has contributed an essay to Know Your
Place is the Birmingham-born Kit De Waal, who has set up a
writing scholarship for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Working-class stories are not always tales of the underprivileged
and dispossessed,” she wrote in a recent article for the Guardian
calling for publishers and newspapers to make more room for
working class writers. “These are narratives rich in barbed humour,
their technique and vernacular reflecting the depth and texture
of working-class life, the joy and sorrow, the solidarity and the
differences, the everyday wisdom and poetry of the woman at the
bus-stop, the waiter, the hairdresser.”
Analysis of the 2014 British Labour Force Survey shows
that publishing is the least socially diverse of all the UK’s creative
industries: 43% of people working in publishing, including those
in the influential editorial roles, were from middle-class origins,
with only 12% from working-class backgrounds. Similarly, 47% of
all authors, writers and translators hail from professional, middleclass
backgrounds, compared with just 10% of those with parents
in routine or manual labour. “If the majority of decision makers
– gatekeepers – come from such a narrow social and cultural set
(white, middle-class, good contacts, right accent and cultural
references),” writes De Waal, “then the question of who gets
published and which stories get told is unlikely to change.”
I’ll be honest with you, I have absolutely no idea whereabouts I
fit into our country’s fractured class system – and nor am I bothered.
The fact that I can happily sit in a coffee shop and eat avocado on
toast while working away on my MacBook will undoubtedly make
me middle class in many people’s eyes. That’s fine with me, as
I’m aware of the privileges that have been afforded me – and my
actions and lived experience will be the ultimate judge of my social
credentials. If we’re to get away from a fetishised view of our class
structures, we need to hear a wider variety of voices from those who
identify as working class. Know Your Place is an excellent place to
start.
Christopher Torpey
Editor
09

NEWS
Zuzu Headlines Bido Lito! Open Day
Zuzu
For our March Social we’re delighted to be joined by power pop star ZUZU, who
has just inked a deal with Virgin Records. The guitarist and songwriter has been
making waves for a couple of years now, and you can catch her on 23rd March
when the Bido Lito! Social checks in at Constellations. PIZZAGIRL and KING
HANNAH also appear on the bill, which follows our first Open Day. If you’re
interested in journalism, photography and DIY publication, or you want to come
and get involved with the team, the Open Day will give you a chance to learn
from experts in this field across a series of workshops. Bido Lito! members get
free access to the evening show, as well as a number of events over the coming
months: our Bido Lito! Social live events in April (a special Clockwork Orangethemed
gig at Everyman Bistro) and May (a top secret collaboration which we’ll
be announcing soon); plus regular Special Events, such as the members-only tour
of Tate Liverpool’s expansive Roy Lichtenstein exhibition, with expert insight from
the gallery’s curators. All this action plus the magazine delivered to your doorstep,
a digital bundle of the best new music each month, a Bido record bag and limited
edition free gifts throughout the year makes the Bido Lito! membership one very
attractive offer – find out more at bidolito.co.uk.
Up For Smithdown
SMITHDOWN ROAD FESTIVAL has unveiled its line-up for
the 2018 edition of the South Liverpool extravaganza and
it looks to be their biggest event to-date. BEARDYMAN,
STEALING SHEEP (DJ set) and Dave McCabe’s new project
SILENT K are among the names in the first raft of acts
announced to play the free festival on 5th-7th May. Taking
place in bars, cafés and other nooks and crannies along the
Wavertree thoroughfare, organisers are looking to build on
the success of past editions with the introduction of a Big
Top main stage in the Mystery Park. Also announced are
Natalie McCool performing with her new band MEMORY
GIRL, Franz Ferdinand off-shoot MANUELA, and garage
rock juggernauts STRANGE COLLECTIVE.
Beardyman
The Hottest Event In Easter
Walk the Plank
Bringing together some of Liverpool’s finest art organisations, FEAST OF FIRE will
provide your Easter with some fiery flair at St. George’s Hall between 23rd March and
2nd April. The seven-night spectacular will play host to a medley of world-class fire art,
sculpture and performance, put together by award-winning collective Walk The Plank,
and including collaborations from Africa Oyé and The Kazimier. There’s an additional
twist to the Feast Of Fire Lates evening events: SOULFEST kick off the week of
celebrations with Fire In My Soul and MILAPFEST provide the grand finale with a blaze
of colour, music and dance. All events throughout the week aim to raise awareness and
support for the LGBTQ+ community and Liverpool’s Mental Health Consortium.
Live Music Innovation On Wirral
WIRRAL NEW MUSIC COLLECTIVE is an independent group of record
labels, music writers, promoters, visual artists, artist managers, magazine
publishers and musicians who believe in music’s power to shape a new
future for Wirral. The group is dedicated to nurturing new music, and the
little infrastructure that currently exists in the borough, to support the
local music community, and will do so through its brand new live music
innovation fund. Thanks to The Beautiful Ideas Company and Wirral
Borough Council, the fund has been set up to provide a series of £500
grants for local musicians, promoters or music lovers to help them put on
an innovative live gig in Birkenhead this summer. Any interested parties
should head to wirralnmc.co.uk and fill out the form available.
Building Solid Foundations
MERSEYSIDE ARTS FOUNDATION have been working
tirelessly behind the scenes to support budding
talent and offer artist development to musicians on
Merseyside. Funded by Help Musicians UK, applications
are now open for Round Six of the development
programme, which supports the multifaceted aspects of
the music industry – from studio time to tour subsidies
and help with promotional and equipment costs. Some
of the region’s recent breakout acts – including Queen
Zee, She Drew The Gun and Natalie McCool – have
benefited from the programme, which is open to artists
from all genres. If you think you’re ready, find out more
and register your interest in the programme by emailing
music@merseysideartsfoundation.org.uk.
Lounge Wizards
We’re massively excited to announce a great
partnership with our friends at SAE Institute. In
alternate months we will be inviting one of our
favourite new acts into the studios of their Pall
Mall campus to record a track as part of their
Live Lounge series. You can see the first session
recorded with this month’s Spotlight artist GOD
ON MY RIGHT at bidolito.co.uk now. SAE Institute
run courses on a wide range of audio and visual
disciplines with their Liverpool base boasting a
plethora of industry-leading technology with which
students can get to grips while gaining real world
experience. Look out for the next Live Lounge
session coming soon.
Hearing Both Sides Now
Following the large-scale initiative across the North
of England supporting emerging female-identifying
artists and industry professionals, the first OPEN
SPACE event for BOTH SIDES NOW will take place at
Constellations on 17th March. The idea underpinning
Both Sides Now’s ethos is to connect women in
music, from the classroom, boardroom and onstage,
while the concept behind the Open Space event is to
welcome conversation from all attendees. The series of
discussions opens the floor to the question of what can
be done to make gender equality in the music industry
a reality. Places are free and you can register to attend
via Eventbrite – food and drink will be provided and
children are welcome to come along too.
10

DANSETTE
LAURIE SHAW reveals some of
the inspirational records that
were key touchstones for him
during the making of his new LP,
Weird Weekends.
Binhan
Jake Thackray
Worried Brown
Eyes
EMI
Oyé Additions
Following their bumper 25-year anniversary
celebrations last year, AFRICA OYÉ is showing
few signs of resting on its laurels with three
impressive names announced for their 2018
event. The first trio of names confirmed for the
Sefton Park weekender represent artists who
have transcended the music scenes of their
native countries to perform to huge crowds
around the world. Guinea Bissau’s BINHAN,
GUY ONE from Ghana and Gambian artist
SONA JOBARTEH will all arrive in Liverpool for
the weekend of 16th-17th June. More acts are
set to be announced including the coveted Oyé
Introduces slot which is given to a local artist
from the North West’s African diaspora.
Where’s My Revolutionary Spirit?
Liverpool’s musical past has a fierce independent streak
running through it, and a new five-CD boxset from Cherry Red
Records aims to add some detail to that particular narrative.
REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT: THE SOUND OF LIVERPOOL 1976-
1988 is an extensive collection of gems and rarities from one of
the region’s most fertile and productive eras. Artists from the
‘second wave’ of Merseyside music are featured, ranging from the
cult (YACHTS) to the obvious (ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN) to the
obscure (NIGHTMARES IN WAX). Put together by key observers in
the scene at the time – Bernie Connor, Mike Badger, Yorkie and Joe
McKechnie – the boxset also comes with a 56-page book that goes
into more depth, full of views and insight from the compilers.
Jake Thackray is an underrated British folk singer and
one of the leading lights for me in terms of great northern
storytelling. This song is about a girl writing to an Agony
Aunt column. I think Thackray had a great knack of
immortalising the everyday and he’s one of the finest
singers the country has ever produced.
Suede
Stay Together
Nude
One thing I got fascinated with during the recording of
Weird Weekends was the Britpop scene in the 90s. It
seems like it was a rollercoaster of hedonism that came to a
crashing end, but nevertheless it produced some gems, and
one song I heard for the first time when I started the album
was this song.
Gibberish Brewpub
Gloria Gaynor
I Will Survive
Polydor
On The March With EBGBS
Seel Street’s basement bolthole has a busy run of gigs
programmed in for March, building on a succession of
intense, sweaty shows over recent months. THE SHEAFS
bring their high-octane indie swagger on 9th March, while
dub degenerates THE WHOLLS swing by on 22nd March
as part of a UK tour in support of their debut, self-titled LP.
Elsewhere, Metal 2 The Masses Merseyside take over the
basement on 23rd March with the first of their regional heats.
You want more? How about RIVAL BONES (3rd), SPARK
(16th), PIST (30th), plus Liquidation every Saturday night?
Sorted.
A Load Of Gibberish
The Baltic Triangle’s newest addition Gibberish Brewpub
are hosting a knees-up over the first weekend of the month
with food, booze and music. The Caryl Street venue, set up
by Mad Hatter co-founder Gaz Matthews, is inviting jazzers
BLIND MONK TRIO, bluegrass ensemble DONKEY HOKEY
and other artists to provide the soundtrack as they unveil
their latest batch of brews. There will also be street food from
vegan purveyors Wings And Clay as well as meaty fare from
smokehouse specialists Cowfish. Taking place over the 1st-
3rd March, this is the place to be to sate your gastronomic and
aural appetites.
Partially inspired by the disco-y bits of Separations-era
Pulp, I thought it would be fun to do a more disco-infused
song, which became the seven-minute track Sophistication.
On that song there’s definitely a bit in the vocals where I
do a bit of a Gloria Gaynor thing. I like the combination of
telling a pretty grim story over the top of a funky beat.
Blur
Young And Lovely
Food
Damo Suzuki
Competition: Wrong Festival
Invisible Wind Factory, North Shore Troubadour and Drop The
Dumbulls welcome the return of WRONG FESTIVAL on 28th
April, with a line-up that is positively brimming with special
acts from the psych and stoner rock scene. Alt. grunge band
FUTURE OF THE LEFT head up this year’s Wrong line-up, with
scene don DAMO SUZUKI joining MUGSTAR, and GNOD, HEY
COLOSSUS and KAGOULE packing out the undercard. We’ve
got a pair of tickets to the event to give away to one lucky winner
– all you need to do is answer this question: In which band did
Damo Suzuki replace Malcolm Mooney as lead singer? Email
your answers to competition@bidolito.co.uk – the winner will be
notified by email. Good luck!
I feel like this song wears the same kind of trainers as some
of the songs on Weird Weekends. The title track of the
album came about after a few days of hearing this song
quite a lot. Those slightly melancholic chords that Blur
sometimes do definitely crop up, and then the solo is pure
Oasis circa 1995. So in a way I’ve bridged a gap between
the North and South. Kind of like the M1.
Head to bidolito.co.uk o read (and listen to) more of Laurie
Shaw’s selections. Weird Weekends is out now via Black
Leather Soul Music.
NEWS 11

12

ELEANOR
NELLY
Her name may already be familiar to Merseyside music lovers, but
ELEANOR NELLY’s journey to stardom is just getting started.
The years between 16 and 18 are always significant, but
for ELEANOR NELLY they have proved life-changing.
When Bido Lito! first sat down with Eleanor in 2016,
the local singer-songwriter had just been named one
of LIMF Academy’s Most Ready artists. Now, she is signed to a
management deal with Decca Records and, with the upcoming
release of her new EP, the incredible pace of the past two years
shows no sign of slowing. People Like Us confirms that Eleanor
Nelly is in it for the long run.
Meeting up with Eleanor during a brief period of down
time, I start by asking her to summarise the past two years. She
describes leaving school – “the biggest relief of my life” – and
the excitement of being signed with a bubbly energy that I come
to realise is something of a signature of hers. Her highlights
from this whirlwind period include writing music in Nashville,
supporting Rhys Lewis on her
first tour and recording in Abbey
Road Studios. It’s an impressive
résumé, one that could threaten to
overwhelm your average 18-yearold,
though she is quick to reassure
me. “I’ve definitely grown up and
found my feet, both in music and
outside of music. It’s been hard, but
also the most magical experience.”
Eleanor is evidently hardworking
and, while in awe of her success, she
is far from overwhelmed. “It’s just
been crazy,” is a phrase that Eleanor
repeats throughout our conversation,
but only a fool would think she
couldn’t keep up.
Eleanor began gigging around Liverpool at the age of 13,
and she credits the city’s supportive music scene as instrumental
to her success. “No one ever held me back and said, ‘Oh you’re
a bit too young.’ Perhaps I was just too persistent; I knew I was
getting into that venue no matter what, and that I would play.”
Persistence clearly pays off. At 18, Eleanor’s voice is remarkably
mature and confident; this is surely in part because she began
playing live at a young age. Surprisingly, Eleanor tells me that
she had only had six guitar lessons when she started gigging.
“Everyone would be like, ‘Try this,’ so I learned from older
musicians.” This speaks volumes about her ability to throw
herself into and learn from every opportunity. Eleanor’s affection
for Liverpool extends to her music taste, which includes local
band Shamona and singer Thom Moorcroft. Particular favourites
are The Hummingbirds, who she has written music with and
supported at the O2 Academy, giving a refreshing outlook of
an artist that remains so invested in local musicians: “The music
scene has changed a lot since I first started gigging but I always
know it’s like a second home to me.”
In 2015, Eleanor was named One To Watch by LIMF
Academy; the following year, she was one of their Most Ready
artists. “It finally felt like people were taking me seriously,” she
tells me of her reaction to the accolades. “I wasn’t just some kid
with funny hair who played a guitar that was too big for me.” It
would certainly be hard not to take Eleanor seriously once you
hear her voice, but it is a credit to the LIMF Academy programme
for recognising her talent. Eleanor praises LIMF for giving young
musicians in the city a platform: “It’s so good to get them into the
public eye in Liverpool, because we’re all so supportive.”
The Academy experience itself is something that she thinks
will stay with her for a long time, and she’s keen to give credit
to the programme for giving her direction when she needed it
most. “Being a part of the masterclass sessions and getting the
“It finally felt like
people were taking me
seriously. I wasn’t just
some kid with funny hair
who played a guitar that
was too big for me”
mentoring has been a massive help in me finding my feet, and
working out what route I want to take. You learn things from
industry professionals, from their experiences, that you probably
couldn’t learn anywhere else.”
“Whether that’s exposure, the experience, the mentoring
and masterclasses, or the feedback,” she continues, clearly
grateful for both the advice and opportunities afforded to her
through the Academy.
Her performance with the Philharmonic Youth Company at
Liverpool International Music Festival in 2016 remains “the most
surreal experience of my life and forever my favourite memory.”
That show, where she worked alongside the composer Katie
Chatburn to perform three songs with the Phil’s Youth Orchestra,
showed not only her immense capability in a live setting, but an
ability to be unfazed by performing on such a high-profile stage.
It also showed Eleanor’s maturity
when facing a new challenge, and
stood her in good stead for what
was to follow over the next couple of
years, once the doors to the Decca
Family had been thrown open.
As well as her maturity, one
of the first things people comment
on with Eleanor is her enthusiasm,
whether seeing her perform or
meeting her away from the stage.
Her personality is effervescent and
infectious, and you can see her love
for music flowing into everything
she does. But it’s more than just an
outlet for her, and has helped her
through difficult times as well as been there to express the good.
“Music is important to me because it dragged me out of a really
dark place when I was younger,” she admits. “It [music] helped
me get away from… bad situations, and whatever else the kids
were doing at school. Music saved me from God knows what.”
As expected, Eleanor’s music has matured over the past two
years since her school days, as the experiences she has been
subjected to have shaped her as an artist. “I think my music has
grown with me; it’s developed and matured as I have.” People
Like Us places Eleanor firmly alongside today’s indie singersongwriters,
who are forging a distinctly modern sound that
borrows from classic country, folk and blues. Eleanor’s voice
has also matured and is deceptively rich and warm; it is a softer,
more effortless iteration of her early self, and reminds me of Kate
Stables from This Is The Kit or Louisa Roach from Liverpool’s
She Drew The Gun. Vocals take centre stage on this EP, and are
complemented by simple, catchy riffs on guitar or piano. Gone
is the tendency to move wildly between musical genres, which
suited her early gigging days but would perhaps have appeared
disjointed on an EP. Eleanor laughs when I bring this up with
her. “I’m not as extreme as I used to be because I’ve got people
monitoring it; I used to go from playing AC/DC to, like, Joni
Mitchell.”
This is not to say that her new EP lacks variety, and Eleanor
is keen to stress that it has “something for everyone”. People
Like Us is no less experimental than her older music, just more
refined. Front Row is the first song Eleanor has written for piano
and it’s less country, more acoustic pop; the simple backing
chords accentuate the power of her voice, and the song feels
more emotional than others. By contrast, the title track People
Like Us is an upbeat, bluesy number that reminds me slightly
of Jeff Buckley. This track is also the most interesting lyrically
and best proves her self-declared role as a ‘storyteller’. Choke is
one of Eleanor’s favourites from the EP, and mine too. Her voice
FEATURE
13

