The Sisters Of Mercy, Rock City, Nottingham

Supported By VirginMarys

I have seen the VirginMarys a few times live always as a support band but not for some time, so it's no surprise to learn that it's now ten years since the guitarist-drummer twosome of Ally Dickaty and Danny Dolan's first album and they were together a while before that.

They are just as I remember. Lively and... loud. Particularly those drums but they are also hugely impressive as they literally blow us away with their grunge/punk tunes.

Then for those with any eardrums left. It's time for the Sisters.

It's also been a while since I saw the Sisters of Mercy. Far too long I think. I stopped going because they seemed to have become almost a parody of themselves. The last time I saw them at Rock City the sound was really poor, the best days of Andrew Eldritch's vocal cords seemed well behind him while the stage was so utterly drenched in dry ice that you were left wondering if there was actually a band there on stage at all and you had fallen for some elaborate scam.

So yes, I've been away too long, because tonight was nothing like that. Tonight the Sisters rocked up at Rock City and rocked out, putting on an amazing stage show and the assembled masses loved it. The sound was top notch, Eldritch's voice problems seemed in remission while not only was the dry ice in moderation but they even have a decent light show going on.

 

Whereas last time I though the band just seemed to be going through the motions this time that certainly isn't the case. The band’s two guitarists long-time collaborator Ben Christo and newbie 'Sister' Kai, a replacement for Dylan Smith who was dispensed with earlier in the tour, are fully engaged tonight and throwing old skool rock poses all over the stage. While Chris Catalyst man’s Doktor Avalanche the drum machine, whatever that involves.  

 Then there's Eldritch, and yes his voice isn’t what it was but he more than gets by tonight for a man of 64.

You could be a cynic and say the show involves a lot of karaoke. Doktor Avalanche the drum machine has, of course, always been a thing for them but now it's all the keyboard parts and also all the bass lines as the band have long since dispensed with a bass guitarist. 

The band power through a set routed in 1990's 'Vision Thing' album with 'Doctor Jeep', 'Ribbons', a truly thumping 'More' and 'I Was Wrong' featuring along with the classic that is 'Alice', 'Marian' and the Sisterhood's 'Giving Ground' which are interspersed with numerous unreleased songs before they end the main set with another classic in the 'Temple of Love'.   

 

The 'new' songs are controversial and always have been because the Sisters have released zilch since 'Vision Thing' apart from the 1993 'Under The Gun' single, which doesn't feature tonight, but they still keep performing new tracks. Tonight’s set consists of no less than eight of these but it has to be said that most of them are pretty good. This wasn't the case when they first started adding new tracks a couple of decades ago but then they've obviously had plenty of time to refine them.

Eldritch long ago said he saw no reason to release a new record and seems to abhor the prospect of entering a recording studio, employing the necessary people and then paying them both for time and royalties. Why bother, he says, when people can just come to a gig. Problem with that is, despite their prodigious touring record, most fans are probably only attending one gig a year and then when Eldritch eventually stops touring all you will be left with are the dodgy YouTube clips recorded on someone's phone. 

He really needs to sort this and to be fair to him he didn't entirely rule out a new release in recent interviews. As I'm sure he knows, the music industry has evolved and we now live in an era of self-published music and the likes of Bandcamp.

Of course he may be worried that a new record wouldn't be able to live up to the older ones and it probably won't but that's missing the point.

While the set is fantastic, the encore is something else. They have a saxophone up on stage for the instrumental 'Sandstorm' but then it's the fantastic threesome from 'Floodland' of ‘Dominion / Mother Russia', a truly bombastic 'Lucretia My Reflection' and then to close the Hey now! Hey now now! singalong of 'This Corrosion'. Top night.

On the basis of the reaction tonight, and the band's enduring popularity as demonstrated by practically every venue on this tour hanging up the 'sold out' signs, a new record would sell rather well. I think he is missing an open goal here. Get it sorted.

