Review Of The Month: MARCH 2017.

Esquires Bedford.

March began rather disappointingly for contrasting reasons. On Friday 3, the ex – Libertines bassist John Hassall brought his current band, The April Rainers to room 2. A lack of audience atmosphere largely made this a most forgettable show, except for the few Libertines aficionado’s in attendance. The songs performed were in the main quite dull and samey. Crowd and band just seemed in their own way, to be going through the motions. The opening salvo provided by Rushdens Greasy Diablo’s, made up for the later entertainment shortcomings, playing with both fun and having a catchy collection of songs, from Walsall The Assist kindled a good crowd reaction with a spirited set and a touch of humour to match.

Saturday 4 featured a headline appearance by the Essex five piece Missing Andy. Sadly it produced one of the most tiresome shows I have witnessed here for some time. Missing Andy produce singalongs, frothy modern rock and attract a hefty travelling crew who wear polo shirts with pride.
with a penchant for sinking much alcohol and football songs to sing, the atmosphere is tense throughout. A nasty skirmish broke out, where by the frontman made a vile, crass statement which severely annoyed me. Urging his fans to calm and behave, he said “If you want to fight, go to a metal gig!” Missing Andy performed a song called Scum, that sums up both band and their fans on this boring and boorish evening.

Thankfully, Sunday 5th produced a gig that will live long in the memory. It featured Idles and they completely captured the musical soul of everyone attending. They literally blew us all away, as they percolated a mind blowing brew of awesome waves of sound, combined with a frenzied stage performance. The result is akin to the social commentary of Sleaford Mods, the revelry and wild antics of Fat White Family and a titanic blast of punk n roll. Band members stand out, they are not boringly identical. Each have a distinct character, Talbot the frontman, is a 21st century ‘Rotten’, full of sharp, caustic comments, but delivered with a smile, not a snarl. (only when he is singing!) one guitarist has the facial appearance of a seventies male porn star! The other is forever bent double, complete with long hair. A bushy ginger bearded bassist and a furious frantic drummer, completes the line up. Not for nothing is this entitled The Brutalism Tour and this is the first date. We are informed that Idles normally play for thirty minutes, but tonight they clock in at double that time, Brutalism, is played in its entirety. These include Well Done, Mother and Faith In The City; they fire with a raw energy. This is added by the manic stage dynamics and a roving guitarist who played to the crowd in the mosh pit. Idles tackle everyday issues in their songs, which cover depression, the health service (“are there any doctors or nurses in the audience?”) and even cooking! The experimental second half of the album features a song “about growing up in a shithole, its called Exeter!” Not only can I fervently enthuse about how good Idles were, but the calibre of support bands, is also high. Luton trio Dinges played with such an incendiary of power as well, making everyone smile with their dry, between song patter.

Returning to the main stage after a lengthy gap are the recently reformed garage punks The Kramers. They scorched out a fast set, which included TV Scream. This was an all round fantastic Sunday evening gig hosted by The Pad Presents.

Thursday 9th featured a first Esquires headline show by the observational social commentary singer songwriter Gaz Brookfield. Many will remember him supporting Ferocious Dog back in 2015. This night saw him draw out many, who have a penchant for all things folk and roots.

If you love your live music edgy and heavy, then room 2 on Saturday 11th was certainly the place to be. With no set admission price, punters are urged to pay what they feel its worth. Sadly I only caught the last few moments of Ice Cream Headache. If their final song Girl, was a true indicator of their whole set, then this Peterborough trio are certainly well worth a second look. Post punk classy art rock, raw guitar songs aplenty, just sums up Dancehall, intense dynamics snapped from this London based trio, who included amongst their ranks, Craig Sharp, formerly of this parish. Their tall blond, mop haired frontman Timmy, dementedly contorts both his face and wiry body, as he spits out their seismic set of songs. Coyly they “Look for a sexual connection” (Virgin) well “it’s ok to be uncertain” Hulkenburg finished off the show with their customary collection of room shuddering tunes. The sight of drummer Terry Ruffhead collapsing from sheer exhaustion into his drumkit, is a fitting memory of such a great little gig.

After a lengthy gap of eight years, Friday 17 saw a return to the mainstage of Dr. Feelgood. As a huge fan of the original line up back in the seventies it is rather disappointing to see this somewhat slick and polished version. In essence, I always find that The Feelgood Band (who play here on a Sunday, quite regularly) to be much closer to the true, raw Canvey island rnb pub rock spirit, that Lee, Wilko et al first generated all those years ago.

The following day, 18th, Skinny Girl Diet headlined. Offering up a grungy punk concoction, this female London trio performed a very short set, that was high on energy, but low on interaction, with what was, a quite sparse turnout. A couple of songs did flicker a tiny amount of interest, but the band in general I felt, didn’t appear to be totally enjoying themselves. A London support slot to The Senseless Things next week was perhaps upper most in their minds and diary. The evening as a whole, belonged to the dark blues rock duo Black Doldrums , who detonated some most powerful stuff, on this their penultimate UK date, before they fly off to the USA for a tour of shows.
Downstairs in room 2, a couple of the popular local Sunday bands, namely The Workshop Boys and The A Band, held a special benefit gig for Mr. Dave Crockett. A well known man on the Bedford music scene, he is at present not in the best of health. To everyone’s credit, over a thousand pounds was raised on the night.