effortlessly climbs and falls, and the chorus remains with you
long after the song finishes. All of her tracks achieve that perfect
balance between being innovative and catchy.
Eleanor tells me that she wrote Polaroid, the first track on her
EP, in Nashville. Immediately it’s clear that we have arrived at her
favourite discussion topic. The song describes the perfect stillness
depicted in a Polaroid picture. For Eleanor, this picture is Nashville:
“I remember looking out of the window in Nashville and what I was
seeing was the song.” Eleanor has been dreaming of a visit to the
city since she was a child obsessed with country musicians and
Texas radio stations. She is evidently still in awe that her dream
came true, and her eyes light up as she describes the trip. “When
I finally got there, I was like ‘Yeh, this is what I’ve been listening
to on the radio, this is what I’ve been dreaming of’.” She tells me
that Nashville was “just lovely, it was warm like Liverpool.” Both
cities are famous for having a welcoming musical scene, and have
produced some outstanding musicians. Eleanor agrees “It was
just so musically inclined. Every single bar on all the streets had
a live band playing.” She talks of meeting welcoming musicians
who helped her “write some of the most amazing songs I’ve ever
written”. ‘Look around here at this place,’ she sings in Polaroid, a
tribute to how Nashville has influenced her music.
People Like Us was produced entirely by Cam Blackwood (who
has previously worked with George Ezra, London Grammar and
Florence And The Machine), and Eleanor has had the opportunity
to work with a number of highly successful songwriters over the
past two years. I ask what it felt like working with Sacha Skarbek,
who co-wrote Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball and James Blunt’s You’re
Beautiful. “He had worked with all these amazing people and
then he just had little me in his studio writing. It was surreal,” she
exclaims. “I was like, ‘Why are you writing with me of all people?’”
It’s a question that is obvious to her listeners: at just 18, Eleanor has
a voice and a work ethic to rival most mainstream pop stars. She
may be humble, but she does not pause to wonder at her success.
“I’ve got to snatch all the opportunities up and get everything I
can from these people that I’ve always looked up to.” It’s the same
determination that helped her secure gigs at just 13, and it is bound
to take her even further.
When I ask Eleanor where she imagines it all going, she is
quick to answer: “No idea.” She hopes that Decca Records will
become a long-term family for her to grow into, but is aware that
“things like that can end in the blink of an eye”. Eleanor takes
nothing for granted; a simple, 20-minute conversation convinces
me that she will make the most of this opportunity. The only
certainty in her future is that she will keep singing: “I wanna be
making music for the rest of my life.” If People Like Us is anything
to go by, I certainly hope she will too. !
Words: Maya Jones / @mmayajones
Photography: Lauren Jade Keir / laurenjadekeir.format.com
@eleanor_nelly
Polaroid, the first single from the People Like Us EP, is released on
7th March.
“I wanna be
making music
for the rest
of my life”
14

An Arts Council Collection Touring Exhibition presented as part of the National Partners Programme
24 February to 3 June 2018
FREE ENTRY
liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/kaleidoscope
@walkergallery
#kaleidoscope
@A_C_Collection #ACCNationalPartners
Arts Council Collection is managed by Southbank Centre, London on behalf of Arts Council England
Image: Point X, 1965, Phillip King. Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London © the artist

We invite artist and designer Nick Booton to give his verdict on the
work of the pop art maestro, whose iconic work is showing now in a
major exhibition at Tate Liverpool.
The current Roy Lichtenstein In Focus exhibition is the latest in Tate Liverpool’s in-depth looks at some of the greats of modern
and contemporary art. Lichtenstein’s large-scale, comic book style pieces – and the Ben-Day dots technique, which he helped to
popularise – came to be closely identified with the explosion of pop art in the 60s, alongside Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. Whaam!,
one of his most famous pieces, is on show in Liverpool for the first time since 1993, after being restored to its 1963 glory.
Looking at the breadth and impact of the art on show – which includes some examples of his early interest in landscapes, and his
subsequent fascination for advertising – we were interested to get the perspective of what Lichtenstein’s body of work means from an
artist’s point of view. So, we asked two of our regular contributors, both designers and illustrators, to give us their own views on what
Lichtenstein – and, indeed, pop art – means to them. Mook Loxley has interpreted some of Lichtenstein’s famous comic-style imagery
in his accompanying illustration – and Nick Booton (Bruï Studio) spoke with one of Tate’s curatorial team to give an overall perspective
on the exhibition.
“It’s not so much the
artist’s hand but the
artist’s eye where
the value lies”
When I was approached to write something around
Tate’s Lichtenstein exhibition, the thing that
attracted me to it was the idea of using my own
artwork as a response and conversation around
the influence of these themes, particularly in the way that visual
artists work now. There are a lot of interesting points that come
out of looking at these types of shows because they can be quite
divisive in some ways, almost a commodity in themselves, but I
think that idea is quite relevant now.
After speaking with Tate’s Darren Pih, one of the angles I
was struck by was this idea of Lichtenstein’s work being cyclical,
in that it commented on the use of advertising and mass media
but then became so well known that it almost came back into
ownership of the public realm and is mimicked itself within
advertising campaigns today. Darren referenced a Specsavers ad
on a bus that was in a Lichtenstein style, then immediately after
the interview I saw some Northern Rail adverts that hi-jacked
Lichtenstein’s distinctive style too. I guess the idea of parody and
ownership is a chicken and egg type situation.
Art and design are merging in the online world and the way
people (inter)act on social media is almost like a brand. Artists
are curators of modern life, choosing what is relevant, humorous
or valuable and finding ways to reflect these ideas through visual
collage. I think the idea of the artist as observer of modern life
is reinforced when we focus on mundane and overlooked ideas
because they take an extra level of attention and intuition to
understand the value in them. This all stems from the pop art
movement and lifestyle artists in New York: their influence is
major, particularly now, so it’s a good time to discuss their work
in a modern context.
Could you quickly introduce yourself, and explain your role in
curating this exhibition at Tate Liverpool.
My name is Darren Pih, Exhibitions and Displays Curator at Tate
Liverpool. I curated the Lichtenstein display, which essentially
brings together works from the Artists Rooms collection, which
is a collection of single rooms of works, including artists such as
Andy Warhol, Martin Creed and Louise Bourgeois. Essentially
it consists of 20 works from the early 1960s until the end of
[Lichtenstein’s] career in the late 90s, really showcasing his major
themes and preoccupations, as well as his use of drawing on
readymade imagery and comic imagery.
With such a vast archive to pull from, how have you selected
these specific works and what aspects do they communicate
about his practice?
Lichtenstein’s interesting because he had a sort of pre-career. He
was a tutor and an abstract painter in the 1950s, but I think it had
to be a survey of the range of subject matter, whether that be
war comics, romantic comics, still life or his later nude series.
You can definitely see the influence of comic strips throughout
his career. When he was searching through reference material,
what was the essence that he was trying to pick out of the
comic frames?
He was selecting an image that was already an emotionally
charged moment or which somehow summarised a narrative that
was ambiguous, and it was a heightened moment of high tension
or drama. It’s sort of false as well, somehow, and rendered in an
impersonal style with the way he used this language of painted
dots and stripes.
Removing the visible brush stroke from his work, it’s an almost
mechanical reproduction of images, so what value would
people get from seeing this in person rather than through
widely dispersed images online?
I think it’s that oscillation between them being machine-made
and man-made. There’s an ambiguity in the dots, they’re not
perfect and they kind of spill beyond the canvas. That’s the
power of the work: they’re cheap and expensive, formulaic and
inventive. It’s ready-made and hand-made.
He seemed to embrace mechanical processes and new
technology, for instance in the use of projectors to scale his
images up. Would you say in this age he would have worked
digitally?
Definitely, I would think so. There was a sense in which he was
removed from the touch of the artist, I think that was a process
he was working towards. A painted pop brush stroke is really
the ultimate statement of removing yourself. Then it becomes
something that is dispersed and democratised, and somehow
universally meaningful.
He does tend to use a language of images we instantly
recognise, scenes of non-descript romance or banal household
objects. What does he see in these subjects and why are they
presented at such size and scale?
I think it was responding to the ubiquitous power of billboards,
of Hollywood and the silver screen, which was forging a new
language of painting that was larger in scale. The source of
the image would have been minor and very insignificant and
then to monumentalise it asserts the truth of the artificial; mass
16

mediated images are somehow of a new nature, it becomes a
new landscape.
It’s playfully ironic that there was a higher monetary value to
his larger paintings, this scaling up almost correlated with the
criticism of consumerism.
Ha ha, yes!
So, he moved back to New York around the early 60s, did city
life have an impact on artists like him who may have been
moving away from Abstract Expressionism at the time?
I’ve no doubt that it did, it [New York] was the centre of the art
world in the early 60s. Art was moving away from something
that is interior, this Rothko idea of spiritual truth, and it was
becoming reflective of something in the world. Art was changing,
it became live, it became performative, it became a critical
reflection of mass media and a subject matter.
I know Lichtenstein described advertising as “a new force”,
maybe something to be wary of, which would explain his
fascination with the language of consumer marketing.
It was kitsch as well, he was drawn to cliché subjects. I saw a
Specsavers advert on the side of a bus and it was rendered using
the Ben-Day dots, it looked like a Lichtenstein. It’s almost gone
full circle, pop art in turn begins to influence the language in
commercial advertising.
With his subversion of text and image from mass media
sources I wonder if we can see the influence of his one-hit
compositions in today’s meme culture, which interestingly, is
heavily informing the landscape of advertising.
I think they’re not unrelated. I think with pop art especially there
is this sort of re-dispersal: you’re taking very low vernacular
images and then making them monumental and meaningful
and that’s not unrelated to the use of memes. It’s the power
of the image and I think there’s something quite ironic about
Lichtenstein.
He does talk about the separation between himself and the
America he was representing in his images. Do you think the
digital age has increased the cultural gap between the artist
and the subject?
I think it’s necessary to critically stand apart and just to be
part of the flux. Maybe that’s not such an interesting thing to
be but I think, in a way, Lichtenstein’s work is symptomatic of
the use of technology, acceleration of life and the proliferation
of mass media imagery, I think his work is almost like a short
hand for that. In the age of car crash and catastrophe images,
paradoxically people want to see that stuff, which is how
newspapers sell. But, actually, if it’s mass reproduced it loses its
charge, you become immune to it – and how do we bring back
the emotional connection?
Maybe it’s not so much the artist’s hand but the artist’s eye
where the value lies and he’s able to bring back a human
element to these images. When he came under criticism over
authorship from comic cartoonists, they put on their own pop
art exhibition to demonstrate how easy it was to emulate, but
instead their paintings fell short, maybe lacking this element.
There have been many examples of questions about originality
and authorship, that’s why I think Duchamp responded [Duchamp
defended criticisms around authorship by playing up his work’s
avant-garde and often obscene nature]. He could see what was
going on and he could see he was part of this lineage.
Do you think rather than the act of painting, it was
Lichtenstein’s assemblage of ideas, applicable to a multidisciplinary
audience, that has helped maintain its relevance up
until now?
Of course he is an artist who has had a huge influence on
graphics and interior design so I think you can see he’s an artist
whose influence could go beyond art. I think he’s still relevant
because it shows how an artist was responding to his age. How
do we make sense of this proliferation, this changing state of
images in the world, how do you create? It’s about removing
yourself from the flux of mass media and being able to ironically
make sense of it and to see it for what it is.
Words: Nick Booton / bruistudio.com
Illustration: Mook Loxley / mookloxley.tumblr.com
Photography: Brian Roberts / brianrobertsimages.com
tate.org.uk/liverpool
Artist Rooms: Roy Lichtenstein In Focus is on show at Tate
Liverpool until 17th June, and entrance is free. Bido Lito!
Members will enjoy a curator’s tour around the exhibition on 7th
March – full details on how to sign up can be found at
bidolito.co.uk.
FEATURE
17

18

BREAKWAVE
Promoter, producer, tastemaker and DJ: Jessica Beaumont is using her
music to open up space for innovative new artists and venues, placing
BREAKWAVE at the cutting edge of UK nightlife.
The importance of space and protecting our creative
communities is manifested by Jessica Beaumont’s own
organic journey in the music scene. Noting a lack of
creative events and spaces in Liverpool’s nightlife, as
well as platforms to promote up-and-coming DJs, Beaumont set
out to fill the void herself. Space is an important element behind
her innovative club night, Meine Nacht, which she started with
Or:la back in 2015 – and she has, in turn, provided opportunities
for the city’s grassroots DJs. Her career has naturally progressed
with a bold identity – BREAKWAVE – developing as a result.
Praised for her pulsating sets that have been pumping their
infectious rhythms into venues and onto the radio waves,
Beaumont is currently working on her debut EP that will feature
two tracks on 12” vinyl, set to be released towards the end of this
year.
Informed by the atmosphere she wants to create for her
audiences at Meine Nacht nights, the Breakwave sound is an
extension of what Beaumont has been honing for a number of
years. “It’s mainly breakbeat techno and a bit bassy, that’s the stuff
I’m producing at the moment and the kind of vibe I want to create,”
she tells me when we meet up to discuss her emergence as one of
the North West’s most in-demand DJs. “I get sent a lot of music,
and a lot of good grassroots DJs send me their work, so I’ll include
a bit of that in my mixes. Mostly I’ll just do my own digging, so I’ll
go to record stores and create a mix between ambient techno, the
bassier side of things, breaks and jungle as well. I try to include
a wide variety of genres, so I suppose you could say it’s genrespanning.
It makes it harder to mix, but I think it keeps it more fresh
and exciting for the audience.”
Beaumont’s career started with Meine Nacht, while her own
label (Deep Sea Frequency) and music gradually began to take
shape. The event provided an insight into producing and the
confidence to share her own mixes. “I started making music about
two years ago, but it was just a fun element alongside doing the
event. I didn’t play out back then, but I’ve been DJing since I was
18 when I got my first set of turntables. I was more focused on the
business aspect of it. When I started getting a bit more confident I
kind of launched into my own career: it was pretty steady with the
label, the event was going really well, and I felt more relaxed. That’s
when I started taking my own DJing and producing more seriously.
So, it’s a recent thing with the production that I’m now going into.”
Meine Nacht turns secret, unused spaces into a safe haven
for clubbing communities to enjoy the music they love. Each
event takes place in a different venue, and clubbers don’t find
out the location until the night of the show. Beaumont explains
that she started the event at the right time, when it was apparent
that something was lacking in Liverpool’s nightlife. Her aim
was to create something that would have a secure spot in the
scene, unlikely to get lost in the noise. “There are so many nights
that start up, say in September when all the students are here,
and then 80% of them drop off. With Meine Nacht, I came up
with the concept of live streaming it in Liverpool when no one
else was doing that. I taught myself how to live stream and
then implemented that into the event, so that’s kind of how the
word got out too.”
“It doesn’t matter
whether you’re male
or female, if you’re a
good DJ and you’re
a good producer,
you’re gonna get
somewhere”
Beaumont travels around Liverpool in search of unique
locations to house a more relaxed club night where there are
no overpriced drinks or overwhelming frills. Her experience
of Berlin’s nightlife played a great part in how she set up the
event, describing a “more laidback approach and a happier, free
environment” that she wanted to bring a piece of back home to
Liverpool. “Meine Nacht is a more stripped-back approach. No
intense, flashing lights, you know? I don’t do it to make money or
show off. I limit the capacity for a reason, because some people
go to big clubs and really enjoy it, but others go and they’re really
intimidated and uncomfortable. They have no space to move and
they don’t have a good experience. I want the customer to return
and I’ve been really lucky with that. I do have a loyal fanbase that
attends the parties and that’s what keeps it going.”
Beaumont has quickly become a pioneer of Liverpool’s
underground music scene, catching attention from other events
and venues across the country, as well as worldwide music
platform, Resident Advisor. She is taking part in their Alternate
Cuts Series, which celebrates the UK groups keeping their
local nightlife scene thriving. Sponsored by Absolut, the series
promotes nightlife sustainability and shines a spotlight on the
tireless work done by those at the heart of it.
“They [Resident Advisor] contacted me to collaborate with
them and choose three brands worldwide to take part in this
series. We choose one really big DJ that’s current on the scene
[Roman Flügel], someone who wouldn’t normally play the set.
It’s called Alternate Cuts, because they will be playing music they
wouldn’t normally play, so in this instance it’s gonna be a 90s rave
set. The focus is on the promoter, so Resident Advisor do a short
film to document their process, and try and get an insight into the
event. When I held my last event at a warehouse in Liverpool on
the dock road, with Courtesy and Skee Mask, they came down
to film that. They also filmed a few other locations that I’ve used
including an old supermarket, a disused police station and an old
bakery.”
As if that wasn’t enough to handle, Beaumont has also been
brought in as events programmer at Kitchen Street, and is lining
up a celebration of female musicians alongside The Wonder Pot
for the venue’s event for International Women’s Day in March.
Even though some semblance of balance is approaching, I wonder
what her experience is as a female in a predominantly male music
scene, and if she’s witnessing improvements in gender balance
for line-ups. “I think there’s been a shift and I definitely think it’s
improving. I haven’t experienced any negativity at all. It doesn’t
matter whether you’re male or female, if you’re a good DJ and
you’re a good producer, you’re gonna get somewhere. It’s about
giving people opportunities as well, which is what I’m trying to
do with my night. With places like Kitchen Street giving me a
residency, people are seeing more females playing and performing
and working in the scene, so more and more are wanting to
get involved. That can only get better! There are a lot of female
collectives starting as well, which I notice a lot of, so if I could
give any advice to anyone it’s to start a collective: get together, DJ
together, and that’ll be another way for girls to get out there.”
“The University of Liverpool also asked me to do a
masterclass with them and I’ve been doing a little more to give
back and inspire the younger generation,” Beaumont continues.
“Quite a lot of girls turned up, which was refreshing. I think it’s
important to give people an insight into the fact that you can run
your own night, your own label, you can produce, you can do it
all! You just have to manage what you’re doing well and have the
confidence to go out and do it, which a lot of people don’t.”
Striking a balance between ensuring gender equality and
focusing on talent is something that Beaumont thinks is crucial,
even if she’s not completely sold on the idea of promoting allfemale
line-ups. “I’m trying to push a lot of women this year on
my line-ups, but maybe not saying it’s a ‘female only’ thing. You
have to be careful with how you word it and ensure there is an
equal balance. In those instances [International Women’s Day] it’s
good, but other events that are strictly for females only can put
girls off. It shouldn’t matter if you’re a female: what matters is the
quality of the music you’re making, and your technique.”
As the conversation comes to a close, I can’t help but wonder
the question that’s on everyone’s mind. How does she gain
access to these quirky locations for Meine Nacht?
“It’s about the element of surprise and announcing the
location on the day. People don’t even know where they’re going
and I sell the tickets, so it works! But then again, that’s just the
ethos of my night.”
Beaumont may keep her cards close to her chest, but as long
as the appetite for clubbing in unique spaces remains, her work,
and her multifaceted identity as Breakwave, will be at the centre
of Liverpool’s vibrant nightlife..!
Words: Jessica Greenall / @jessrg1995
Photography: Paul McCoy / photomccoy.tumblr.com
soundcloud.com/breakwavedj
Alternate Cuts takes place at 24 Kitchen Street on 29th March,
where Breakwave will perform alongside Roman Flügel and
Meine Nacht residents.
FEATURE
19

