Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv http://www.native.tv in April 2007
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
SCOTT MATTHEWS / ALBERTA CROSS
@ Portsmouth Pyramids, 3rd April 2007
Gentle, soft, bluesy songwriting - wake up!
Seated gigs never seem to give any kind of atmosphere. The Pyramids Centre was like a Ryanair trip with a scramble for non-allocated seats - but at least there was a vast improvement on the in-flight entertainment. Seats don’t allow people to mingle, spill drinks on each other and giggle. Instead there are gaps as people avoid strangers and a girl sat across the row to my right keeps turning round and staring at me with heavily-ringed kohl eyes. What have I done?!
Alberta Cross take the stage to no round of applause whatsoever. They walk up one at a time, camouflaged in black. No-one seems to realise that this is the support act until they settle down and pick up their instruments. Singer Petter Ericson Stakee has a distinctive thin, reedy voice which almost feels like it is going to break as he picks his wavering way through the songs, gently bouncing along on the spot. They play the haunting ‘I’ve Known For Long’ (believe it was their opening track) which was shortly followed with the melancholy air of ‘Lucy Rider’.
Terry Wolfers crouches over his bass, a look of abject concentration on his face, and John Alexander Ericson is similarly focusing solely on his organ (steady ladies). Their first track is plaintive and a sense of longing washes over the audience.
The Thief & The Heartbreaker’ LP only came out the day before the gig so it’s not like anyone’s had the chance to be acquainted with the music, but other songs they played tonight included ‘Old Man Chicago’ and downbeat bluesy single ‘Hard Breaks’, one of the high points of their set. There was little interaction with the crowd, though Petter did manage a wave at one fan who hooted at them.
My friend returns from the bar at the end (he didn’t want to walk in front of everyone during a song) and announces that the last track was very long, leading me to believe it was the epic (er, well the six-minute-long) ‘Devil’s All You’ve Ever Had’. To me, sat a few rows from the stage, it didn’t feel long because I was caught up in the sweeping gentle chords and tones which Alberta Cross were playing earnestly. Their songs were sweet, peaceful, deep and just a little bit mournful. To be honest, I thought their set could have been a little longer.
Scott Matthews has an amazing husky voice. Think of Gomez’s vocalist, the bespectacled Ben with his true-blues voice – it’s got that strong mature quality which is unexpected, especially for someone who calls the audience “man” in a distinctly West Midlands twang. The singer-songwriter played the first few tracks alone, illuminated from behind by stunning blue lighting while smoothly fingerpicking his guitar and producing some beautiful rich tones before being joined with a violinist, bassist and drummer, one at a time.
Between every song, Fidel Castro would come on stage and hand a different guitar to Matthews, who could only keep apologising for the time this was taking. “Fucking shambles!” The new James Blunt he is not, probably because of the swearing. (Occasionally we’d worry that Mr Castro was going to launch into one of his famous 15 hour speeches, but luckily he kept his stage time to a minimum.) Matthews made quite a few comments and the audience warmed to his sense of humour.
There were a couple of instrumentals, almost soft rock, with the lights flashing and the band concentrating away. Matthews had his head down, focusing on his guitar. The drum kit was casting an artistic shadow across the wall and the audience was nodding and foot tapping along appreciatively. The songs were thoughtful, making me daydream to another place. I expect they’d sound particularly special and personal in a smaller venue with room for a couple of hundred. I think it helped that I taught myself guitar as a teenager, so I was watching Matthews’ fingerpicking intently and concentrating on the soft tones.
Sadly my friend was rapidly losing interest with the atmospheric slow songs, leaning over and making comments like “Why is he playing the drums with a pastry brush?” and “This song is making me wonder what I missed on Neighbours earlier.”
But even he woke up during Matthew’s lively single ‘Passing Stranger’ where the girls sat in front of us tired of throwing rock shapes and decided to dance by the stage with a few friends. The poor singer was put right off by this unusual occurrence, missing lyrics because he was sniggering, and at one point saying: “Let’s start again!” The crowd was laughing along with him, and joined in the applause for the dancers and the people who had chosen to stand.
For a few words to describe the night – mellow, good musicianship, mature, melancholy. My friend didn’t quite believe me when I said I enjoyed it, but I did.
Alberta Cross
Scott Matthews
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SIXNATIONSTATE / THOMAS TANTRUM / THE GLAD RAGS
@ Southampton Joiners, 10th April 2007
Lively and sweaty - plus excellent freebies
I love tacky merchandise. Love it, love it. Sad it may be, but I have a box under my bed from all the bits I’ve collected from gigs and shows before. Queen sixpence, Captain matches, The Producers fan, Pull Tiger Tail cat mask. I always regret never picking up any Paul McCartney incense. Sir Paul, I apologise profusely.
And in a relevant vein, I want to thank SixNationState’s street team for providing tonight’s gig goers with a free medallion. It’s plastic gold with a star and says ‘WINNER’, with the band name all along the shoelace type ribbon. It’s in a class of its own.
With said medallion tied round my wrist like the trendsetter I am, we made our way to the front, enjoying the music pumped through the venue (Larrikin Love, the Rumble Strips et al).
First band on stage were The Glad Rags, whose own outfits didn’t quite match up to the spectacular costumes promised by their name. Damn. They were really enjoyable. Indie rock with smooth and fruity tones (like a milkshake - I’d say they were a bit orangey, if you’re going to be specific) and had a bassist who from certain angles looked like Paul McGann. This was more than enough to keep me happy.
People were yelling for various band members. “Thanks dad,” deadpanned the singer. The guitarist was a bit miffed this joke had already been used and wasn’t sure how to respond when it was his turn.
I pointed out to my friend (with some glee) that we were stood in the soon-to-be moshpit. He feigned trouble with the heat and we took a step back. This meant that for much of Thomas Tantrum, my view was obscured by a couple of tiny teens sitting on the rail by the sound booth, forcing me to spend the set staring at the bassist. This turned out to be interesting as I realised we were at college together many moons ago, although I doubt he’d remember.
Although I wouldn’t say they were as lively as the Glad Rags, they had plenty of fans in the crowd enjoying their music and calling for 'Armchair'. The blonde singer, Miss Mega Tantrumhead (says MySpace - poss. not her real name) occasionally had an ear-splitting howl of a vocal but spoilt the rock image by asking in the sweetest, cutest voice ever if they could make the lights less hot. The order was shouted back along the crew, with each person looking more amused. And the crowd audibly 'ahh'ed at her niceness.
SixNationState were about 15 minutes late. They were onstage on time, but the bass/mic equipment didn’t appear to have the same keenness and had stopped for a break and possibly a KitKat, resulting in lots of dashing about and pressing buttons. Then the band kicked off, and they were loving it. End of the tour to their homecrowd meant it was pretty special for them. Their songs are a mix of indie rock, reggae, punky ska – I’m sure last time I saw them they had brass, but perhaps I was imagining it? Singer Gerry has a belting monster of a voice and it really helps that plenty of their tunes have singalong bits to get everyone into it. The mosh pit became a heaving, sweaty mess and I felt a little sad I wasn’t stood in it. 'Keep Dancing', the stickers on their equipment order everyone.
Single ‘Fire’ went down well. New single ‘Where Are You Now?’ is saved for the end. It’s boisterous, lively and fun. The stage invaders obviously agreed. SixNationState looked like they were having a ball. Then they all went to get pissed in Lennon’s, while I kept hold of my medallion and stepped into the chill air of Southampton. It was a good one.
The Glad Rags
Thomas Tantrum
SixNationState
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