The View, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

 Supported By The Rosadocs

Support tonight comes from The Rosadocs, a five piece from Sheffield who have shades of early Arctic Monkeys about them and certainly don't lack for confidence. This specifically includes lead vocalist Keelan Graney singing their fifth track from amongst the crowd and continually bragging about selling out Sheffield City Hall tomorrow night. Really?

On closer inspection (e.g. Google) this amounts to the 850 capacity Ballroom not the entire City Hall. Not that that isn't impressive in itself as that's twice the capacity of tonight's gig at the Rescue Rooms. Are they worth their own hype? Maybe. They're very good.

If they are a band on the up, The View are a band whose trajectory has been all over the place. They appeared in some style with 2007’s ‘Hats Off to the Buskers’ but their career has been somewhat mixed since and not without some controversy. They seem to have broken up and reformed many times or at least that is the perception.

In fact the opening night of their current comeback tour back in May ended in a fight on stage in Manchester between lead singer Kyle Falconer and the bass player Kieren Webster. Which didn’t initially bode well for them making it as far as this gig in Nottingham. Surprisingly though, here they are. They even dropped a new album ‘Exorcism of Youth‘ in August.

An oldie ‘Glass Smash‘ starts things off in a lively manner with the more restrained ‘Grace‘ following and then they are into ‘Wasted Little DJ’s‘, their debut single. At this point it is clear that the band seem not only to be getting along with each other but positively enjoying themselves.

 

Falconer’s voice is still in great shape but then the group, who do seem to have been around forever, are still in their mid-thirties.

There are quite a few tracks from the new album too which seem to go down well. ‘Neon Lights’ has a shout along chorus which helps and just in case that isn’t going to be enough for ‘Allergic To Mornings’, Falconer makes sure we know the words to the chorus before we start. 

Following another new track ‘The Wonder of It All’, his sparring partner Webster takes the mic for the almost impossible to sing along to ‘Skag Trendy’.

You do feel throughout that the gig is always teetering on the edge of chaos without ever quite getting there but while that’s their modus operandi if anything tonight’s performance could almost be described as slick particularly when Falconer sits down on the drum kit for an acoustic version of ‘Face For The Radio‘. 

However after just fifteen quickfire songs in a brief hour, the band seem to think fuck it and cut three songs off the printed set list. After rattling through the energetic pair of ‘Superstar Tradesman’ and ‘Shock Horror’ they leave the stage and don’t return for an encore but, hey, that’s The View.  

Little Man Tate, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Kicking off the evening are the Shambolics from Glasgow sporting three guitars, a bass player and a drummer. A proper old school set up even if the third guitarist does dabble on the keyboards from time to time. Unfortunately this energetic group of lads were only entertaining 29 people. I know the crowd was that small because I actually counted them. It does get gradually busier and I hope the band is pulling them in as they are decent.

 

It is much busier for tonight's main band, Little Man Tate, who come on to the Pearl and Dean music, you know 'bah bah bah', which is in fact called 'Asteroid', and then Carter USM's 'Sheriff Fatman'.

I have never actually seen Little Man Tate live before. I followed them loosely in their early days but after releasing two albums in two years they caught me by surprise when they broke up the following year. That was in 2009. I vowed to right that wrong when after an eleven year break they announced their re-formation in early 2020 but then of course Covid intervened.

Now here they are in Nottingham on a UK Tour and that wrong has finally be righted.

They get off to a flying start with three tracks from their debut album 'About What You Know' namely 'Man I Hate Your Band', 'European Lover' and 'What? What You Got' before they do that we’re going to play songs from our new album thing. Which would have been fine had that first album in over fifteen years 'Welcome To The Rest Of Your Life' been out but it isn’t until next month.  

 

So to play no less than six songs that are unfamiliar to the crowd is pushing your luck a bit but if anyone’s going to pull it off its frontman Jon Windle who isn't a man who lacks for confidence as he tells us that the first of these newbies called ‘Cheap Stolen Kisses’ is about his now ex-wife having an affair with her boss.