20

IN GOOD
COMPANY
2017’s return to an in-house repertory company, after a 25-year break,
has been one of Everyman And Playhouse’s biggest recent successes.
Two of the theatres’ directors explain to us why they’re once again
going back to the future.
Sometimes, it turns out the old ways really were the
best. Take theatre for instance. In an age before the
lure of telly and film, most British theatres had their
own permanent teams known as repertory companies.
These tightly-knit groups of actors rattled through productions at
a fearsome rate, sometimes switching shows on a weekly basis.
The work was tough, but the system built strong bonds between
actors and audiences. Famous names like Judi Dench and Ian
McKellen believe it gave them the skills for which they are revered
today.
However, this ‘rep’ system fell out of favour in the 1970s,
and these days, virtually all British theatres hire actors for one
production at a time. They come in, do the job, then move on.
Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre abandoned rep just like
everywhere else, but in 2017 it decided the time was right to
revisit the ways of the past. It had a history of celebrated rep
companies going back decades, with actors including Julie
Walters, Pete Postlethwaite, Alison Steadman and Jonathan
Pryce having made big names for the city, the Everyman and
themselves, and according to the theatre’s current Artistic
Director, GEMMA BODINETZ, the rep company dream never died.
“You’re always trying to find ways that audiences can
connect with the work you do, and it felt to me that growing a
familiarity with the actors on stage would be a lovely thing to do.
“I’d also observed the director Mike Shepherd working with
his company, Kneehigh, and I could see the rapport he has with
actors, and the shortcuts he can make with a group of people that
trust him. They also share a group responsibility. It’s a different
thing when actors feel like they’re here for a while, they’re part of
the theatre, part of the whole season.”
Wanting to capture some of that trust and rapport for itself,
the Everyman recruited 14 actors – including older, experienced
performers and fresh faces straight from drama school – for a
season of five productions, all performed within six hectic months
last year.
And the result? According to NICK BAGNALL, Associate
Director at the Everyman And Playhouse, “it worked beautifully.
We were changing the face of regional theatre, and that was
really exciting.”
There were a clutch of prestigious awards too, and The
Stage newspaper said, “Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre must
be applauded for resurrecting its repertory company and
repackaging it for the 21st Century”.
It should be no surprise, therefore, that the Everyman’s rep
company is back for 2018, with seven actors returning and seven
new faces. They launch on 3rd March with the musical Paint Your
Wagon, followed by A Clockwork Orange, Othello and a new
adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt called The Big I Am.
So why are there four shows this time rather than last year’s
five?
“There’s been a lot of learning,” says Bagnall, “and doing four
shows has already made a big difference. We’re not dribbling in
corners with tiredness any more. And also, last year we weren’t
able to work in our communities, which a lot of the actors are
really keen on doing. There weren’t enough hours in the day.”
If the Everyman team was anxious about how its first rep
season would be received, nerves were quickly settled when the
opening production of Fiddler On The Roof went down a storm.
For Bodinetz, who directed the show, it remains a treasured
memory.
“The first preview of Fiddler was the moment I knew we
were doing something special. It was a bit ropey and there were
“You’re always
trying to find ways
that audiences
can connect with
the work you do”
things that went wrong, but you could feel something in the
room. You could feel it was a different way of working.”
Having successfully resuscitated one magical old musical,
Bodinetz hopes to do it again with Paint Your Wagon. The stage
version of the gold-rush era story is quite different from the
famous film starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood, and it offers
the company of all-rounders plenty of opportunity to let their hair
down. Or hoedown, if you will.
“The palette of musicals we can do is quite limited,” says
Bodinetz. “We only have a cast of 14 and a small budget for a
band, and although we choose actors who can sing and move
under the direction of a great choreographer, they aren’t musical
theatre specialists. You can’t do something like 42nd Street
without exposing them.
“But I was really taken by how funny Paint Your Wagon was,
and there are some really resonant themes in it. For instance,
there’s sexism in there, and we’re really playing with that. What’s
interesting is that the female stories are at the forefront. It’s
about women wanting learning, wanting freedom, and it’s about
oppression.”
Even during the season’s planning stages, issues around
sexism have grown in prominence in the public eye, with the
Harvey Weinstein revelations and the #MeToo movement helping
to shift the terms of debate. Something of this mood will also
be reflected in Bodinetz’s second show, Shakespeare’s Othello,
in which she will be switching the lead character from male to
female.
“I love Othello but I kept thinking that when that first black
general walked onto a Jacobean stage, there must have been
quite a reaction. And I wondered whether that was still true for
a contemporary audience. But I think if a woman turned up in an
army uniform today – a black woman, and a lesbian – she would
be in the same position as that black male in Jacobean England.
“People would ask ‘Can she really do what those men do?’ or
‘Why is Desdemona in love with her and not him?’. I want to take
the audience back to asking some of the questions of themselves
that the original audience might have asked.”
The season’s other two shows are directed by Nick Bagnall,
who kicks off with Anthony Burgess’ infamous A Clockwork
Orange.
“I read the book when I was 16,” says Bagnall. “It seemed to
hit me in the stomach. I loved its language, its violence, just the
whole muscle of the book really hit me. When we were thinking
about big titles for this year, I suggested it without really knowing
whether there was a play version of it.
“It turns out that in 1984, Burgess wrote a version for the
stage – a play with music. I read it and realised it’s a condensed
version of Stanley Kubrick’s film, but it’s got a massive
theatricality about it. It moves in and out of music hall, cabaret,
song and dance. No one else has ever done it in its entirety with
Beethoven’s music. It’s a really big piece of theatre, a proper
Everyman company show. It’s incredibly dangerous, but it’s also
got a redemptive quality.”
The final show is “a massive, open-hearted romp” called The
Big I Am. Freely adapted from Ibsen’s Peer Gynt by the Liverpoolbased
writer, Robert Farquhar, Bagnall is excited to be bringing
this fresh new work to the Everyman stage.
“It opens in 1942 when Peer Gynt is born in the north of
England during a bombing raid. It’s a story about a man in search
of himself. It all started with a conversation about John Lennon
– the cruel genius. We started thinking about how that tied into
Peer Gynt, and it very much did in the sense that he was a man
who was capable of extreme cruelty but also extreme genius and
extreme questioning.
“It goes everywhere – from Liverpool to Dubai to a hippie
commune to Las Vegas – and we tell the story through 70 years.
It’s completely bonkers but also really sad and moving. Bob’s
done an amazing job, the dialogue crackles along.”
Also integral to the season is the theatre’s youth programme,
Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP). Their own show, The City
And The Value of Things, acts as a season opener, and one place
in the main rep company is always reserved for a YEP graduate.
This year, Nadia Anim joins the Everyman’s chosen 14.
This integration of youth and experience is clearly important,
with Bodinetz explaining, “Finding meaningful ways that YEP
members can learn from the professionals is hard if actors are just
here for an intense rehearsal and then they’re gone.” As Bagnall
says, “YEP are involved throughout the whole season, plus all
our assistant directors are from the YEP Directors programme, so
once again they play a big part in it.”
If the rep company system pays dividends for the actors and
creative teams, it also gives audiences a unique opportunity to
follow familiar faces through a wide variety of roles.
“You can see an actor go from a Californian gold digger
to playing Iago,” says Bagnall, “and just watching how that
development and transformation happens is fascinating. But
you also get a sense of the camaraderie, and you see how an
ensemble can transform throughout the season.”
This transformation, it seems, is not confined to the actors
themselves. According to Bagnall, the Everyman as a venue also
enjoys their transformative touch.
“When they arrive they do claim the building, which is great,”
he says. “They create their own special energy, and that’s not to
say there aren’t loads of bloody problems with people living in
each other’s pockets, but the brilliant things outweigh all that,
and we all feel a massive buzz.”
Whether the Everyman’s 2018 rep season is remembered for
its bloody problems or its massive buzz remains to be seen, but
somewhere in the crack between the two, there’s the potential
for magic to be found. After all, rep may be a new way of working
for today’s generation, but it remains one of the oldest theatrical
tricks in the book. !
Words: Damon Fairclough / damonfairclough.com
everymanplayhouse.com
The Everyman’s new Company season begins with Paint Your
Wagon on 3rd March.
FEATURE
21

“It is a great
programme,
it makes
the building
feel alive”
YEP TO REP
As part of their desire to develop a homegrown repertory
company of the future, the Everyman And Playhouse are
investing in some of stage and screen’s future talents.
The Everyman And Playhouse theatres’ innovative youth
programme, YOUNG EVERYMAN PLAYHOUSE, kicked
off 2018’s exciting season of shows with their eyeopening
original production, The City And The Value
Of Things. Entirely their own creation, the performance was
directed, produced and performed by young people between the
age of 14 and 25, allowing budding actors, set designers and
impresarios to get their first taste of a production on the main
stage. The dystopian play not only addressed how we live in
the city, but how we view the people who live within it. Tackling
important issues surrounding homelessness and class, the
students’ performances made the audience really question how
much we value the people who populate our cities and what we
can do to help change attitudes.
Noticing some similarities with our own new project focussed
on students, our Student Society Co-Chair, Sophie Shields,
sought out YEP’s Director Chris Tomlinson and YEP actors
Leah Gould and Chloe Hughes as they were preparing for their
final performance of The City And The Value Of Things. On the
agenda was the importance of the programme giving young
people the chance to get involved with such a revered artistic
institution.
Would you be able to tell me a bit about the concept of the
Young Everyman Playhouse?
Chris Tomlinson: YEP is a large-scale youth organisation that
we expanded from the Everyman Youth Theatre drama groups.
We went from two to six acting groups, and then from that we
developed the directing and writing courses. It now has producer,
technical and marketing courses. The whole idea of it is to try and
put people at every level and strand of what the main [theatre]
does and seat them within the thinking of the building.
What opportunities do the young people get out of the course?
CT: The actors attend weekly sessions and the main thing they
get out of it is the practical learning of how to devise large-scale
shows for the main stage, and then doing text-driven work for
the Playhouse Studio. On top of that, there are masterclasses
with people who are experts in their field. And then there is just
being in the building – belonging to the space is a cool advantage
to them in terms of learning what the industry is about.
The directing course is a bit different: they undertake a two-year
course that involves a series of masterclasses that culminates in a
festival of their own plays at the end of the year. The production
course is similar: we give them a small budget, they produce a
bi-monthly evening that is completely run by them. Whether it’s
poetry nights, spoken word nights, rap battles, it doesn’t matter,
we give them the space to try and pull artists in. The writers will
work on a script and it gets passed around the producers and
directors and the actors will perform it, so all the groups work
together to put on the shows. We have a young marketing group
now as well, and they have the same responsibility to promote
their shows as our main communication and marketing teams do.
We get a good age-range of people in: the actors are between
14 and 22; the producers, technicians, writers are a little bit older
due to the nature of the work, so they are between 18 and 25. It
is a great programme, it makes the building feel alive. If we didn’t
have it I don’t know what we’d do.
Does YEP help work with the main company in any way?
CT: Definitely. There are now 14 professional actors in the rep:
13 recruited nationally, and then there is a space for a YEP actor
for each production. We audition everyone in their classes. It’s a
full professional role, paid every week like everyone else [in the
company]. Leah recently got a part in Othello and another one of
our young actors, Phil, is going to take on a part in A Clockwork
Orange.
Have you had anyone gone to achieve success out of the
programme?
CT: I guess it depends on what you measure as success: [if
it’s] people going into the industry, yeh, loads! At the moment,
we have one guy from the production course who is on the
producing team for the touring production of Matilda. A few
of our directors have been assistants within the rep company
and are now producing their own shows. We’ve had actors go
on to drama school or university and are working on becoming
professional actors. A couple of years ago one of our YEP actors
did work with Jeff Young and from that was picked up by an
agent, and now works with The Royal Exchange. It is definitely
successful – the industry experience is something they can take
with them through to university or drama school.
I am working with Bido Lito! on our new Student Society, and
that is very much about providing budding creative people a
chance to get on the ladder. How important do you think it is
to give young people these opportunities?
CT: For me it’s a no-brainer, it’s vital. Especially at the moment.
Not to get too political about it, but the students are [often]
outpriced out of [higher] education or outpriced [because] of
living costs. The actors pay £4 a session on this course, but
other than that everything at YEP is free. There are even bursary
schemes for people who might need it. To get any form of
training or industry experience for free is vital.
We’ve got great relationships with LJMU, LIPA, The City Of
Liverpool College and Edge Hill, which help provide somewhere
for these guys to come and be creative. It is so important,
otherwise I don’t know what the future is for the next great
play or theatre company in Liverpool. We’ve got a history here
of creating communities and companies, and, at the moment,
the support isn’t huge, which is what YEP is trying to change.
It shows that we value these young people and care about
what they have to say. We also get away with it because of the
beautiful naivety of youth, to get on the stage and just have a go.
I absolutely back that!
Leah and Chloe, do you feel like you have benefitted from the
programme?
Leah Gould: Yes, definitely! Even as a person, my confidence has
grown so much, and just being around like-minded people is
great. Everyone is the same and everyone gets on so there are no
barriers.
Chloe Hughes: Getting your point of view across, how you view
the world and seeing everyone else’s point of view is really
helpful, especially when we are devising a piece. It’s all about
how people look at life so differently, which really helps to
produce the shows.
What do you hope to be able to achieve from taking part in
YEP?
LG: I’ve had the opportunity to play Bianca in Othello which I
am so happy about. It’s made me believe in myself more, I am so
grateful to be able to get the experience. It’s all about meeting
new people as well.
CH: I’m hoping to go to drama school rather than go straight to
university; if not then I want to keep working in theatres, I prefer
them to film.
The production, The City And The Value of Things, was billed
as an episodic drama on the changing face of Liverpool’s
cityscape. It all sounds a bit dystopian, doesn’t it?
CT: Yes it has definitely got an element of that to it. If you look at
the shows we have produced over the last few years, they have
been based on some big, weighty topics and it all comes from
them [the students]. We felt like this year we wanted to focus on
real life, the everyday and the values of what that is. Liverpool
at the moment is going through yet another facelift in terms of
luxury accommodation and student flats everywhere, which on
one hand is incredible but on the other hand, who is benefitting
from that? !
Words: Sophie Shields
everymanplayhouse.com/yep
22

