A Greenpeace benefit gig, this night gave us 4 diverse acts in a bill put together by 23 Music Management.
First up was Louis Rive, known to BM by reputation but not seen live before, performed his set on solo guitar. A singular writer, some of whose output reminded BM a bit of A New International and possibly Momus, with subjects ranging from the historical (‘King Arthur’) to the personal (‘M8 Adventurer’). Singing in a Scottish accent but at times in fluent Spanish (he has recently return from a long spell there…), there were some clever and quite hilarious couplets and some great melodies – worth the watching…
Record label collective Atlas Works performed as a two-piece with additional female vocals from Somnia, mainly rapping with laptop musical backing, not all tracks that well-developed but there was a definitely something of the Solareye in the first couple of tracks while the next couple had Miles Better’s treated Autotune-esque vocals which worked really well… Somnia led the last couple of tracks which were more trancey and laid-back – there’s certainly a lot talent there, given a bit more time BM thinks some of this could go far…
BM faves Motopia were on next, a slightly changed lineup with another guitarist subbing for Andy tonight. They played a storming set with squalling instruments topped by Mairead’s vocal acrobatics – highlights tonight were probably the furious ‘Clocking On’ and a cover of ‘Killing In The Name’ which got the increasingly boisterous audience jumping around furiously – job done!
Maz and the Phantasms were slightly depleted tonight, being down by one keyboard player (looking for applicants!), Maz the vocalist lost her voice the day before (though the vocals actually came through fine) and Jamie’s bass guitar which needed to be restrapped with cable halfway through the set (these things happen…) – nevertheless they played like their lives depended on it, with tight timing and coordinated stagecraft (jumping in a line being a speciality…). Familiar tracks like ‘Psychosomatic’ and ‘Spirit Guide’ went down a storm, along with at least one new one and a last blast through the extraordinary ‘Voices In My Head’ – the music and delivery here was intense, a deft melding of punk, funk, indie and soul plus some continental influences which set them apart from many bands in this city.