It’s all very entertaining stuff and of course they do intersperse the new material with more familiar crowd pleasers. This though, as they play non-album singles 'The Agent' from their early days and 'Boy in the Anorak' that came between albums as a download, brings us to another problem.

They have always been a band with a liking for one off singles, B-sides, bonus tracks and downloads before they were as fashionable as they are now. Which was one of the things that drew me to them. The problem is after such a long time away, for a fair weather fan like me, getting hold of such tracks is now rather difficult as I found prior to this gig. It has to be said that most of the crowd, who know everything, don’t have this problem and clearly grabbed all this stuff at the time. 

'This Must Be Love' from their debut is a show stopper towards the end but the actual set closers are two newbies '23' and 'Beautiful, Deadly & Mine'.

Initially Windle returns alone for the encore to play a couple of songs on my own because, in his own words, he's ‘an egotistical fucking wanker’.

Of course 'Half Empty Glass' was a B-side albeit a brilliant one and 'You and Me Might Be Alright You Know' was available only on the iTunes version of their debut album. I think us fair weather fans need a rarities album.

A fan, clearly not a fair weather one, is invited up on stage to do ‘You and Me’ with Windle and does it some style. Then the whole band return for 'Sexy in Latin' and 'House Party at Boothys' to finish things off.

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The Joy Formidable, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

There is a very packed stage equipment wise for support act The People Versus and there are effects pedals everywhere. So many trip hazards. Do health and safety know? I hope the band are small in number but oh no. There are six of them and at the end of their set they do freely acknowledge that not many bands will take a six piece support.  

In Alice Edwards they have a strong singer but who seems a bit indifferent to the crowd or perhaps this is just self-deprecating humour. This does take the edge off what is bouncy and fun performance but they seem more genuine by the end.

From a packed stage to a very stripped back setup for the threesome that are The Joy Formidable on the last date of their UK tour. There is even more space on stage for lead vocalist\guitarist Rhiannon Bryan and bassist Rhydian Dafydd with their unconventional set up that sees drummer Matt Thomas positioned sideways on at the front corner of the stage rather than tucked away at the back. This was a nice dynamic but I think they've always done this. For me there’s no substitute for seeing a band up close and in full flow so this is ideal as you rarely get to see the drummer so close up.

I confess that it's been a while since I last saw them. Having followed them closely right from when they started in 2007, I haven't actually seen them live since 2010. I have missed out because they've always been, well, formidable live and, as I soon discover, they still are.

The Rescue Rooms isn't full but it's busy and it's quite an old crowd as well. Perhaps they've all been in from the start. Unfortunately things have never really taken off for the band. Despite regularly securing decent support slots and doing quite well in the States they've never been able to move on from relatively small venues in this country. Tonight that is to benefit of everyone who's here. 

After starting with 'Caught on a Breeze', 'Sevier' and 'Ostrich' they finally pause for breath and the first of many long rambling chats ensues. These are occasionally with the audience but mostly among themselves. One of these before playing 'Into The Blue' turns to how much Covid affected a touring band such them and then somehow in to a discussion about sheds. 

We get some of the 'hits' such as 'Whirring' and 'Cradle' then they play a Welsh language song called 'Y Garreg Ateb' (the Answering Stone), which was a total belter, and then an acoustic version of 'I Don’t Want To See You Like This' before they close with their new single 'Share My Heat'.

They return to play 'Little Blimp' and then the slow-burning 'Left Too Soon', which seems apt as a show closer.

They are still formidable and still deserve to be much better known than they are. 

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The March Violets, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Supported By Kristeen Young & Vision Video

Tonight I am at the Rescue Rooms to see the March Violets for the first time in 37 years and I really haven’t been to anything this goth in probably the last 30 of those years. I’m talking mainly about the crowd here.