23

THE EDGE
OF FANTASY
In a world full of noise,
contemporary orchestral
troupe MANCHESTER
COLLECTIVE are making a
case for music. Will you be
moved by their intensely
human experiences?
In the basement at Invisible Wind Factory, MANCHESTER
COLLECTIVE are playing Henryk Górecki’s String Quartet
No. 2, and the audience is spellbound. I’ve never been to
a performance like this: we’re sitting in a circle around the
four musicians, and we are so close that we can follow the silent
communication of their eyes as they challenge and respond to
each other. The show is called The Edge Of Fantasy, and the
quartet are fearless in propelling us across that edge.
From the hypnotic, repeating E note of the cello that underpins
the opening movement, through the jagged rhythms that come
into play, with interludes of hymn-like chordal progression,
Górecki’s quartet seems to hint at new potentials in the human
experience, born out of the vast mechanisation of the 20th
Century. We feel the anxiety of something at stake, some vital
essence that might be lost, and yet there is exhilaration in the
sheer scale of the forces set in motion.
“I loved it.” ADAM SZABO is the Managing Director of
Manchester Collective. He talks me through the show from the
inside: “The experience feels really raw, it feels really stripped
back. People are super close to the musicians, which does make a
difference. It’s kind of a visceral intimacy, which you don’t get in a
big concert hall. Most of the work we do is about finding different
ways that our audience can listen to music, and different ways of
listening to music, and different ways of seeing music.”
The group will return to Invisible Wind Factory in March,
echoing the idea that they have hit upon a deep connection with
the former wind turbine manufactuary. The venue’s low-ceilinged
Substation is exactly the kind of setting where Manchester
Collective feel at home, having previously played in a restored
cotton mill in Manchester, a former steel mill in Sheffield, and a
renovated post office in Hull. “These are cool spaces,” Szabo says.
“It feels like you are discovering an authentic part of the city as
well. Invisible Wind Factory feels really kind of Liverpool, to me.”
“I suppose part of what we do is about finding the authenticity
in the music, and allowing the audience to feel like they can make
authentic reactions to the music. Everything that we put out –
everything, from the venues, to the players, to what we wear, to
the way that we try and communicate with our audience – has to
come from a place of authenticity.”
The experience of classical music in locations of urban
regeneration creates a powerful sense of time and space
unwinding, recycling, and reforming in new figurations. Cellist
Nicholas Trygstad performed at January’s event on an instrument
that was made over 200 years ago, making it even older than
the historic building. This is another aspect of the appeal, for
Szabo, in taking classical performance into new spaces. “Most
of the time you only see these instruments in what is basically
a museum environment, a humidity-controlled, well-lit concert
hall environment. They need to be really well looked after, these
instruments, because they’re incredibly precious and fragile.” No
beer was spilled on the cello at the January event, I am happy to
report.
“It’s kind of a
visceral intimacy,
which you don’t
get in a big
concert hall”
The collective are hoping to build on the success of The Edge
Of Fantasy for their new show in March, with Szabo pointing
out they’re aiming to break through to a different crowd with
this eye-catching offering. “Liverpool is our big project for 2018.
If we get to the end of the year, and nothing else has changed,
but we’ve built up an amazing grassroots audience here, and we
have a group of people who we can be in dialogue with about the
shows, and discussing how they felt, and talking to them about
programming in the future, then it will be a job well done this year.
That’s the mission.”
24

The new show is a multifaceted beast that features a triple
billing of guest stars, with underground electronic artist VESSEL
opening up proceedings with a collection of live music from his
latest LP, Queen Of Golden Dogs. “Vessel is this really incredible
electronic musician,” Szabo explains, visibly excited to bring this
collaboration to Liverpool. “His music, more and more, comes from
a place where he’s inspired by classical art and music, and he uses
elements of classical harmony and classical instrumentation. He
also builds a lot of his own instruments.”
“The set that he’s doing for us combines music for the new
album, mixed with various samples and inspirations that he’s used,
and that we have played, so it’s a real melting pot.”
Fresh from touring with Radiohead – having worked on the
orchestral arrangements for their 2016 album A Moon Shaped
Pool – world-renowned cellist OLIVER COATES will be joining
Manchester Collective’s Music Director RAKHI SINGH for the
middle portion of the show – a special set of music for solo violin
and cello, with an added swamp of electronics, including Steve
Reich’s celebrated piece Violin Phase. Szabo describes Coates as
“a really incredible cellist, right at the cutting-edge of new music
and the classical world, electronic, and contemporary music. Their
set will be all about finding out how these instruments can work
together.”
“The culmination of that half of the show is this piece, Industry,
by Michael Gordon,” Szabo continues, “which finishes with this
huge sound, just from one cello, but using this very particular
distortion pedal from the 80s. It’ll be good fun.”
The performance at Invisible Wind Factory will be the world
premiere of the titular 100 Demons composition, which forms the
main body of the show. A work for electronics and string quartet,
100 Demons has been specially commissioned by Daniel Elms, an
award-winning, contemporary composer from Hull.
“It’s a really political piece about fear and manipulation of the
media, and fake news,” Szabo says of 100 Demons. The content
chimes with Elms’ previous work too, which has been praised for
addressing disparate social, economic, and political relationships
between people and cities. “The setup is that there are speakers
placed around the hall, and the live musicians are there as well, and
it’s impossible to tell throughout the piece what sound is coming
from where, what sound is electronic, and what sound is live, being
performed now, in the space. It’s a political piece that was born out
of the time it was written in: the Trump era, Brexit, and the whole
fractious political situation. I think it’ll be a really exciting work.”
“We’ve built up a wonderful crowd of young people, in both
Liverpool and Manchester,” enthuses Szabo when he steps
back to look at what Manchester Collective have achieved over
the past two years. “It’s not only an edgy thing, we also have a
bunch of hardcore classical music dudes who come along for
the repertoire, and are like, ‘Oh my god, nobody ever plays this
piece!’”
And does Szabo see any conflict in the collective putting
down roots in Liverpool? “We see Liverpool very much as our
sister city. The stuff that is going on here, like the grassroots
music and culture world, is incredible. There’s so much that
Manchester can learn from the scene that is going on here.
People want to hear that it’s the real deal, and I love that about
this city. People are sceptical and questioning: they don’t just take
what they hear on the news and be like, ‘Oh yeh, that’s definitely
right, let’s do that.’ People want to know that they’re onto a good
thing, and that these guys are for real, and that the music is really
what we say it is. And as the word is starting to get out now – I
hope we can build this into something special.”
Audience experience is key to the collective’s approach, which
is evident if you’ve ever attended one of their performances. “Our
mission statement is ‘Radical human experiences through live
music,’ and everything has to come back to that,” Szabo explains.
“It’s about not using the music and live performance as kind of a
lukewarm anaesthetic that just blocks out the shit that’s going on
in your life. It’s not a spa holiday for us. We want people to come
and be moved and changed, and to have a visceral experience.
There’s a lot of good stuff on Netflix that you could be watching,
to switch off to for a few hours – but there is this incredible power
in music, where you go and have a shared experience with the
performers and the audience, and you come away feeling like
you’re a different person than when you came.”
With that sign-off ringing in your ears, you can’t really afford
to miss Manchester Collective’s next showing. You’ll never know
who you might have been by the end of the music. !
Words: James Davidson
Photography: Adam Szabo
manchestercollective.co.uk
100 Demons, featuring music from Vessel and a guest
appearance from Oliver Coates, takes place at Invisible Wind
Factory on 2nd March.
FEATURE
25

“Don’t accept
the first thing
you come up
with, everything
can be better”
GARY NUMAN
C
M
The electronic music pioneer has endured some ups and downs across his 40-year career in
music, and is relishing his latest return to Liverpool to reconnect with his devoted fanbase.
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
It’s a Friday night in North London in late 2015. There’s a
venue in the area named The Forum. It’s open for business,
however the turn on the stage is winding up for the night.
The instruments are silent, the band standing slightly
relaxed, but slightly on edge as there’s at least one more song to
perform. The singer clings to his microphone stand and surveys
the 2000-plus people that are stood before him. All of the songs
played in this venue tonight have been drawn from a period
of time that ended a long time ago: 1979-80. All of the songs
played tonight created a household name. All of the songs played
tonight mean so much to the individuals that stand before the
artist.
“I know I don’t play these songs very often, but they are quite
good, aren’t they?”
The 2000-plus audience howl their appreciation. “Thank you
for coming and thank you for still being there after all this time. I
didn’t realise how hard it’s been for most of you over the years.
But I do now and I’m very, very grateful.”
This is GARY NUMAN, a musician, artist and songwriter with
a devoted fanbase that has strengthened and hardened down
the years. Now, finally, his peers are recognising that consistency
coupled with a belligerent desire to plough his own furrow has
meant that, nearly 40 years after his first release, Numan has
earned the right to be seen as influential. Very influential.
Fronting a punk band, Tubeway Army, Gary Numan nascently
organised his songs into three-chord noises. He picked up the
basic record deal from a fledgling punk label, Beggars Banquet,
and on arriving at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge in late 1978
was astonished to find the previous client had left a synthesiser
in the studio. Switched on and programmed. The teenager
cautiously pressed a key and, without knowing, became one of
the biggest electronic music artists ever.
Numan sits at his desk in his home studio in sunny California.
He relocated with his young family around five years ago and
is currently relaxing before the second half of his Savage tour
begins in Scandinavia and then marches into the UK with a soldout
show at Liverpool O2 Academy (tickets are still available at
Preston Guild Hall, if you fancy a small road trip).
So, with that introduction and an imminent return to the
North West in the offing, is Numan approaching his work in a
different way now than he did, say, 10, 20, 30 or 40 years ago?
“I don’t think so,” he tells me. “I’m essentially an electronic
music artist so the technology you use is constantly changing
and you have to adapt to that and learn new things with every
album. But, with that requirement understood, it doesn’t really
change that much at a basic level. We may record straight to
a hard drive instead of a tape recorder but the process is very
similar: the detail changes but the underlying function is much
the same. You [still] have to write a tune, record it, make it better
with production, mix it and then put it on a format that people
can listen to.”
Numan’s music has seen artists such as Nine Inch Nails’
Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl, Beck, Marilyn Manson, Billy Corgan
cover and eulogise about the importance of his work. Heck, even
Bowie and Prince have commented on certain areas of his work.
Even with a heavier, industrial music style, has his approach to
songwriting changed today from the very early days of being,
ostensibly, punk?
“Not a great deal. I sit at a piano and come up with tunes.
What happens after that has changed enormously of course but
the basic job of coming up with a tune and structure is much the
same now as it’s always been.”
“I would suggest don’t try to write your version of something
you’ve heard elsewhere,” he continues. “Don’t accept the first
thing you come up with, everything can be better. Make melody
the heart of every song you write.”
Advice that has been forged through a learning curve that
has seen Numan’s album sales veer between the fantastical
and the less so. Yet, for every bump in the road, the journey has
seemed less arduous as the above statement has carried his
expertise into a new generation. A generation that haven’t hurled
him into the nostalgia machine. Numan’s recent studio album
Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind), released in 2013, has
arguably some of his best and most complex songwriting of the
last 30 years.
“The bumpier the ride, the more proud you feel to survive
and have worked your way through the more difficult moments.
I’ve been about as big as you can be, and I’ve also seen sales
and interest so low it appeared to be all over, more than once.
Coping with success is fairly easy, coping with losing it not so
much. The important thing, the thing that kept me completely
sane and grounded throughout the highs and the lows, is that
it’s always been a hobby for me as much as a career. Sometimes
a hobby that paid well, sometimes one that didn’t pay at all, but
I’ve always loved doing it. For me, success is the icing on the
cake, the cherry on top, the cake itself is just being a professional
musician, being in a band and all that entails and that’s actually
enough. If you simply enjoy being a part of this, successful or not,
then any extra success that comes your way is just a special treat
once in a while.”
After the trials and tribulations of the last 40 years, being
grounded has meant there is a relaxed beauty about how Numan
develops his work. His answers are thoughtful and, for anyone
who has crossed his path, unnervingly honest. Embracing his
fanbase, talking candidly about his back catalogue and attitudes
towards him and his music has seen a gigantic shift from the
loathed to the loved. Something that, during his career, was
absolutely unthinkable. The Ivor Novello awards in 2017 saw
Gary Numan finally get to stand up and be counted. Sharing
an evening of awards dished out to Anne Dudley, Skepta, Bill
Withers, Nitin Sawhney et al, he received one of the coveted little
trophies. “I’ve been doing this a long time and that was probably
my proudest moment,” he admits.
Rising through the tastemaker violence of the music industry
to achieve global success, invoking the chagrin of those that seek
to starmake, Numan has remained. The Ivor Novello Inspiration
Award is years of regeneration finally putting a stamp on an
industry that has mocked and ridiculed his work. To see Numan
lauded and respected in this way is almost payback for some of the
vitriol that he has undertaken to get to this point.
Does he have any idea, I wonder, why he has retained
his popularity in our city? “I don’t know. I’m very grateful for it
though,” he confesses. “Liverpool is definitely one of those places
that makes playing live such an exciting thing to do. There is an
unbridled enthusiasm you don’t always get in some other places.
The Exhibition Centre show was the biggest crowd I’d played to
in Liverpool in decades so that was very exciting. It was the first
show playing songs from the new Savage album, the first time that
my 11-year-old daughter ever performed, so it was quite a night!”
Can you recall a really good show in Liverpool?
“I’ve played there so many times but I think my favourite was
at the Olympia a few years ago in 2016. I just loved the building
and the crowd seemed particularly up for it.”
Liverpool has always embraced artists with creativity and
resilience. After 19 studio albums, two number ones and a UK
albums chart placing of number two for Savage, Gary Numan has
left an indelible mark on an industry that never quite understood
what he was trying to do. That mark is firmly etched on those
that chose to embrace and buy into the otherworldly pop noises
from 1979. It is now 2018 and Gary Numan is still crafting his art,
and finally being recognised for it. Here in Liverpool and across
the globe. !
Words: Ian R. Abraham / @scrash
Photography: John Johnson / johnjohnson-photography.com
garynuman.com
Gary Numan plays O2 Academy on 24th March.
K
26

Audio production degrees
and short courses
at your local Liverpool campus
Introduction to Ableton Live
Professional Mixing and Mastering
Electronic Music Production
Songwriting and Music Production
SAE Liverpool
38 Pall Mall
Liverpool
L3 6AL
0151 255 1313
enquiries@sae.edu
www.sae.edu/gbr/audio
@SAEUK
@SAEInstituteUK
@sae_institute_uk
#proudtobecreative

Box office:
theatkinson.co.uk
01704 533 333
(Booking fees apply)
–
: TheAtkinson
: @AtkinsonThe
: @TheAtkinsonSouthport
The Atkinson
Lord Street
Southport
PR8 1DB
Music
Woody Guthrie:
Hard Times and Hard Travelin’
Fri 23 February, 7.30pm
Marcus Bonfanti
Fri 2 March, 8pm
Grateful Fred’s Presents
Bronwynne Brent
Wed 7 March, 7.30pm
Sam Kelly & the Lost Boys
Sat 10 March, 7.30pm
Moya Brennan
Thu 15 March 7.30pm
Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman
Sat 17 March 7.30pm
Friends of Folk
Julie Felix
Thu 22 March, 7.30pm
Comedy
Phil Wang: Kinabalu
Wed 28 February, 8pm
Laugh Out Loud
Sat 3 March, 8pm
Mitch Benn - I’m Still Here
Fri 9 March, 8pm
Simon Evans: Genius
Thur 15 March, 8pm
Carl Hutchinson Live
Fri 16 March, 7.30pm
David Baddiel My Family:
Not The Sitcom
Sat 17 March 7.30pm
FILM
Sold out
Southport Film Guild
Things to Come (PG-13)
Wed 7 March, 7.30pm
Image: Marcus Bonfanti