Sunday 19th, featured Roadhouse. A quality blues rock combo with contrasting male/female vocals, they performed a storming set which included Swamp Girl, a composition about “ Murder in the Everglades” and also Queen Of The Mountain, from the album, To Tired To Pray. “It’s great to be back after a long break” they announced, the usual regulars were delighted to see them.

A busy run of gigs kicked off with the reformed Milburn. They made their Esquires debut on Tuesday 21, courtesy of Juicebox. After forming in 2001, they signed a deal with Mercury records, before calling it a day and having a break for eight years. Returning reinvigorated in 2016, this Sheffield quartet reveal that they “Are off to Europe in a couple of days” an impressive and constantly vociferous crowd, make for a top atmosphere. From the opening lyrics of “Just look what the cat dragged in” (from Well Well Well) to “Your not just a number on a computer,” (What you could’ve won) the fans are high spirited. Milburn served up some first pumping choruses. For them, it’s just a shame that fellow tykes The Artic Monkeys beat them to the pinch and the big money! Their frontman and lyricist Joe Carnall sports a most awesome mop of frizzy dark brown hair, which he annoyingly wipes away from his eyes constantly. He does however concede that his wordsmith skills over complicates most of his compositions! Contrastingly, he performs interlude. Milburn reveal that they have a new record coming out in a few months. They showcase 30th Midnight Control and Keep Me In Mind for their many older fans in attendance, anthems such as Showroom and Lo And Behold are savoured with both sweat and alcohol dripping copiously on the dance floor area.

Milburn Set List: 1 Well Well Well, 2 Send In The Boys, 3 Midnight Control, 4 Showroom, 5 Lucy Lovemenot, 6 What About The Next Time?, 7 Lo & Behold, 8 What Will You Do…, 9 Lipstick Lickin 10 Cheshire Cat Smile, 11 Keep Me In Mind, 12 Count To 10, 17 (acoustic solo), 14 Roll Out The Barrel (acoustic solo), 15 What You Could Have Won.

Black Honey opened up their current UK tour on Thursday 23 here in Bedford, for The Roar Club. Fronted by the blond haired Izzy Baxter, this quartet ply Americana tinged psyche rock, but they hail from Brighton and not the east coast of the USA hinting musically of early nineties Lush, the look and feel of the band reminds me of when Wolf Alice visited here. Visually, they light up a third of the small stage with a brand insignia, which ultimately blows up the power supply towards the end of their set. Audience participation involves a mass sit down at the finale! Songs include Madonna (from their 2014 debut EP) as well as Hello Today (their recent single) and the brand new offering Somebody Better. Quickly returning to Esquires and currently supporting Black Honey on their tour, were the grunge revivalists Freak. They were Flying High tonight, as they implored everyone to get “The place jumping!”.

Black Honey Set List: 1 Madonna, 2 Bloodlust, 3 Sleep Forever, 4 All My Pride, 5 Teenager, 6 Issues, 7 Somebody Better, 8 Hello Today, 9 Cadillac, 10 Pitch Black, 11 Mother Ship, 12 Spinning Wheel, 13 Corrine.

Friday 24 featured a headline slot by popular local ‘skindie’ quartet The Scruff. Always producing a fast paced set full of singalong anthems, Adam and the lads brewed up a quality show that had their recent single Leave It Alone reverberating around my head, long after final orders had been called!
A most impressive set by King Purple, also kissed my eardrums. Disappointingly, Monarchs were forced to cancel their set due to a technical problem, while setting up on stage. A most unusual occurrence and not even explained to the paying public. A sorry would have been appreciated!

The final gig of the month (31) was from a personal point of view, utterly fantastic! It featured a return to Esquires for the amazing Vant. Anybody who witnessed their compelling room 2 gig back in November 2015 will well remember just how charismatic a frontman Mattie Vant is. The sight of him sprinting off stage and running up the steps to the DJ booth was memorable. Needless to say he’s on top form on the mainstage. He clambers up to grab hold of the lighting rigging and holds court with the crowd. Mattie also discusses solid handshakes and a chat with a man on a phone. At present Vant are on a crest of a wave as the quartet have just recently released their debut album Dumb Blond. Live, they are simply sensational. They encapsulate punk, grunge and even some woozy psychedelia. Their songs are so captivatingly addictive, catchy; they stick and stay in your head. However, don’t be fooled, they never offer up frothy lyrics. Vant unleash a heavy social commentary of world affairs in their material. We live in troubled times and Vant deliver a hard hitting message. The many highlights include Parking Lot, Do You Know Me and especially Lampoon. Hugely enjoyable and for those in attendance just remember “Shoes off for Vant!” Support bands on the night were firstly The impressive Timeless Lizards. What followed was special, a band called Tangerines, musically they were juicy and sweet as rock. This band wow everybody over as they played with fun and a smile on their collective faces. Surely a return visit will follow a top night to cap a generally good month.

Vant Set List: 1 Fly By Alien, Jesus Was A Conman, 3 Headed For The Sun, 4 Parasite, 5 Peace And Love, 6 Welcome To The Wonderful World Of Berners Lee, 7 Mess Around, 8 Birth Certificate, 9 Freedom Of Movement, 10 I Don’t Believe In God, 11 The Answer, 12 Put Down Your Gun, 13 Lampoon, 14 Karma Seeker, 15 Do You Know Me?

Review by Martin Stapleton. www.bedfordalternativemusic.co.uk