Bido Lito! Magazine | Issue 114 | June 2021

REVIEWS
Shame (Darren Aston)
“They play this
60-capacity room
in Birkenhead
like it’s Wembley
Stadium”
Shame
Future Yard – 31/05
It’s an unusually warm Tuesday evening in
Birkenhead and Future Yard is practically sizzling
with a strange sense of anticipation. Apprehension,
even. After all, for many of us this is the First Gig Back
post-lockdown. Tables of two, six feet apart, masks, no
standing up, no dancing, ordering pints on an app. These
are all unfamiliar things even for seasoned gig-goers.
But as soon as SHAME fly onto the stage, any
apprehension quickly dissipates. Like greyhounds
released from the traps, the South London six-piece
launch straight into a riotous hour of pure post-punk joy.
From the off, frontman Charlie Steen has us completely
under his control. He has a certain look in his eyes as if
he’s bursting with things to tell us – and we’d better be
listening.
“I hope that you’re hearing me” goes the hook of
first album favourite Concrete and, well, we certainly
are. Steen’s voice carries its power not only through its
sheer volume, but through the conviction and clarity of
his diction. Every syllable is carefully executed and is
accompanied with a corresponding point of the finger,
a swing of the mic, a jab of the chin. It almost feels
choreographed. It’s utterly captivating.
Steen’s moves are no better demonstrated than
on set highlight, Nigel Hitter. It is a tight, slick affair
that reflects their growth from an angsty first album
back in 2018 to the more sophisticated sound of this
year’s Drunk Tank Pink. As such, latest single Born
In Luton is another standout. Oscillating between a
jagged, incessant guitar riff in the verses and a haunting,
cinematic chorus, it encapsulates all the intricate
complexities that made Drunk Tank Pink so triumphant.
Oldies like One Rizla are indeed met like the familiar
anthems they are, but it’s their new material that really
impresses.
What is perhaps most striking is that, behind all
the bravado, Shame are a remarkably humble band.
Instead of moping about the irony of playing postpunk
to what looks like an exam
hall full of wooden desks due to
government-enforced rules, they
play this 60-capacity room in
Birkenhead like it’s Wembley
Stadium. They seem genuinely
grateful to be here; a gratitude
that is undeniably reciprocated
by their audience tonight.
Before we know
it, the soaring Station
Wagon brings the set to a
spectacular close. At the
song’s crescendo, Steen is
teetering on the edge of
the stage, standing tall,
arms outstretched, sweat
dripping. It makes for
a dramatic concluding
tableau that lingers in
our minds as we’re
thrust out, stunned,
back into the early
evening sunshine.
The First Gig
Back was always
going to be loaded
with expectation. But tonight, Shame have dispelled any
anxieties that might have been felt an hour ago. Instead,
we’re left with an overwhelming feeling of optimism.
After over a year deprived of live music, there was no
better band than Shame – and no better venue than
Future Yard – to welcome us back.
Alice Williams
Shame (Darren Aston)
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