4th Annual Festival of
Experimental Music and Technology
10th - 14th March 2018
Liverpool
Featuring:
(Mini) Rocket Science
Ensemble 10/10
Cellophonics
Electric Odyssey
Electronic Music and
Video Showcase
Interactive Traces
Emerging Voices
liverpool.ac.uk/music/events/opencircuitfestival

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30

UPCOMING
BIDO LITO! EVENTS
23.03.18
The Bido Lito! Social
ZUZU
PIZZAGIRL
PALE RIDER
Constellations
07.03.18
BIDO LITO!
SPECIAL EVENT
LICHTENSTEIN
IN FOCUS
CURATOR TOUR
Tate Liverpool
19.04.18
The Bido Lito! Social
A CLOCKWORK SOCIAL
EYESORE AND THE JINX
CARTWHEELS ON GLASS
Everyman Bistro
Tate Liverpool curators will
give Bido Lito! members an
exclusive tour of this popular
exhibition of one of the
most influential pop artists
of the 20th Century. As
Lichtenstein’s iconic Whaam!
painting joins the exhibition,
Tate staff will set the artist’s
works in context and tell the
story behind the pieces in this
fantastic retrospective. Don’t
miss the chance to get the full
story of an artist who is up
there with Andy Warhol and
Jasper Johns.
MEMBERSHIP REVIEWS 31

SPOTLIGHT
GOD ON MY RIGHT
Liverpool-born brothers Sean and Michael Hollywood are channeling
their inspirations through a fizzing strain of darkwave electronica.
“Music is one of
the purest forms
of art – it’s got
the power to bring
people together”
Alternative electronica duo GOD ON MY RIGHT have nailed
their delectably dark aesthetic, and created immersive pop
tunes reverent of late 80s synth-pop. With influences ranging
from Muse, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails – of whom they both
have matching tattoos in honour – the Liverpool brothers have
made sure their music keeps their inspirations in mind all while
creating something fresh. “Our music is quite direct and focused,
and although often heavy and aggressive, it’s more often about
restraint.”
Having grown up with a mutual admiration for expressive
musical bombast, it took some time for the pair to put their sibling
chemistry to use on their own projects. “We have always talked
about doing a project like this,” says Sean. “We worked together
a lot in the past on film and art projects but lived at opposite
ends of the country, so it’s only now that we have finally been in
a position to really do this properly. We’ve always loved music
though and we have really similar tastes.” Deltasonic Records
were suitably impressed by the possibilities that the sibling
powerhouse possess that they released the pair’s debut EP,
Swallow, at the end of 2017.
God On My Right’s latest single, Not So Young, demonstrates
their ability to keep both electronica and 80s synth pop separate
and conclusive. A mini-manifesto of sorts, the track is indicative
of the duo’s outlook on other forms of art – and also the world
about them. “We don’t close our eyes to what’s happening
around us and feel really strongly about a lot of issues, so that
will always seep into what we are doing in some way.”
“I like playing a song we have called Fear,” says Sean, “as it’s
a chance to let loose a bit and have a bit of a release. Most of our
songs don’t allow for that. Black Rope is always great to play,
even on a really bad night we usually get a good reaction from it.”
“I enjoy playing Black Rope too,” chips in Michael. “Its layers
build to a bit of a frenzy and to feel an audience nodding their
heads to the beat as you play is pretty cool. You have to see us
play these songs live to know what they say about us though.”
Both Sean and Michael are intent on their reasoning on why
music is important to them, and ultimately the reasoning abides
by the rolling inspiration to why they continue to make music.
“Music is one of the purest forms of art. Nothing engages with
our emotions as directly and as profoundly as music does – it’s
got this amazing power to bring people together.”
That pull towards the thrill of a live show is evident in God On
My Right’s output, one which is echoed by Sean’s outlook. “Every
time I see a great show I get that inspiring feeling again that helps
keep me going.” The gripping experience that is a Young Fathers
gig has obviously left a mark on the Hollywood brothers, as they
list the trio from Edinburgh as an ideal act to support in the future.
“We have so much respect for them as artists in terms of what
they stand for.” Although, they wouldn’t turn down Nine Inch Nails
either. “If Trent ever called, we’d come running without hesitation.”
Words: Daisy Scott
godonmyright.com
God On My Right play District on 1st March. Swallow is out now
via Deltasonic Records.
Head to bidolito.co.uk now to watch God On My Right’s exclusive
SAE Live Lounge session in association with Bido Lito!
32

ESME
BRIDIE
With her first full-length album
due for release in March, this
emotive singer-songwriter is
finally ready to step into the
limelight.
“I definitely
only play songs
that I connect
to lyrically”
If you had to describe your style in a sentence, what would
you say?
I’d say my music style is a combination of contemporary folk
and pop. The folky aspects include storyteller lyrical themes
and intimate vocals, whereas the overall song structures and
arrangements give it an element of pop.
How did you get into music?
I always wanted to be a writer from a young age. I used to write
stories and poems and then when I began learning guitar at 13,
these stories and poems turned into songs. From then on I was
obsessed, and I knew this was what I wanted to do. More than
anything, it’s the songwriting that drives me.
Can you pinpoint a live gig or a piece of music that initially
inspired you?
I remember going to see a singer-songwriter called Ingrid
Michaelson when I had just started writing songs. I remember
being completely captivated by her performance. I think that was
the first real live gig I went to see.
Do you have a favourite song or piece of music to perform?
I really love performing a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Bird On The
Wire. The lyrics are incredible! I’m not sure what this says about
me, it probably just shows that I find lyrics really important. I
definitely only play songs that I connect to lyrically.
If you could support any artist in the future, who would
it be?
If I could somehow go back in time and support Carole King,
or maybe James Taylor, that would actually be a dream come
true. Of current artists, Laura Marling or The Staves would be
incredible. I would actually cry of happiness if that happened,
ha!
Can you recommend an artist, band or album that Bido Lito!
readers might not have heard?
Anaïs Mitchell is an incredible American singer-songwriter. Her
songs have such intelligent lyrics. I particularly love her album
Hadestown, which follows the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus
and Eurydice. If you like artists that tell stories with their music,
you should definitely give it a listen!
esmebridie.com
Today It Rains is released on 23rd March via Klee Records, with
an album launch at Studio2 on 22nd March.
WILD FRUIT ART
COLLECTIVE
Jamie Roberts from esoteric, guitarjamming
rock curveballs WILD FRUIT
ART COLLECTIVE talks about the
group’s “scatty” origins.
“The act of
writing a lyric and
setting it to music
is inherently
political”
Have you always wanted to create music?
I can’t pinpoint the moment I knew, but I read guitar magazines
for about seven years before I ever picked up a guitar as my
father was an avid reader, so I guess I must have always intended
to play. It wasn’t til I was about 15 my mother showed me how to
play Seven Nation Army. I’d drive her mad playing it constantly;
she always said if I worked as hard in school as I did at guitar I’d
achieve anything I wanted, but all I wanted to do was to play.
Can you pinpoint a live gig or a piece of music that initially
inspired you?
I remember the first time somebody gave me Nirvana’s greatest
hits when I was about 10 and that being something that really
excited me. But when we started the band, it was all the
Trashmouth Records stuff that inspired us; we had years of beige
indie dross and all of a sudden there was a vibe of ‘scattiness’
that really appealed to us all [as a band]. But since those days
we’ve found our own thing that’s away from that. We have no
intention of replicating anybody else.
What do you think is the overriding influence on your
songwriting: other art, emotions, current affairs – or a mixture
of all of these?
I’ve become kind of anti-politics in music lately, it’s all too easy
to oversimplify just to make people agree, and, if we’re honest,
these things are more nuanced than you can explain in a catchy
chorus [so] it kind of seems irresponsible. However, I think the
act of writing a lyric and setting it to music is inherently political.
Writing about being unhappy or happy, hungry or full, awake
or asleep, that is political because when you are describing any
state of being, the question becomes why? And this inevitably
reaches back to politics. I don’t claim to have all the answers,
most of the songs are more like investigations.
Do you have a favourite venue you’ve performed in? If so,
what makes it special?
In Liverpool, District is my home turf. I put on a lot of shows
there and, full disclosure, Jayne and Eric who run it have been
two of my biggest supporters for years, I owe them more than
I could ever repay. The sound there is phenomenal for a band
like us, the big open space complements our layers of noise
excellently.
If you had to describe your music in a sentence, what would
you say?
In a world where the only music that exists is Joy Division, we
want to be Led Zeppelin.
wfac.bandcamp.com
Wild Fruit Art Collective’s new single Fabric is out now.
SPOTLIGHT 33

PREVIEWS
“There’s a kind
of defiance in
playfulness”
GIG
FIELD MUSIC
Arts Club – 22/03
Over the course of seven albums, brothers David
and Peter Brewis have quietly gone about their
business as one of the most critically admired
bands in the UK. Open Here, their latest effort, is
their most expansive to date.
Sunderland was the first region to declare a result in the EU referendum of 2016, giving
us the first sign that the country was lurching towards Brexit. Many people see it as
the first rumbling of the howl of rage that came to define the divisions in the country,
cracks that only seem to have grown wider since. Anger, frustration and a sense of
disenfranchisement all came bubbling to the surface.
That Sunderland became synonymous with the Brexit vote is a little harsh, indicative of the
picture painted by some that working-class northerners were to blame for tipping the balance.
Sunderland is, in fact, no different to dozens of towns and cities across the country who once relied
on industry to power them, and have been left dealing with the consequences of privatisation ever
since. All they did was count the votes the quickest.
It’s from under this cloud that Sunderland brothers Peter and David Brewis make their return,
with their seventh LP as FIELD MUSIC. And on first listen to Open Here, you’d be forgiven for
thinking that all the Wearside doom and gloom was blown out of all proportion. It’s a joyous prog
pop masterclass, replete with fleet-footed orchestral passages that elevate it beyond the level of
‘just another album’. Some critics have already been hailing it as one of the year’s best so far, and
it’s hard to disagree: the sumptuous production locks together a plethora of inventive ideas from
a rotating cast of musical luminaries from the group’s home base of Wearside. Echoes of Peter
Gabriel, Talking Heads and even Madonna abound, making for a bit of a romp – but, scratch beneath
the surface and you’ll find that Open Here has a bruised heart.
“I’ve been down and angry about the state of everything lately,” songwriter David admits. “Our
town has become infamous in that it was the first place that voted for Brexit, and that threw into
really stark relief loads of fears I have about where we live. It’s been a downtrodden place for quite a
long time and people look for someone to blame.”
It’s a sentiment that his brother Peter echoes, hinting that the album’s surface level brightness
is a mask for something that hits an awful lot deeper. “With some things that have been happening
personally to us recently – and obviously the things happening in the wider world – there’s a kind
of defiance in playfulness, and that’s what we were trying to capture. It isn’t escapism, but it’s an
attempt to confront those things with a deliberate sense of fun. Fun in the face of hardship. We set
out to have a good time making this record, in spite of everything.”
The album’s stand out single, Count It Up, is a case in point: a song born out of frustration, but
with a hook that marks it out as an instant classic. The thread that runs through it – a list of things
that western white men take for granted – is a familiar enough musical trick, layering more and more
privileges over a snaking, funky beat. It’s perhaps a bit too obvious to be subversive, but it’s still a
statement that leaves its mark.
“I went through a period not long after the global financial crisis when I read a lot about
economics,” David continues. “There’s a section in a book by Joseph Stiglitz called Making
Globalisation Work about how those on the right hand side of the political spectrum tend to ascribe
their fortunes entirely in the frame of their own talents; if somebody is poor it’s because they’re
stupid, and if I’m rich it’s not because my parents gave me a great start in life, or money, or a great
education, it’s because I’m talented and brilliant. I think all of that fed in to this howl of rage set to
what’s basically my version of Material Girl.”
Field Music came through the indie ranks at roughly the same time as The Futureheads, and the
Brewis brothers’ alt. folk/art rock amalgam has stood the test of time much better than their fellow
Wearsiders. The duo’s past five albums have all been made in their own studio, a space in a riverside
industrial unit that they were free to shape into their own creative environment – and a studio that
has just been bulldozed. For Peter and David, shaping and playing together in that studio was a
form of joyful exorcism. The space became a sanctuary away from everything political and personal,
a cocoon of creativity – and the eviction notice served to them was the impetus they needed to
finish Open Here, which brought together a host of musician friends and one-off collaborators.
One of the delights of Open Here is the way songs spiral off into lush waltzes of woodwind and
brass. The time limitations imposed on them by the closure of their studio forced David and Peter to
connect with these musicians – Sarah Hayes on flute and piccolo, Liz Corney on vocals, Pete Fraser
on saxophone, Simon Dennis on trumpet and flugelhorn, a Cornshed Sisters choir and the regular
string quartet of Ed Cross, Jo Montgomery, Chrissie Slater and Ele Leckie – in a different way. The
co-collaborators were invited to leave their mark on the music, giving the LP a sense of scale that
couldn’t be achieved between the two brothers. A collection of these musical guests, under the
name the Open Here Orchestra, joined the band for two triumphant live shows at Northern Stage in
Newcastle in February, and are set to hook up with them again for a date at The Barbican in May.
Parenthood has also been a touchstone for both Peter and David, with two songs on the LP
directly referencing experiences relating to their young families. Aside from Father And Son, there
aren’t too many songs that jump to mind that are built on the experiences of fatherhood. Share
A Pillow is Peter’s ode to the bed-hopping ways of a toddler, even if it has often been mistakenly
interpreted as a rant at other bed-hopping ways. And David’s powerful No King No Princess,
written in response to the birth of his daughter, rails against society’s fascination with gender
stereotypes, and how damaging they can be to young children (sample lyric: “You can dress up how
you want/And you can do the job you want”).
“People have a sort of romanticised idea of feelings that are painful or dark, that they are more
meaningful,” says Peter, “but when I’ve been through dark times, I find that there isn’t a lot of
romance in that, that I function better and get more meaning out of positive experiences.”
The skill with which the Brewis brothers have spun a variety of personal experiences into this
wholesome album is dazzling, tiptoeing along a line between turmoil and joy with what looks to be
great ease. The fact that they’ve come out of a period of great turbulence with such an optimistic
view is testament to their ability as musicians. Underestimate them at your peril.
Words: Dariusz Kubicki
field-music.co.uk
Field Music play Arts Club on 22nd March. Open Here is out now via Memphis Industries.
34

Open Circuit
FESTIVAL
Open Circuit Festival
Victoria Gallery and Museum –
10/03–14/03
Held in the venerable Victoria Gallery and Museum on
Brownlow Hill (the building that coined the term ‘Redbrick
University’, trivia fans), OPEN CIRCUIT FESTIVAL is
a celebration of avant-garde music. Curated by the
Interdisciplinary Centre for Composition and Technology (ICCaT),
based in the Department Of Music at the University of Liverpool, the
centre specialises in research that investigates the very fabric of sound.
Their ethos sees staff and PhD students working together to explore
how music composition and sonic artforms relate to new technology,
performance and perception.
The 2018 event opens with a sterling double header on Saturday
10th March as (Mini) Rocket Scientist welcomes legendary free jazz
saxophonist EVAN PARKER performing with instrumental mavericks
ROCKET SCIENCE. The evening event sees the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra’s ENSEMBLE 10/10 perform a concert of
American and British contemporary music curated by ICCaT in
conjunction with Royal Northern College of Music conductor Clark
Rundell. A new work by Liverpool composer Matthew Fairclough
takes its place alongside contemporary pieces by Wubbels, Meredith,
Mincek and Horne. Alongside this, a new work by French composer and
installation artist GILBERT NOUNO – ICCaT’s composer-in-residence
for 2018 – will be on display in the VGM café.
Monday 12th March sees Cellophonics take place as JONATHAN
AASGAARD, principal cellist for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, leads
an afternoon concert of virtuosic performance for cello and electronics.
This is followed by an evening concert from PIXELS ENSEMBLE
(ICCaT’s ensemble-in-residence for 2018) featuring acclaimed young
guitarist SEAN SHIBE. Tuesday 13th March sees the festival’s Electronic
Music And Video Showcase take place, an annual fixture which focuses
on the relationship between audio and visual through fixed media work.
All performances will be projected in the concert hall through multiple
loudspeakers creating a virtual “cinema for the ear”. The evening
concert will be centred around interactivity, improvisation and audience
participation as the MERSEYSIDE IMPROVISORS ORCESTRA take to
the stage.
The festival reaches its finale on Wednesday afternoon with
Emerging Voices, as Pixels Ensemble return to perform exciting new
collaborations with PhD candidates from the University Of Liverpool. All
events are free but interested parties are advised to reserve tickets as
places are snapped up swiftly.
Mim Suleiman
GIG
Mim Suleiman
Buyers Club – 09/03
All-female nightlife collective SISBIS touch down at Buyers Club
for their biggest live show yet, with leftfield Afrobeat sensation
MIM SULEIMAN at the helm. The Zanzibar-born singersongwriter
and campaigner – commonly known as Mama
Africa Of The Modern Era – will be filling the dancefloor with a mix of drum
machine beats, ukuleles, percussion and synth magic that will undoubtedly
inspire you to get up and lose yourself in their bouncy grooves.
Suleiman moved to the UK from Zanzibar in the 1980s, teaching
metallurgy at the University Of Birmingham before turning her focus to
music. In a 2017 interview with BeyondSkinMedia, Suleiman credited this
career change as a massive force for good in her life. “[Who] was once a
person of no art has become now an artist within 15 years... it’s given me
a depth of life I’ve never had before.”
A passionate collaborator with world-famous artists (Baaba Maal,
Paul McCartney, Amadou & Mariam), Suleiman will be bringing her ultramodern,
Afrobeat-inspired futuristic pop music to Liverpool. The crowd
will be treated to a heady mix of soul, disco and deep house, with songs
that swell with love and affection. Suleiman deftly navigates themes of
freedom and oppression, unity and everyday life, predominantly sung
in her native Swahili, and skilfully accompanied by traditional Tanzanian
percussion. SisBis’ resident DJ – the Sicilian-born, adopted Scouser
GIOVANNA – will also contribute an electric DJ set full of Afrobeat and
hip hop to the festivities.
For this show, SisBis are teaming up with Africa Oyé to raise money
in aid of women’s refugee charity, MRANG (Merseyside Refugee And
Asylum Seekers Pre And Postnatal Support Group). MRANG work with
asylum seeker and refugee women and their children, including victims
of trafficking, sexual violence, domestic servitude, and other forms of
gender-based violence and human rights abuses. Suleiman’s inspiring
lyrics and infectious melodies will no doubt resonate with the themes
of the night, and those of SisBis and Africa Oyé; themes of acceptance,
tolerance, positivity and love.
PREVIEWS 35