First up tonight is Kristeen Young who is mostly doing a Karaoke set with a load of hidden musicians although she does dabble at a keyboard. She pleasant enough and talks well, telling an interesting story about a D-Day veteran and her own then 18 year old mother while singing like Kate Bush in her operatic days. Overall Young, who gets 45 minutes, is a strange but satisfying experience.

Then on stage are Vision Video from Athens, Georgia and who also get 45 minutes for their punk goth or whatever you want to call it. Singer Dusty Gannon is an Afghan war veteran with a few stories of his own to tell. Both he, but particularly his colleague Emily Freedock, come in outfits that I thought were now banned or perhaps this is empowerment. They are also very chatty, interesting and do a cover of Joy Division’s ‘Transmission’.

 Now clear away the drum kit, it’s the March Violets.

This is only the second time I’ve seen them with the first time being in 1986 at the Nottingham Palais. At the time they were going through a pop phase and were led by Cleo Murray. They had a minor hit called ‘Turn To The Sky’ which I imagine is getting nowhere near the set list tonight because that phase is not regards as real Violets.

Guitarist Tom Ashton, who has been the only constant in the band over the years, was there that night but the other Violets original who is here tonight is singer Rosie Garland who left the band shortly before those gigs.

Those two got the Violets back together in 2010 along with another original member Si Denbigh when having just been a singles band they finally put together a proper album in 2014. Then sadly Denbigh suffered a stroke the following year. He can now no longer perform but now the other two have decided to return with William Faith on Bass. 

Garland says ‘If not now, then when?’ to the audience about them making another comeback with Denbigh’s absence probably in mind.

They open with ‘Crow Baby’ and rattle through other early classics such as ‘Radiant Boys’, ‘1 2 I Love You’ and ‘Grooving In Green’ along with ‘Made Glorious’ which is the title track from the 2014 album and the more obscure ‘Dress 4 U’. There were also two new songs.

Garland has great stage presence and prowls the stage while continuing to engage with the crowd between songs. She admits they are now all ‘old fuckers’ but continues the same theme of urging everyone to live life to the full as life is short and shouldn't be wasted. Get to see every band you want to see because one day it could be too late. Sound advice.

The set ended with the epic ‘Walk Into The Sun’ but they were soon back for an encore of ‘Strangehead’ followed by ‘Snake Dance’, a true goth anthem that still sounds immense.

It was a comparatively short set, just ten songs plus another two in the encore, probably due to having to give two support bands 45 minutes each to pay for it all but it was great while it lasted.

Frank Turner, Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

Supported By Hannah Rose Platt, Tom Jenkins & Jess Guise - Rescue Rooms 20th Anniversary

Somehow I rather fortunately got a ticket to this solo acoustic show from Frank Turner at the Rescue Rooms which is the climax of a week of celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the Rescue Rooms venue. They even have celebratory plastic beer glasses. 

His record label Xtra Mile Recordings also supply the other four acts on the bill - Hannah Rose Platt, Welsh sheep-shearer Tom Jenkins and Turner’s other half Jess Guise.Singer songwriters and storytellers all of them.

The beautiful folksy voice of Hannah Rose Platt gives way to Tom Jenkins who is a particularly interesting character, and yes, he really is a sheep-shearer. He regales us with songs about his father, about Wales and how he could have been the next Tom Jones.

 Then we got an endearing half hour set from Jess Guise’s before she hands over to her husband. I did wonder if we might get a brief Guise and Turner double act but it wasn’t to be. I don’t think she wanted to be associated with the chaos that accompanies him.

Turner walks on stage alone tonight stripped bare without the Sleeping Souls who appear to have been busy elsewhere when Frank got the call from the Rescue Rooms.

Clearly it was an invite he felt he couldn’t refuse. His association with Nottingham is huge. From intimate shows at the defunct Junktion 7 and at the Bodega through to his many many gigs at Rock City, which he calls his favourite music venue and it was the site of his 2000th show.

