Blood Red Shoes celebrate
the end of their busiest year and also the release of their Water EP by playing
their biggest headline show to date.
Support comes from two bands
from Sheffield, neither of whom are Pulp, or are indeed anything like Pulp.
First up are Wet Nuns, a duo consisting of a guitarist and drummer who share
vocals. The first song features the drummer on screamed heavy heavy metal
vocals, remiscent of Napalm Death. When the guitarist sings he sounds like a
cross between John Fogerty and Lemmy.
That this is a band who
don’t take themselves altogether seriously is apparent when at the end of the
first song the drummer stands up on his stool holding his sticks in the shape
of an upside-down cross. The guitarist then tells a tragi-comic story
concerning a duck. Wet Nuns have by far the funniest onstage banter that I’ve
ever heard!
The music is pretty good
too, with a whole load of influences apparent including Black Sabbath and ZZ Top.
There is also a lot of musical pissing about though, running the risk of
appearing like an in-joke to which the audience aren’t party.
I’d been looking forward to
seeing Rolo Tomassi for some time and was wondering how their ‘math rock’ would
translate live. The answer to that question is: very well. The music retains
its complexity and power. The band are very tight. However, there is a problem
with Eva Spence’s vocals. Whereas on record she sounds positively Satanic, live
her vocals resemble a dog barking. Her brother James’ vocals are similarly
hobbled. During the quiet passages Eve sings like an angel, but as soon as she
returns to the ‘devil’ mic, the barking returns. I don’t know whether the sound
man was having a bad night, but if not it’s an area that needs to be looked at
as the lyrics were rendered unintelligible. Very disappointing.
It’s immediately apparent
that disappointment is something that Blood Red Shoes won’t be dishing up as
they crash straight into Heartsink, followed by It’s Getting Boring By The Sea
and Don’t Ask. They tell us that the Empire is the biggest headlining show that
they’ve played and we all cheer. There’s a definite ‘end of term’ feel to
proceedings (the band are apparently going on ‘hiatus’ after these Shepherds Bush
gigs).
Tellingly, having been
touring their In Time To Voices all year, there are only four songs played from
that album tonight. In contrast we get seven each from Box Of Secrets and Fire
Like this. However, the most interesting song played tonight are the two (Black
Distractions and Red River) from their new Water EP. For each of these
riff-driven beauties Laura-Mary carter straps on a Gibson SG, the songs
benefiting agreeably from the Gibson ‘crunch’. If this is the direction they
will be moving in for their next album then it’s very much a cause for
rejoicing.
Colours Fade from Fire Like
This is the final song of the main set, and for encores we get Red River (from
the aforementioned EP), I Wish I Was Someone Better from Box Of Secrets and Je
Me Perds from In Time To Voices. This is introduced as a ‘punk song’ and comes
close to blistering the paint on the walls. To say it rocks is an
understatement.
If Blood Red Shoes are going
on hiatus hopefully it won’t be for long. Bands as vital and inventive as them
are few and far between.
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