PREVIEWS
GIG
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry
Arts Club – 13/03
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry
At 81 years old, LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY is one of the longestserving
reggae producers and artists of all time – not to mention
one of the most loved. The Jamaican’s innovative style and
creative genius have seen him become one of the biggest
reggae influencers in the world, pioneering a distinctive sound
that has formed the basis of decades of exploration in dub. His
2013 remix of Forest Swords’ track Thor’s Stone showed how
deep his influence stretches, opening up his music to a world
of groundbreaking contemporary electronic artists. With a big
following in Liverpool, ‘Scratch’ knows he’ll feel the love in Arts
Club once more.
CLUB
Eyez
North Shore Troubadour – 09/03
On a mission to revolutionise grime across the UK, fast-rising grime
MC EYEZ is bringing his infectious presence and stage persona to
an intimate Liverpool show from the team behind the successful
Merseygrime nights. Starting in his home town of Derby and
climbing the grime ladder by winning all the rap battles thrown
at him, Eyez is one of the few MCs giving the blossoming genre a
regional voice. After being part of the winning team at the 2016
Red Bull Grime-A-Side – where he was named man of the match in
the final – Eyez went on to host the show in 2017 and now counts
scene don Wiley as one of his fans.
Eyez
EXHIBITION + GIG
Nasty Women Launch
Constellations – 09/03
Constellations is being transformed into an exhibition space for
female-identifying artists as part of the global NASTY WOMEN
movement. Nasty Women is made up of art collectives all over the
world and serves to demonstrate solidarity in the face of threats to
the roll back of women’s rights, standing up and speaking out against
intolerance in all its forms. Over 40 artists will be showcasing their
work in the venue, with a line-up of talented musicians slated to play
the exhibition’s opening night. HANNAH’S LITTLE SISTER head up
proceedings, with their gravelly, bruised blues rock proving to be the
perfect hors d’oeuvre to what the exhibition has to say.
EXHIBITION
Viking: Rediscover The Legend
The Atkinson – 31/03-07/07
If traditional works of art aren’t your thing then ancient Norse artefacts
might just be more up your street. The most significant Viking
treasures ever discovered in Britain will be on display together for the
first time at The Atkinson in Southport. VIKING: REDISCOVER THE
LEGEND will feature historical objects from The British Museum and
The Yorkshire Museum that will offer you a new perspective on how
Vikings shaped every aspect of British life. Featuring one of the UK’s
most famous Viking collections – The Vale Of York Viking Hoard – and
showcasing groundbreaking archaeological research, the exhibition
reveals what it was really like to live as a Viking.
CLUB
Onra
24 Kitchen Street – 16/03
Onra
In support of his forthcoming album due to for release in March, a rare appearance from the globetrotting
Parisian beat maker ONRA will take place in the Baltic’s disco bolthole. Bringing with him a mix
of jazz through to funk, as well as a multitude of refreshing takes on traditional hip hop, the experimental
DJ and producer is sure to make Kitchen Street his home for the night. With six albums and numerous
EPs already under his belt, Onra is known as one of the most exciting producers around. His Chinoiseries
trilogy will be completed with his upcoming release, with his edits praised for their splicing of traditional
hip hop with Chinese pop influences.
FILM
Doc’N Roll
FACT and British Music Experience – 28/03-01/04
PLAY YOUR GENDER, a film documenting the disparities in the number of
female music producers and the consequences of this for female recording
artists; and SOME OTHER GUYS, a feature looking back at Liverpool’s vibrant
music scene in the 1960s, centered around the rise and fall of Merseybeat
group The Big Three, are just two of the films premiering at this year’s DOC N’
ROLL FILM FESTIVAL. Alongside some brilliant and thought-provoking music
documentaries, there will also be Q&As with filmmakers and artists as well as
live performances. For the full line-up of events taking place at FACT and the
British Music Experience head to docnrollfestival.com.
Play Your Gender
36

GIG
Belle And Sebastian
Philharmonic Hall – 19/03
Glaswegian indie folksters BELLE AND SEBASTIAN
pinpoint Liverpool as the place to end their latest tour, with
the opulence of the Philharmonic Hall joining a list of venues
from across Europe to host indie’s cosiest of gems. After
putting out nine high quality LPs over the past 22 years, the
group have decided on a different approach for releasing
their newest material, opting to tease us with one EP a
month. Their most recent single, We Were Beautiful, was
released through the first of these EPs in December 2017,
and is in tune with the quintessential Belle And Sebastian
cinematic slice of life, painting a picture of what it is to be
waking up over a Saturday morning in Glasgow.
GIG
Gnoomes
Buyers Club – 06/03
With 2018 down to be a fallow year for PZYK, there’s no doubt
a psych-filled hole in your gig-going schedule – particularly
that of the intercontinental kind. Good job then, that Russian
komische-electronic mash-up trio GNOOMES are stopping off at
Buyers Club this spring. Last year the three-piece released the
universally acclaimed album Tschak! through Rocket Recordings
– praised for the way it progressively uses synths and guitars to
explosive effect, it’s possibly, nay, probably, best experienced live.
Support is still to be announced but we imagine it will represent
the best of what Liverpool’s artists have to offer on the everexpanding
psych spectrum.
GIG
Shipwrecked IV: Sunstack Jones
Shipping Forecast – 02/03
Don’t worry if it feels too wintry right now – the sun is on
its way, because SUNSTACK JONES have a new album in
the pipeline. The group’s third LP will arrive just in time for
a spring upturn, full of lush textures and earworm melodies.
2018 has already seen them trial some of the new material
at a number of shows, and this latest event – hosted by THE
SHIPBUILDERS – will give you another chance to catch some
of their golden vibes prior to the album’s full release. You want
more? OK – GINTIS will be performing prior to Sunstack and
the night’s hosts, and you’ll be swooning all over them too
once you’ve been subjected to their winsome charms.
GIG
Fickle Friends
O2 Academy – 21/03
Named as one of the most essential new British indie-pop bands of 2018,
FICKLE FRIENDS are bringing their debut album You Are Someone Else
to Liverpool as part of a massive UK tour. With a string of tracks in their
wake, from Glue and Hello Hello (both regulars on Radio 1 playlists),
to new single Hard To Be Myself, which exudes all the tell-tale signs
of a classic pop anthem, Fickle Friends effortlessly capture the joy and
uncertainty of growing up in the millennial age. A killer band who have
worked tirelessly to build a loyal fanbase, songs surrounding relationships,
anxiety and pure unadulterated youth will no doubt resonate with
everyone who has experienced the pains of growing up.
Fickle Friends
COMEDY
Mark Thomas: Showtime From The Frontline
The Playhouse Theatre – 08/03-10/03
Mark Thomas
Setting up a comedy club in a refugee camp in Palestine is no mean feat, but
comedian MARK THOMAS managed to do just that. Thomas and his team
travelled to the Palestinian city of Jenin, where they joined forces with The Jenin
Freedom Theatre to get people sharing stories and cracking a good joke. Showtime
From The Frontline tells the story of Thomas, FAISAL ABU ALHAYJAA and ALAA
SHEHADA, two performers and aspiring comics from The Jenin Club, and their
mission to get people laughing in the face of adversity. It’s a funny, moving and
much needed story about being yourself in a place that doesn’t necessarily allow it.
GIG
Mark Sultan
Drop The Dumbulls – 07/03
As one half of The King Khan & BBQ Show (as well as being a former Spaceshit), MARK
SULTAN is one of a number of cult icons responsible for dragging garage rock ‘n’ roll kicking
and screaming into the 21st Century. Sultan – AKA Needles, Celeb Prenup, BBQ and a host
of other aliases – is a one-man whirlwind of a show, which he himself describes as “real
rock ‘n’ roll from the jukebox of Satansville”. Dumbulls is the perfect vessel for this night of
debauchery, with MINCEMEAT and EYESORE AND THE JINX setting the scene alongside
first-timers TEENAGE CRIMEWAVE.
Mark Sultan
CLUB
ENRG: Jon Hopkins
Invisible Wind Factory – 30/03
Jon Hopkins
Presenting a series of electronic experiences in the presence of worldclass
DJs is ENRG’s MO, and they’ve nailed it again for their latest effort
(rescheduled from December). Acclaimed recording artist and turntable
wizard JON HOPKINS heads up the main room in the Wind Factory with
his hypnotic grooves, joined by Hot Chip’s JOE GODDARD and ENRG
resident BLEHRIN. Along with this celebratory upstairs line-up, IWF’s
Substation will be hosting cult DJ collective A LOVE FROM OUTER
SPACE (Andrew Weatherall and Sean Johnston) throughout the night,
an oasis of slow in a world of increasing velocity.
PREVIEWS 37

THE
SOCIAL
ZUZU
+PIZZAGIRL
+KING HANNAH
23/03 - 8PM
CONSTELLATIONS
Free entry to Bido Lito!
Members, £7 adv
ticket to non-members
via bidolito.co.uk
Our free open day for music writers and photographers takes place at
the same venue from 6pm - for more info go to bidolito.co.uk

E V E N T H I G H L I G H T S
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19 March 2018
20 March
Cirque du Soleil: Ovo
16-19 August
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23 October
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1 April
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11 November
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15 December
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REVIEWS
“These women are asking
every venue, bar and cultural
organisation in the city to
question themselves: is
my space truly accessible
to everybody?”
Born In Flames
Grrrl Power and Hannah Bitowski
@ FACT 31/01
By now, many of Liverpool’s feminist, queer, and politicallyengaged
twenty- and thirty-somethings will be familiar with
Grrrl Power, a collective of three women collaborating to create a
platform for female creatives in the city and raise awareness about
issues concerning women, especially those from marginalised
communities outside of mainstream conversation.
Much of that activity has been focused on conversation;
creating spaces to discuss the challenges women face daily,
including harassment. Don’t Touch Me is a campaign seeking
to target clubs and venues to enforce stricter policies on verbal,
physical and sexual harassment, and to encourage victims to feel
confident in reporting such abuse, as well as giving others the
green light to step in and take action when they see it happening.
Other groups across the UK are doing similar work too, from Pussy
Palace (London) to Come Thru (Leeds), highlighting how this
behaviour has become worryingly normalised until now.
As part of FACT’s Refuge season – a programme of events
considering the idea of safe spaces in relation to art and cultural
institutions – Grrrl Power (Olivia Graham, Michelle Houlston, Aoife
Robinson) and Hannah Bitowski (co-founder of Queen Of The
Track, an alternative women’s magazine focusing on culture and
gender politics), present Lizzie Borden’s polemic BORN IN FLAMES.
Opening the event with an explanation of the collective’s
accountability statement, these four women stress the importance
of such guidelines. While I’ve engaged in conversations with
people who believe such formalities are a case of “political
correctness gone mad”, these reference points for respecting one
another’s identities can go some way to ensuring people of diverse
backgrounds and experiences feel comfortable in the same place,
and thankfully it’s something we’re seeing more of in our city’s
ever-developing cultural landscape, most notably with LGBTQ+ and
‘alternative’ events.
And why shouldn’t we? It’s our collective responsibility as
members of a community, and consumers of culture, to agree to
respect and listen to one another when sharing a space. Such
statements in no way limit enjoyment, or prevent experimentation,
but create an environment where audiences can feel comfortable
to be themselves, and to call out prejudice when they see it.
And so the tone is set for Borden’s documentary-style
feminist science-fiction film. The plot follows two New York
feminist groups, each using local pirate radio stations to convey
their message. After a political activist dies mysteriously in police
custody, both groups are galvanised into action, many joining
the Women’s Army, whilst being closely watched by the FBI and
a team of journalists. The film splices jarring scenes together,
pairing news reports with police meetings, picket lines with
intimate moments showing the various characters’ relationships.
Some of the most arresting scenes occur when Honey and Isabel
– the two group leaders – stare directly into the camera, spitting
into a microphone broadcasting to their radio listeners, melodically
enunciating the issues their communities face, and how they
must overcome. Music is hugely important in the film, with radio
segments pinpointing key plot moments, and the film’s title
coming from a song by the psychedelic experimental rock band,
Red Krayola, which punctuates the narrative.
Born In Flames is a stylised art film with a moody new wave
soundtrack and a message; demonstrating that when the police
and patriarchy will not help, women must organise, protest and
ultimately revolt in order to gain justice and safety for themselves.
“Which would you rather see come through the door: one
lion, unified, or five hundred mice? Five hundred mice can do a lot
of damage and destruction.”
Borden anticipated the importance of intersectional feminism,
as the film explores race, class and societal oppression against
women in addition to everyday sexism. The director also toys with
our understanding of labour, particularly in a montage sequence
showing female hands doing manual chores, from mundane
factory work, to putting on a condom, setting up the idea that
the Women’s Army eventually broadcast for consideration by the
nation: to pay women for housework.
In the same way that Borden created the script for her film,
so do Grrrl Power and Hannah Bitowski create their manifesto;
by inviting their peers to participate in a post-film discussion.
This democratic approach reflects the aim of creating a charter
that works not just to combat sexism, but to address racism,
transphobia, biphobia, homophobia, ableism and ageism too.
In essence, these women are asking every venue, bar and
cultural organisation in the city to question themselves: is my
space truly accessible to everybody? As Houlston admits on the
night, however, this event being hosted in FACT is immediately
problematic, as there are some communities who may not feel
comfortable or welcome in a gallery space, and subsequently that
earlier democratic discussion quickly becomes led by the white,
educated and middle class. I therefore hope that as this project
develops, Grrrl Power are able to reach out to other groups, hold
workshops and talks in more accommodating spaces and truly
listen to the people most affected by these issues, in order to
enact real change. !
Sinéad Nunes / @SineadAWrites
40