He’s been at the Rescue Rooms before of course and he tells us of the night in 2008 when he got struck down with food poisoning mid set and had to rush off to empty his stomach. I’m sort of glad I missed that one.

The set he plays tonight is largely familiar and he opens with the always wonderful ‘I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous’. I thought perhaps they’d be more slower songs but there isn’t really as he rattles through ‘If Ever I Stray’, ‘Recovery’, ‘The Road’ and ‘The Next Storm’. 

The highlights of a Frank Turner show are often the ones you haven’t heard for an age like tonight when he slots in the much missed ‘The Real Damage’ from 2007 or ‘Smiling at Strangers on Trains’, a song from his former band Million Dead which he likes to drop in occasionally and tonight was requested by his wife.

Then there’s the one’s you’ve either missed completely or forgotten about like ‘Rescue Annie’ from 2019’s ‘No Man’s Land’. A song he says tonight was requested by a fan who works for the NHS.

The encore is more or less rolled into the set as he rattles though ‘Four Simple Words’, ‘Get Better’ and ‘I Still Believe’ which sound just as good solo as they do with his band. The Sleeping Souls might be out of a job.

He leaves the stage promising to be back here for the 40th anniversary in 20 years’ time and no one really doubts that he will be and hopefully we’ll all be there too.

Editors, Rock City, Nottingham

Supported By KVB

KVB were new to me despite not being new at all, starting out in fact in 2010. They are officially an ‘audio\visual’ act consisting of Nicholas Wood on guitar and Kat Day on keyboards who stand in front of a big screen on which they project the visual part of the deal.

 

The audio bit is very electronic but perhaps with a touch of Jesus and Mary Chain. It’s rather atmospheric but not that exciting and with there being just the two of them and no drummer they seemed quite reliant on backing tracks particularly the drum track which frequently drowned out the guitar. So reliant in fact that I successfully Shazam-ed several of their tracks which is always a bit of a giveaway but they were a pleasant enough warm up act.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the Editors and I’ve only just discovered their excellent new album 'EBM' from which no less than seven of the nine songs are played tonight. Their sound has changed over time and they lost me a bit at some point around album five. The new record has a different feel to their earlier ones but it still sounds very much like an Editors record.

They open with a double salvo from 'EBM' with ‘Heart Attack’ and ‘Strawberry Lemonade’ and then after a brief divert into ‘Bones’ we get the wonderful ‘Karma Climb’ and ‘Picturesque’. 

While it’s great to hear ‘The Boxer’ from ‘In This Light And On This Evening’ it is also only one of two, the other being ‘Papillon’ of course, but then clearly they can’t play everything.

One chap down the front doesn’t think they should be playing everything; in fact he heckles only for the first two albums. So the wonderful ‘Sugar’ doesn’t shut him up but then when the band deliver a mid set triple from ‘The Back Room’ - ‘Fingers In The Factories’, ‘Blood’ and ‘Bullets’ that takes absolutely no prisoners. Surely he’s going to be happy? No. He probably needs to buy more music.

By now I’m hooked on ‘Magazine’ from 2018’s ‘Violence’ which I didn’t know. After which the band disappears and Tom Smith does an acoustic double of ‘Nothing’ the only other track off ‘The Weight of Your Love’ bar ‘Sugar’ and an acoustic ‘Lights’ leading us into the band doing the ‘Silence’ off ‘EBM’.

The set could well have ended after the double from ‘An End Has a Start’ - ‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors’ and ‘Racing Rats’ but they kept going with two more from 'EBM' ‘Kiss’ and closing ‘Strange Intimacy’ wrapped around ‘Violence’ and ‘No Harm’ from their later albums.

The encore is very predictable but still punchy - ‘An End Has A Start’ and ‘Munich’ before ‘Papillon’ sends us home.