This month saw me becoming increasingly confused with what I was doing, gig-wise. Not content with watching the Pigeon Detectives everywhere, I turned up to watch Richard Swift in London - having had a crowdsurfer pin me nose-down onto a speaker in Bristol the previous night. I had to get my glasses straightened out, I was running late for everything, missed a train, was permanently lost and had the biggest purple bruise which I was over-conscious of. I may have been mildly concussed. God knows what the PR thought after seeing me bruised and confused, weaving my way along...
Words - Suzy Sims
Previously published on Native.tv http://www.native.tv in Mar 07
(c) Niche News & Publishing Ltd
THE MULES / FRISBEE IN THE JEWEL BOX / MERCURY
Southampton Joiners, 20th March 2007
Folky, rocky, stampy, dancey - enjoyable 'electrobilly' from The Mules
Midweek crowds for unknown bands are usually a bit on the poor side, which is frankly rubbish. But with the leaflet advertising Oxford quintet The Mules' appearance saying "they want you to dance," maybe the audience would be a bit more up for it than usual.
We missed the first support band Mercury, or rather we didn’t pay a lot of attention when we finally arrived, but they sounded pretty decent. Next support was courtesy of Frisbee In The Jewel Box, whose delightfully batty name was considerably more exciting than the dull, college band rock they were pumping out.
They weren’t bad, but they weren’t remotely special. Plus there was a documentary about super-fat people on the television in the bar, which was much more deserving of our attention while we waited for the headliners.
Tonight was the first ever date on the first ever tour for The Mules, whose violinist Tom was also playing with them live for the first ever time. Nerves all round. The lead vocalist Ed is also the drummer, which is interestingly different. They kicked off with ‘Polly O’, a song so angular it could possibly be included in one of those school maths sets along with a protractor and ruler.
Their sound is described as ‘electrobilly’, according to the Joiners leaflet. It’s punky folky indie, with kicks of Forward Russia-style time changes interrupted by vocals courtesy of the Young Knives.
In places, it’s as if Vivaldi has joined Larrikin Love, with sweet bursts of fiddle giving a brief respite from the chaos. It’s musical spaghetti, a proper jumble of wild shapes and sounds. It’s artistic chaos in places, but it’s great fun.
During ‘Problems With Exits’ (b-side to new single ‘We’re Good People’) I felt the floor vibrating and thought ‘Jesus, that’s a noise they’re making.’ In fact it was a man behind me, who’d started performing some kind of devilish hornpipe with plenty of stamping. A few other girls were also dancing away happily. Tracks included ‘Tule Lake’, ‘Save Your Face’, ‘We’re Good People’ and, er, some others I wasn’t familiar with (possibly ‘Ham Shank’ and ‘Here To Help’). Very different yet thoroughly entertaining. It finished with keyboardist Tim calling for the Moog to be turned right up, making the entire venue quake (almost). Go and see them and have a good time dancing away. Oh and check out the funky handmade t shirts.
http://www.themules.co.uk
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RICHARD SWIFT / DAVID VANDERVELDE
@ Arts Theatre, London, 11th March 2007
Gigantic, retro songwriting with music hall piano, wind chimes and, er... leaves
I’m feeling slightly disorientated. The last few days, I’ve been travelling round. Yesterday morning I was leaving Cardiff. This morning I was in Bristol, arrived in London via a stop in Portsmouth and now I’m lost somewhere off Leicester Square because my map reading skills appear to have been learned from Mr Magoo.
Eventually I reach the Arts Theatre, grab a drink and stand there looking a bit puzzled. The doors into the actual auditorium are cunningly disguised to look like the sort that if you try and walk through them, a member of staff will run up shouting “No! That’s a cupboard! No, that one’s Staff Only! Er, that’s just a wall!” And so on. This Richard Swift bloke better be worth the hassle, whoever he may be.
My lateness meant I crept to my place in time for the last song of David Vandervelde’s set. From what I could see, Shaggy from Scooby Doo’s slightly cooler cousin was stood on stage with Frankie from The Darkness, the odd looking one with the headband/loud shirt/tache combo and some “I’m mad, me!” facial expressions. They were playing rock with a raw blues and country tinge, power chords broken up with a sprinkling of guitar widdling. Vandervelde himself was turned away, head down and hair over his face, concentrating on his playing. Then it was over, but I’d have liked to heard more.
The theatre was confusing because it was all seated. All the gigs I go to tend to be standing-in-sweaty-crowd affairs and it felt a little illicit to be sat in comfort with a large gap between us plebs and the stage. It didn’t take long for the band – Sons of National Freedom - to take the stage, although applause was slow in coming because everyone looked rather like roadies than glamorous pop stars. Dressed casually and with a selection of beards, they take their positions. Richard Swift strides on to a round of applause and introduces their set with a jokey call of “Where’s David Vandervelde? That fucker stole my capo. Saboteur!” Everyone laughs and the band kick off with ‘Dressed Up’.
It’s an amazing mix of styles. It sounds like early Gomez have become playmates with Queen. There are sounds of music hall piano, leaves, ice cream chimes, retro chord changes, electronic voices, pounding bass and more. It’s very different, yet it’s fascinating, full of grand swirling passion, upbeat sounds and joy. Starting off like a guilty pleasure, it fast becomes super enjoyable. Just listening brings a huge smile to your face. I haven’t heard album ‘Dressed Up For The Letdown’ just yet so can’t comment how it transfers to CD, but it’s brilliant live. Every so often the band disappear and treat us to Swift alone on the piano with his thoughts.
Was very impressed by one of the Sons - slender and head-to-toe in black, he stood to one side looking very self-conscious, biting his nails; then suddenly he would skip on the spot, play some notes expertly on the piano, swap to backing vocals, walk round a bit further and take the vocoder, then swap back again. Songs tonight include the wry and heartfelt ‘Artist & Repertoire’, ‘Most Of What I Know’, ‘Lady Day’, ‘Lovely Night’ and single ‘Kisses For The Misses’. There just isn’t a dull moment and every song brings its own imagery.
“Talk to us Richard!” someone yells and it echoes clearly through the room. Swift grins. Towards the end someone runs up on stage and grabs the mic close to his face, occasionally rubbing their legs and singing softly along. What kind of lovelorn heckler is this? On turning, we see it’s actually David Vandervelde come to join in the party, and everyone relaxes.
Swift’s songwriting skills have been compared to Sir Nice of McCartney and Rufus Wainwright, although for some reason while writing this I have the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band’s ‘I’m The Urban Spaceman’ in my head, possibly because of the very 60s/70s bass and piano.
The encore consists of ‘The Novelist’ and ‘Ballad Of You Know Who’, with a few people giving a standing ovation. I couldn’t believe we had to sit through the set – if we’d had our way I would have preferred everyone standing and dancing instead of nodding our heads pleasantly. The songs don’t fit any one pattern, rather they are a series of clever shapes thrown out by some expert musicians harking back to past times of piano at the cinema, thumping guitar chords and powerful vocals, leaving the crowd clapping their immense talents. Definitely a name for the future.
Richard Swift
David Vandervelde
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