Nadine Shah (Day Howarth / dayhowarth.com)
Nadine Shah
Harvest Sun @ Leaf
01/02
The last time Liverpool hosted NADINE SHAH, she stole
the ramshackle show that was John Cale’s Velvet Underground
Revisited at Clarence Dock. Her interpretation of Femme Fatale
that night leapt out from the rest, a strange and otherworldly
moment when the sound took on a sudden unexpected
clarity and the wind piped down so we all could hear. Divine
intervention? Who knows.
Shah’s gig at Leaf some eight months later is sold-out, and
such is her popularity that the BBC are here too, making a radio
documentary about her status as a political songwriter. Her
most recent album, Holiday Destination, has themes around
immigration and class, the latter a topic carrying extra currency
right now, and Shah is knowledgeable and spirited about both
themes.
Tonight we’re treated – and it is a bloody treat too – to songs
from Holiday Destination: Place Like This, Jolly Sailor – about
her local pub back home in the North East, where her immigrant
parents have always been welcome – and Yes Men standing out
as particular highlights. That voice of hers is warm and engaging
on record, but tonight it takes on an extra richness and darkness,
and her band throw up flashes of Scott Walker’s brilliant and
unsettling Climate Of Hunter, adding to my own personal thrill.
Shah, this expressive, bold woman, conjures and claws at the air
as she sings, and pulls at both the ear and the eye.
She talks, storytelling, explaining her songs, why she wrote
the album, and pays tribute to murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, again
with her trademark passion. She’s an admirer of Billy Bragg and
his live delivery, I’m thinking. The two artists are miles away
musically, but as Shah speaks between songs with great emotion
– there’s no bullshit here – I can’t help but be reminded of a gig
Bragg delivered at the old/new Picket, now District, when the
British National Party were in bloom, instructing us all to spread
the word that racism and injustice are really bad things. Everyone
cheered noisily, and then went home, and along came UKIP.
The crowd tonight agree with everything Shah says and
sings about, and when they file out, they nod heads in approval.
Yet when I talk to the radio documentary people afterwards they
say vox pops from the audience – overwhelmingly of white men
comfortable and content with their lot – have been predictable,
safe within the boundaries, questions left unstretched and
untested. Nadine Shah knows she’s preaching to the converted at
Leaf, and at most of her shows. We’re of like minds in this room,
both those onstage and off it. Still, she insists that the messages
need saying anyway, and often, until things change. And she’s
right.
Cath Bore / @cathbore
Idles (Darren Aston)
Idles
Independent Venue Week @ Studio2
02/02
Let’s be honest, punk died years ago, but occasionally its corpse
creaks and twitches. The protagonists of the movement would be
swelling with pride, as Bristol’s best go at punk ethic since The Pop
Group are maturing into a vital and exciting act. Seeing them in
this environment before the inevitable rise to longer sets and much
bigger rooms is nervously exciting.
It’s the climax of the wonderful Independent Venue Week
2018. BBC 6Music have spent the week touring England and
highlighting the benefits, wonders and issues that running a venue
in these music streaming times presents. The week reaches a
high-point here on Parr Street with a live broadcast from IDLES:
the shouty five-piece are the epitome of what the week stands for.
The venues that have helped them get to this position of being able
to make a career out of what they now do is a testament to what
these places stand for. With studios, rehearsal rooms and venues
being squeezed out of the smaller satellite towns and the bigger
towns downsizing due to cultural austerity, shining a light on what
these places do is essential, and, for the BBC to actively support
and shout about them is one of the most important things for new
music right now.
With Idles being a case in point, one can imagine them jumping
at the chance to get involved. Tonight, the rarefied air of post teatime
is shattered by the aggro-punk every-night-is-bonfire-night
of Idles. 6.30pm on a freezing February evening is one way of kick
starting the weekend. Being broadcast to the nation should give
any band an excuse to temper the show and be a little more careful.
Not here. The band do their required 30 minutes and bounce back
after the broadcast to throw us some more as they don’t want to
“rip anyone off”.
Studio2 is definitely an intimate show and it more than satisfies
all parties’ criteria. You can see the whites of the eyes, smell the
sweat and feel the globs of spittle that frontman Joe gobs in the air
at various points. Although the free tickets given out to Liverpool
postcode holders isn’t making the place ‘sold-out’, it does lend an
air of curiosity from the rather aging crowd which only adds to the
expectation. The performance is so intense that the expectation
is met by the end of Stendhal Syndrome, the opening track. As
the effects of the first pint kick in, the band launch into the brilliant
Well Done and thus make it a more effective stormer. Mother
is self-edited as apparently you can’t use the word “fucker” on
daytime radio and kudos to the new song, Lovesong, with the lyrics
affirming the author’s love for their partner because they bought
them a card.
Idles are the real thing: they mean it maaaan. They are quite
simply one of the best live bands driving their battered van around
the country right now. And they will only get better. Brilliant.
Ian R Abraham / @scrash
REVIEWS 41

REVIEWS
“Their contemporary
and satirical
approach ensures
that this remains a
highly enjoyable and
accessible exhibition”
The King Is Dead Long Live The King (c) The Singh Twins
The Singh Twins: Slaves Of Fashion (Gareth Jones)
The Singh Twins: Slaves Of Fashion
Walker Art Gallery
19/01-20/05
Donald Trump sits on a Wal-Mart throne at fashion week; he is the epitome
of consumerism, the King of Cotton. Theresa May straddles India and the USA,
dousing the former in Scotch whiskey. Bush and Blair shake hands, smiling; they
make a blood pact while the globe they stand on burns.
SLAVES OF FASHION is the latest exhibition by THE SINGH TWINS
to grace the Walker Art Gallery, and it is just as politically engaging and
controversial as I had hoped. The Singh Twins are known for their unflinching
criticism of political corruption, and, in this exhibition, they choose the Indian
textile industry and its relationship with western fashion as their subject.
There is an important history lesson here, but their contemporary and satirical
approach ensures that this remains a highly enjoyable and accessible exhibition.
In recent years, The Singh Twins – Amrit and Rabindra Singh – have
received international recognition for their work. However, their relationship
with the art world and this city has not always been straightforward. While
at the University Of Liverpool, the twins faced prejudice for their interest in
Indian miniature painting, which was deemed traditional and outdated by their
professors. Certain members of the department were reluctant to accept that
non-European artforms had influenced contemporary, western art. The Singh
Twins refused to concede and never graduated. The success of this exhibition
thus feels particularly pertinent.
At the centre of Slaves Of Fashion are 11 large, mixed-media portraits of
historical figures. Each tells the story of a different aspect of the Indian textile
industry, and reveals the human cost behind luxury goods. In Coromandel:
Sugar And Spice, Not So Nice a slave hangs from a tree, barely visible behind
the rich detail and fabrics that dominate the image. In other paper works, The
Singh Twins explore this continuing colonial legacy, which is now manifested in
unethical consumerism. The title of one piece, The Adoration Of Profit Without
Consequence, could sum up the entire exhibition, and is a stark reminder of our
role in this deadly trade.
Though the subject matter of this exhibition is challenging, the aesthetic
appeal of The Singh Twins’ work is undeniable. They have revived the Indian
miniature tradition by including modern symbols and themes, creating a unique
style that they label ‘past modern’. The intricate detail and eclectic mix of political
references means you could spend hours decoding a single painting. It is
perhaps symbolic that I am initially drawn to their work for its beauty; only upon
closer inspection do I realise that they are telling a painful story.
Slaves Of Fashion is a must-see for anyone interested in colonial history,
traditional Indian art or political satire. Most of all, this is a chance to learn more
about two fascinating women of colour artists, who stuck with their interests
despite condemnation and discouragement. Their success story is truly inspiring.
Maya Jones / @mmayajones
42

Side A 33rpm
The UK's Music Documentary Festival returns
for its 3rd annual Liverpool edition! Presenting
7 film premieres + Q&As featuring the following
artists & scenes:
L7
The Big Three
John Coltrane
Ella Fitzgerald
The The
Iranian Techno
Manchester’s Infamous Electronic Scene
Tickets via:
Venues:
LISTEN TO THE
LIVERPOOL-IRISH
PLAYLIST AT
BIDOLITO.CO.UK
NOW
COME AND SAY
“HAIGH/HI” TO US AT
THE THREE
FESTIVALS TALL
SHIPS REGATTA
(25-28 MAY 2018)
PROGRAMME TBA SOON
LIVERPOOLIRISHFESTIVAL.COM

REVIEWS
Nightmares On Way (Paul McCoy / photomccoy.tumblr.com)
Nightmares On Wax
+ Hector Plimmer
+ MC Nelson
Bam!Bam!Bam! @ Invisible Wind Factory 09/02
Touring his latest album Shape The Future, NIGHTMARES ON WAX (George Evelyn) has
been around for a somewhat astonishing 27 years. He pretty much pre-empted the sound of the
21st Century back in the 90s with the release of three albums that mixed soul, hip hop, and dub
into a chilled soundscape that many have copied and which, given the critical acclaim of his latest
release, is showing no sign of fatigue.
An expectant crowd is filtering into the Invisible Wind Factory as another eclectic and
inspired set by No Fakin’ DJs precedes local rapper MC NELSON, who wastes no time in showing
why he is garnering so much attention, his easy flow and jazzy beats setting the tone for the
evening in a well-received set. He is followed by HECTOR PLIMMER who, along with keyboard
player Dave Koor, hits an immediate groove, a rock-solid drum pattern underscoring a melodica
style motif. Things take on a jazzy swing, tempo changes effortlessly executed, and they are
joined by vocalist And Is Phi whose rich, relaxed tones enhance the trip hop vibe, coolly delivered
over a dubby bass, which sees the growing crowd grooving as one.
While we wait for Nightmares On Wax, thunderous bass-heavy dance tunes fight against
a tremendous hubbub from the sell-out crowd and I wonder how they will impose themselves
on this gregarious gathering. George Evelyn takes to the stage and plonks himself down on
the leather couch that sits behind a low coffee table bearing his keyboards and mixers. Having
previously stated “… that’s why I don’t have a live drummer. The sound of the beats is what
makes Nightmares”, it is interesting that he has now decided to test that philosophy with the
inclusion of drummer Grant Kershaw (although I’m not quite sure that a drummer and additional
vocalists equates to the advertised ‘full band’).
They begin with several numbers from the new album Shape The Future, the first couple of
which do indeed seem to be competing with the crowd. The title track itself seems to hook them
in, floating on an eerie synth wave and exiting on the chanted “Shape the future” refrain via a
soulful introduction to the vocals of Sadie Walker, whose dreamy voice illuminates several songs.
Among them is a superb rendition of Deep Shadows, buoyed by apocalyptic clouds rolling slowly
across the twin video screens onstage. She and vocalist Mozez (Zero7) swap vocal duties with
Evelyn, and the connection between dancefloor and stage is cemented as old favourites Flip Ya
Lid, Les Nuits and You Wish really take the crowd to another level, singing and dancing along. At
this point we can introduce the phrase “couch-dancing” into the vocabulary, as Evelyn bobs and
weaves across the Chesterfield, projecting his spaced-out beats into the ether.
The decision to include a live drummer proves judicious as Kershaw turns in a virtuoso
performance that brings so much to the overall sound – maybe a drum machine can do this but
just to be able to watch Kershaw as his hands fly across the kit in a controlled fury is a joy, and
his playing is sublime throughout.
The images on screen have run the socio-political gamut from Soul Train to starvation, and
though Evelyn’s plea for funds for dance music charity lastnightadjsavedmylife.com could have
killed the atmosphere somewhat, the crowd are supportive. An encore of up-tempo grooves – Be
I Do, Da Feelin’ and Gotta Smile – ensures that the Invisible Wind Factory feels the bounce. Who
says you can’t mix compassion and hedonism?
Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd
44

This Is The Kit
+ Emma Gatrill
Harvest Sun @ Leaf
14/01
They come, hands buried deep in pockets and shoulders hunched against the biting grip of
the January cold. Seeking warmth and welcome, they pack in tight upstairs at Leaf for a soldout
show, one of many on this tour, from THIS IS THE KIT. Caught in their moment, and riding
the crest of a wave created by superb new album Moonshine Freeze, the band’s return to the
city feels a lot like a family occasion. And while This Is The Kit holds Kate Stables at its centre,
just watching the interaction between these innately talented musicians enhances that familial
feeling.
This latest record sees Stables’ wildly eclectic influences honed into a perfectly positioned,
cohesive whole. From folk to Afrobeat, blues to shiny pop, it is an album so naturally written and
delivered that there is no surprise in the fact the gig sold out so quickly, or that people are so
plainly delighted to be here.
The evening begins with an all-too-short set from EMMA GATRILL. Her voice, graced with
a delicate fragility, carries on waves of harp, piano and bass organ, with Marcus Hamblett’s
genteel assistance on guitar. Shockingly for Liverpool, the simple prettiness of their set hushes
the excitable crowd into reverential, pin-drop silence, as songs such as Cocoon, Cast Out and a
wonderful cover of Björk’s Hyperballad warm the room and the hearts of the eager crowd.
Stables takes the stage alone for the opener of Easy On The Thieves, circular rolls of banjo
lying under her lilting vocal, borne with the inflections of both her British background and her
current French home. With the gentle underpinning of Rozi Plain’s bass and the sparse, spacious
drums of James Whitby Cole, whose playing is essential yet understated throughout, songs such
as Bulletproof, one of Moonshine Freeze’s greatest moments, are given room to move, and lend a
sense of space to Stables’ vocals.
The new album’s title track, with its insistent, loose funk rhythm, all high-end bass and
stripped-back drums, is a true highlight of the set. Stables’ vocals dance freely over the top, and
Hamblett and Gatrill’s warm brass stylings add flavour.
Two Pence Piece is another album highlight. Set across a bare groove and highlighted
with Neil Smith’s spaghetti western guitar strains and close harmonies, it features the intuitive
opening line “Blood in my mouth, tasted of coin”. As with so much of Stables’ writing, it pulls the
crowd in, involving them in the stories as participants rather than merely observers.
The earthy, woody dance vibes of Magic Spell, from 2015’s Bashed Out LP, has the crowd
light on their feet, with Smith’s African guitar flavours, and Plain’s punchy bassline throbbing its
way through. It’s in moments such as these that Stables’ well-tuned ability to fluidly arrange the
perfect band around herself for each album shines through once again.
Hotter Colder carries a sense of the campfire, smoky and personal and looped around a great
riff from Stables’ ancient Hofner guitar, with the brass bringing that added French jazz vibe. It’s
another highlight in a night and a set of real highlights, a wonderful, warm celebration of a fine
band; a friendly welcome to all their listeners, the family they haven’t yet met but surely will.
Paul Fitzgerald / @nothingvillem
This Is The Kit (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu)
• Journalism
• Photography
• Publishing
The
Open Day
Meet the Bido Lito! team and develop your writing
and photography skills at free workshop sessions.
For more information go to bidolito.co.uk
23.02.18
6pm Constellations
REVIEWS 45

REVIEWS
Ezra Furman (Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd)
Ezra Furman
Arts Club
04/02
An illuminated clock face emblazoned with the word
‘Transangelic’ dimly lights the front of the room, while I side-step
my way through the huddled crowd, in pursuit of a space with
sufficient oxygen to get me through the next 90 minutes of EZRA
FURMAN’s latest visit to the Arts Club. It’s the most packed I’ve
ever seen the venue, yet there seems to be little anticipatory
energy in the room, and one too many comfy, space-engulfing
hiking jackets. Contrastingly adorned in pearls and a kneelength
frock, Furman opens with From A Beach House from
his new album Transangelic Exodus, which serves as a gentler
introduction to his set from what we’ve come to expect from the
Chicagoan rocker.
It takes a while for things to get going and with a less than
enthusiastic version of Haunted Head, he perhaps displays
early indulgence and fulfilment in tracks from his new album.
Furman’s seventh studio album could be described as being more
considered and creatively outreaching; exhibiting an impressive
story-telling dynamic to his songwriting, it details the paranoid,
visceral and supernatural tale of an angelic lover and their
evasion from an oppressive government.
In general, his newer tracks aren’t received with any
enthusiasm; No Place, which features bludgeoning toms and
a deep and distorted bassline, ignites a bracing, Iggy Pop-like
rawness in some, but in others it seems to unsettle or irritate.
This irritation seems to resurface at times through the set, as
audible shushing and passive-aggressive remarks are exchanged
between punters packed at the back of the room.
It may be due to the intended lack of support for tonight’s
show, but the crowd show very little of the attitude, rawness and
empowering emancipation that emanates from Furman’s music.
Fortunately, favourites such as My Zero and Tip Of A Match draw
the crowd in for the carefree cavorting of which you’d expect.
Furman is, as ever, engagingly powerful; his voice commanding,
you feel every word, the pain, the joy, the humour. In between
songs he evokes a fragile, coy, child-like playfulness that is
incredibly endearing.
Furman’s new album seems to mark an end of a chapter
musically for the artist, a necessary evolution for artists that like
to stay fulfilled and relevant. Parts of the crowd around me may
not have been ready for their ears to be turned to new sounds,
but there is certainly more to come from Furman, and I’m sure
this will be a defining new chapter in his musical ascent.
Jonny Winship / @jmwinship
Ezra Furman (Glyn Akroyd / @GlynAkroyd)
Moodymann
+ Pooky
Boogaloo x Down To Funk @ Meraki
26/01
For someone who’s had such a big part to play in the
progression of house music over the years, MOODYMANN
(Kenny Dixon Jr.) has kept himself out of the limelight. Since the
90s he has gained a staunch, underground following, which
has made him a cult hero in Detroit and worldwide. He has
stayed mysterious yet a name that all music lovers know, which
is something that not many producers and DJs have done so
successfully.
Last year the Detroit spinner played at Invisible Wind
Factory, one of Liverpool’s largest venues; this time round, it’s set
to be a much more intimate gig at Meraki, one of the city’s most
exciting, upcoming venues in the North Docks. The single room
is stripped back and has that raw feeling to it, which a lot of the
best new venues have gone back to nowadays.
Up beforehand is POOKY, and, similar to what we expect
from Moodymann, he’s keeping the crowd on their toes with his
selections, switching between acid-infused techno, psychedelic
funk and even shifting on to Thundercat’s Friend Zone.
Almost an hour after originally anticipated, Moodymann
makes his way behind the decks. The packed-in crowd are, by
now, eager with anticipation. If you’re stranded the back of the
room, there’s no way of getting to the front to get a glimpse
of the main man – and even those at the front have to let their
imagination do the work, with Moodymann’s bucket hat and
black mask creating an enigmatic façade. “How are you feelin’?”
are the first words we hear from that smooth, velvety voice as he
slides behind the mic as he always does. The crowd is primed.
The selector fires into a set that includes an array of house
tunes, like the flawless Transient by Mr G, before switching up
the set halfway through as he veers into liquid drum ‘n’ bass.
He keeps things on the right side of party, too, mixing into Kelis’
Millionaire before paying his respect to the city with The Beatles’
classic Come Together. The room stays packed, and no one
leaves until the set finishes. When you experience a night with
Moodymann, you can never be sure what music he will bring with
him, but you can be certain that it will be a night you won’t forget
too easily.
Joe Hale
46

