Busy week this week driven by my FOMO. Didnt realise when I booked but this was the last night for the Coronet. Its closing down after 145 years for the further development of the area ,which is clearly a shame. Despite its pretty grotty appearance it’s a good medium sized venue . Another observation for someone getting on in years is that the gents toilets are pretty scuzzy ,getting very busy and you want to spend as little time as possible in the vicinity.
First support came from Madonnatron , who I had wanted to see. Got to the front of the 360 stage but being first band sound was not good . I could hear more out of the guitarists monitor that the theatres speaker system.They play psych rock with a bit of demonic, witchy, mystical undercurrents. Visually resplendent in leather and sparkles I would like to hear them again in a more intimate venue with better sound and perhaps do a bit more research. Good solid drummer drove the set along but couldn’t pick up anything from the songs that really grabbed me on this outing.
Second up were Warmduscher, who are made up of components of Fat White Family and Childhood. I had done my research and downloaded their album “Khaki Tears”. So most of what they played was recognisable and lived up to my expectation. Experimental in some ways a pragmatic frontman used the full 360 degree stage. I want to see these guys again pretty much immediately . They stimulated a fair amount of moshing front of stage. Now considering the place was gloomy and cold and we were early on a Friday night (8.00pm) thought it was a great effort. As a band they are challenging, with hints of decadence, rough edges and that feeling that it could all just fall apart at any moment.As a band what do they sound like. Check them out because I don’t know.
So onto the third band on the itinerary. Future of the Left did a quick sound check and then they were off. Now I moved back a bit for this one and maybe that was the difference because despite never hearing anything before by them I would say they were the revelation of the evening. Blew all the other bands away with their commitment to the task in hand. Venomous and angry ,but thoughtful lyrics, were backed by massive bass lines and punctuated with snarling guitar and keyboards, whilst the drummer delivered a suitable back drop.
For me it was “Gang of Four” meets the “Au Pairs “meets” Rage against the Machine”. Thats a suitably big expectation I’ve set there but they were good. Based on a revolving collective I’m not sure if that means they are different each time out. I had a quick word with bassist Judy as I left the gig as she was manning the merchandise. After three cans of Carlsberg happy to tell her I thought they had been outstanding. My reward was a free CD as they were packing up so no complaints and I will now be the biggest fan forever.
Just a quick word about final band Black Lips. I’ve seen them before and not massively impressed. They are straight forward rock band from US who have been touring a lot in UK and had a strong crowd on this evening. A lot of standard posturing but not much exciting in the song writing department. They were due to play for 75 minutes so to be honest I left early.
The three support bands had all shown some individuality and I just didn’t get it from the headliners. As mentioned didn’t really have the motivation to stick it out. Shame on me but there will be other nights.
fatwhiteoldblokes 