ROUND UP
A selection of the best of the rest from another busy
month of live action on Merseyside.
Sat 3 Mar to Sat 14 Jul
Lerner and Loewe’s
Jorja Smith (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu
Some would say her musical style is smooth hip hop, others have called it vintage RnB, even
garage or jazz, but JORJA SMITH doesn’t want to be defined by a genre. She simply makes the
music she wants to make. Sophie Brereton finds herself at Invisible Wind Factory, trying to unpick
what her sound is all about.
Support act MAHALIA kicks off the night, and it seems people are just as excited for
her as they are for the headliner. Mahalia makes the stage her own, performing a flawless acoustic
cover of Solange’s Cranes In The Sky mashed-up with The Weekend by SZA. She revels in the
reception from her new fans.
Smith opens with Something In The Way, an atmospheric and moody number that makes this
warehouse feel like an intimate club show. An unreleased track, February 3rd, embraces the neosoul
vibe that her work tends to embody and is complimented with a catchy chorus. There’s a lot
of love in this room for her, and it’s easy to see the passion that Smith bears for each of her songs.
The size of the crowd exhibits the influence this ascendant artist is having on the industry.
Much like his internet-famous artwork, psych-pop musician MONTERO is a rarely wholesome
and relatable songwriter. Georgia Turnbull heads to Shipping Forecast, hoping to find the chilled
out early Neil Young and Nilsson-esque loveliness of his new album Performer. The first act on
the bill is THE WOOLS, who sound like the best of The Coral (that’s a big compliment, by the
way). SEATBELTS are one of the highlights of the night; their jangly psychedelia is energetic and
amazing from the get-go. DANYE have a motorik vibe; all the songs melt together into one within
their set, creating a synthy, dreamscape throughout.
Then the main act arrives, without his band – but it’s not long before members of the audience
are encouraged up on stage to fill in as his impromptu band. I’m not sure I’ll be asked back after
my brief stint behind the drum kit, however. Montero’s first ever solo set is ramshackle, witty,
wholesome and full of love for The Beach Boys. If you have a chance to see Montero, you’re in for
an experience you won’t forget – but for all the right reasons.
After amassing a loyal, cult-like following from 2014’s debut album Don’t Say That,
SUPERFOOD have transformed from a regular four-piece band into a duo, producing 2017’s
critically acclaimed, brilliant Bambino. Conal Cunningham heads to EBGBS where funky basslines
and catchy sing-a-long choruses make it impossible not to let loose, swing your hips and show
your love for the band. The disco-influenced, bassy numbers of Natural Supersoul and Raindance
complement the older, singalong tracks such as TV, You Can Believe and Superfood. The feel-good
atmosphere is infectious and seemingly inevitable at a Superfood gig, and their short, sweet set
only leaves the crowd wanting more.
A musical play
Book and Lyrics by
Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe
Original dances created by Agnes DeMille
Director Gemma Bodinetz
Designers Molly Lacey Davies & Jocelyn Meall
Musical Director & Orchestrator George Francis
Lighting Designer Kay Haynes
Sound Design Everyman Sound Department
Choreographer Tom Jackson-Greaves
Assistant Designer Natalie Johnson
Casting Director Sophie Parrott
Performed by arrangement with
Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited
Full reviews of all these shows can be found now at bidolito.co.uk.
REVIEWS 47

february
14th feb - mellowtone w/ ellie rose smith
16th feb - limf academy showcase
17th feb - life at the arcade (dj set)
18th feb - mike dawes guitar seminar
18th feb - ground floor open mic
21st feb - mellowtone w/ dave o’grady
22nd feb - ‘we want women’ open mic
23rd feb - brickhouse + guests
24th feb - rats (dj set)
25th feb - ground floor open mic
26th feb - silent movie night
28th feb - mellowtone w/ alan o’hare
thursday 1st march - launch night of
‘the underground arts society’
Monday / wednesday / Thursday / friday / saturday / sunday

FEBRUARY & march
Feb 16 liverpool Art Society presents ‘Date Night’
Feb 17 Strange Bones + Three From Above & more
Feb 18 Mike Dawes + Alx Green, greg larkin
Feb 23 Cabezudos + frazer, monks
Feb 24 28 Costumes album launch
Feb 25 Old Corpse Road + Daemona
march 2 plugger beatz presents satin beige + guests
march 3 rival bones + takotsubo men, mad alice
march 9 sheafs + very special guests
march 10 salvador + phase3, faraday & more
march 16 off axis presents spark + jekyll
march 17 st patricks day special
march 22 the wholls + hello operator, big bambora
march 23 m2tm heat 1 with special guests - prognnosis
march 24 liverpool beard and moustache championships
march 25 hair club live
march 29 vinyl junkie & amp presents broken witt rebels
Tickets available via skiddle.com - all shows 18+

BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111
MANchesteracademy.net
MOOSE BLOOD
SATURDAY 3RD MARCH
MANCHESTER ACADEMY
THE QUIREBOYS
FRIDAY 23RD MARCH
ACADEMY 3
UGLY KID JOE
TUESDAY 17TH APRIL
ACADEMY 2
HOPSIN
TUESDAY 6TH MARCH
ACADEMY 2
THE FRATELLIS
FRIDAY 23RD MARCH
MANCHESTER ACADEMY
TRIVIUM
FRIDAY 20TH APRIL
MANCHESTER ACADEMY
YO LA TENGO
MONDAY 30TH APRIL
ACADEMY 2
COASTS
FRIDAY 20TH APRIL
ACADEMY 2
REEF / THE WILDHEARTS
/ TERRORVISION
FRIDAY 4TH MAY / MCR ACADEMY
TURBOWOLF
FRIDAY 9TH MARCH
ACADEMY 3
PHOENIX
SUNDAY 25TH MARCH
MANCHESTER ACADEMY
RUSS
MONDAY 12TH MARCH
MANCHESTER ACADEMY
NO HOT ASHES
SATURDAY 31ST MARCH
ACADEMY 2
SALAD
SATURDAY 21ST APRIL
ACADEMY 3
NINA NESBITT
SATURDAY 19TH MAY
CLUB ACADEMY
BEN HARPER &
CHARLIE MUSSELWHITE
FRIDAY 6TH APRIL / ACADEMY 2
PROUD MARY
SATURDAY 9TH JUNE
CLIUB ACADEMY
AT THE DRIVE-IN
TUESDAY 13TH MARCH
MANCHESTER ACADEMY
SOLOTOKO
FT. SONNY FODERA
SATURDAY 7TH APRIL / ACADEMY 2
LARKINS
SATURDAY 21ST APRIL
ACADEMY 2
PLASTIC HOUSE
SATURDAY 17TH MARCH
ACADEMY 3
MISTERWIVES
SATURDAY 7TH APRIL
ACADEMY 3
SKINDRED
SUNDAY 22ND APRIL
MANCHESTER ACADEMY
EELS
TUESDAY 3RD JULY
MANCHESTER ACADEMY
KING NO ONE
SATURDAY 17TH MARCH
ACADEMY 2
JOSH ROUSE
THURSDAY 26TH APRIL
ACADEMY 3
CARPENTER BRUT
THURSDAY 22ND MARCH
ACADEMY 2
THE DEAD DAISIES
THURSDAY 12TH APRIL
ACADEMY 2
GEORGE CLINTON &
PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC
SATURDAY 7TH JULY / MCR ACADEMY
LITTLE COMETS
FRIDAY 13TH APRIL
CLUB ACADEMY
REJJIE SNOW
FRIDAY 27TH APRIL
ACADEMY 2
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
THURSDAY 4TH OCTOBER
ACADEMY 2
SANGO
THURSDAY 22ND MARCH
CLUB ACADEMY
THE WONDER YEARS
FRIDAY 13TH APRIL
ACADEMY 2
THE SMITHS LTD
SATURDAY 28TH APRIL
ACADEMY 3
FAT FREDDY'S DROP
SATURDAY 3RD NOVEMBER
MANCHESTER ACADEMY
facebook.com/manchesteracademy @mancacademy FOR UP TO DATE LISTINGS VISIT MANChesteracademy.net

Lee ’Scratch’
Perry
Arts Club, Liverpool
Tuesday 13th March
Michael
Chapman
Deaf Institute, Manchester
Sunday 22nd April
Michael
Chapman
Philharmonic Hall,
Liverpool
Thursday 26th April
Courtney
Marie Andrews
Arts Club, Liverpool
Saturday 21st April
Peter Hammill
The Stoller Hall,
Manchester
Wednesday 25th April
Robyn
Hitchcock
Philharmonic Hall,
Liverpool
Wednesday 23rd May
The Rutles
Philharmonic Hall,
Liverpool
Friday 1st June
@Ceremonyconcert / facebook.com/ceremonyconcerts
ceremonyconcerts@gmail.com / seetickets.com
THURSDAY
12 APRIL
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SAY
THE FINAL
“The single
hardest right to
exercise is to be
seen as an equal
amongst my
peers”
Photo by Jerry Kiesewetter
On the centenary of the
Representation Of The People
Act, which gave certain eligible
women in the UK the right to
vote for the first time, MP for
Wirral South Alison McGovern
hails the progress made,
but reflects on the implicit
bias that still exists in the
continuing battle for universal
acceptance.
Many of the worst conversations I have about
feminism are with the men I love most in the world.
It is easy to be angry with Donald Trump
when he says feminism is “going too far,” after all
he has done for women; it is hard to be angry with your friend
because he has just blamed the female members of juries for
not convicting more rapists. Because even though there may be
evidence of bias of women jurors, the act of men blaming women
for sexism, is, in the end, just more misogyny. It is hard to be
angry with a close family member because they have called your
little girl ‘bossy’ again. And to make them see that even though
he wants to be kind to her, the constraints he is unwittingly
applying to her behaviour contrast wildly with the easy
acceptance he has of all manner of aggression from little boys.
What’s more, it is harder still to challenge the women you
love when they tell you your skirt is too short, that they are really
enjoying their new diet, and that they can’t imagine how you
work so late, given how much your child must miss you.
Thankfully, the current centenary of the first women voting
in 1918 will involve no such hard conversations. It will involve
myriad easy conversations. Women should be allowed to
vote. Thankfully, now it is so obvious that this should be the case,
we can gleefully celebrate the 100 years since, and we can gloss
over the fact that 2018 is only the anniversary of middle class
women over 30 getting the vote.
We can have easy conversations about how right the
suffragettes were, even though by today’s standards quite a
few of them would still be considered violent arsonists. We can
have easy conversations celebrating the number of women MPs,
while we gloss over the fact that one of our main political parties
can elect two women Prime Ministers but cannot stop making
women in the country financially worse off; and the other main
political party – much though Labour should be proud of – cannot
elect a woman to lead it at all.
We can have easy conversations about the past, because it is
a different country, and no one need think about what they would
have done if in the shoes of men in the House of Commons 100
years ago, even though at the time 55 Members of Parliament (all
men, of course) voted against the bill to give women the vote. We
will gloss over all of this, because it is only right that the people who
gave their lives up to campaign for women to vote are remembered
and properly celebrated. These are the easy conversations, and we
should have them in great volume and length.
Much harder are the conversations about death.
I have heard the often repeated statistic that, ‘two women
a week are killed by male violence’, so like most of these things
you hear all the time, I assumed it was bullshit. It turns out it
is. It’s actually numerically closer to three women a week (the
yearly total in 2017 was 138). I am not an expert, so I cannot
tell you why men kill women. But they do. And hard though that
fact is to face, it must stop. We cannot live anymore in a country
where one of our gender defaults is that women who seek a life
partner take their life in their hands.
I don’t think the suffragettes took hammers to smash
Parliament’s windows because they thought it was a great way
to raise awareness of their issue; they did it because the power
of that hammer in their hand was the only channel they could
think of capable of expressing their emotional fire at women’s
oppression. Imagine how their anger would burn if they knew
that, still, 100 years later, in the minds of many men, women
are expendable. If they knew that, too often, women are just a
feature in a man’s control and power over his world. I can tell
you that the people I have met who have suffered from such
abuse are deeply and rightly angry. And anger must not be
wasted so change must come. And we should not hold back in
protesting until it does.
But one thing that I have learnt from my past eight years as
a Member of Parliament is that, whatever my legal rights – to
vote in an election, to be a candidate in an election, to take my
seat in the House of Commons and represent my constituents
– the single hardest right to exercise is the right is to be seen
as an equal amongst my peers. This is the unconscious bias
that holds women back. Whether it is the assumptions that
are made about our knowledge and interests, or the manner in
which we are interrupted, or the frankly patronising tone that
is taken about women who use their position to campaign for
equality, this bias against women is the biggest problem we
face.
And that is what makes it the very hard conversation we
must have this year. The suffragettes won a victory in law: to
make their victory one of lived reality, people who harbour a
bias – conscious or unconscious – against women must leave
that state of mind behind.
Sadly, though, I cannot make that happen. Women cannot
make it happen. It is – as it was in 1918 – in the gift of men to
change their minds. !
54

BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND
5TH - 7TH MAY 2018
OVER 180 BANDS ACROSS 16 STAGES, INCLUDING...
KRAFTY KUTS • BEARDYMAN
[MORE HEADLINERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON]
SILENT K (FT. DAVE MCCABE) // STEALING SHEEP (Djs) // TURBOWOLF
SCARLET // HATCHETT // MANUELA // THE CHEAP THRILLS
EDGAR JONES // 28 COSTUMES // TONY WRIGHT (TERRORVISION)
POLO // STRANGE COLLECTIVE // THE LANCASHIRE HOTPOTS
Alex & The Boss Jockeys // BIG BAD NOLAN // BISCH NADAR // BRIBES // Cave Party // COW // CRAPSONS // The Cubical
Dantevilles // DAN & THE COUNTERFACTUALS Darko // DEAD NAKED HIPPIES //THE DEBT STARS // THE Drifting Classroom
DR WELSH // East Cote // FERAL WHEEL // The FernwEh // Fick As Fieves // The FluorescentS // GLENDALE FAMILY // GINTIS
The Golden Age Of TV // The Good Host // Good Grief // Hushtones // I, The Lion // KATIE MAC // KILLAFLAW // Kula Bay
LOOSE MOOSE STRING BAND // Major Major // Mamadou // Memory Girl (ft. Natalie McCool) //The Mexican Walking Fish
ONLY CHILD // OVVLS // PEACH FUZZ // Pete Bentham and The Dinnerladies // PETER AND THE WEREWOLF // Salt the snail
SATURN UNITED // The Shipbuilders // Sheepy // Silverdale // Snakes Everywhere // SPARK // SPQR // SPLINTERED UKES
Stadt Skulls // Turbulence // TV ME // UKEBOX // Vidar Norheim // VIOLETS // Voo // YAMMERER // LOADS LOADS MORE
PLUS: WRESTLING // LIVERPOOL IRISH FESTIVAL // POP UP CINEMA // STREET FOOD STALLS // COMEDY // THEATRE
FREE ENTRY TO ALL STAGES
AFTERPARTY TICKETS £10 - MORE DETAILS COMING SOON
facebook: smithdownfestival // twitter & instagram: smithdownfest
proudly supporting

BIOCENTRISM
ENERGY CREW PRESENT
FRI 30 MARCH 2018 ENRG PRES.
GOLDILOCKS PRINCIPLE
JON
HOPKINS
DJ SET
JOE
GODDARD
(HOT CHIP) DJ SET
BLEHRIN
In The Substation all night long, very special guests...
A LOVE FROM OUTER SPACE
ANDREW
WEATHERALL
& SEAN
JOHNSTON
Venue:
Invisible Wind Factory,
2 Regent Road,
Liverpool, L3 7DS
ENRG:
0151 707 5010
info@Energy-Crew.com
Tickets Online:
Ticketarena.co.uk
Residentadvisor.net
Skiddle.com, Dice.fm