Live at Brudenell Social Club on Tuesday, 21st July 2009
Marnie "God amongst shredders" Stern returned to the UK this month with support from some Leeds favourites and Japanese new-wavesters Nisennenmondai. British Wildlife and Dirty Otter put on the co-headline show at a bargain price and ensured a good turnout at everyone's favourite social club, The Brudenell.
Kicking off the night were father-son combo Mucky Sailor, dressed quite (in?)appropriately in shiny lycra jumpsuits. Their mixture of trance-like keyboards and crazy energetic drums was a great start to the evening as people started trickling in to fill up on Red Stripe and gather round for the next act That Fucking Tank. With a decent crowd beginning to form around them the Leeds duo began an intense set of their baritone guitar and minimalist drum tunes. Listening to That Fucking Tank at times feels like 'someone tuning-in and out of classic rock radio stations' and the audience was suitably warmed up by lovely familiar riffs from 'Parklife' to 'Dancing In The Dark'.
New-bill additions Tartufi were the first act of the night to actually play on the stage and their San Franciscan noisy rock toned down the room for a bit with a partly aggressive, experimental sound and angst-ridden melodies. With numerous guitar changeovers and loop pedals they provided consistent noise, so much so that at times it was hard to believe there were only two people on stage. Simultaneously lo-fi and intricately busy Tartufi make a captivating live act and added an interesting other level to the line-up.
After what seemed like an eternity Nisennenmondai took to the stage with a decent crowd and kicked off their set with a trademark post-punk instrumental. Maybe it's the language barrier or perhaps it's just me but their whole set just seemed rather charmless and, dare I say it... a little dull. By this point I was knackered and they had sold out of Red Stripe, which may have contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for the Japanese trio who were giving me the exact opposite of what I was looking forward to from Stern. Technically they were probably great, but I was getting antsy after sitting through FOUR support slots and just wanted to get Nisennenmondai's set over and done with.
On a positive note, it was absolutely worth waiting for Marnie Stern and her band who took to the stage swiftly and apologized for the delay, getting straight into it much to the crowd's delight.
Performing favourites from her sophomore album "This Is It..." such as "Transformer", "Ruler" and getting everyone involved for "Prime", Stern's infamous shredding technique and busy style held up well in a live environment, a wonderful barrage of urgent vocals and two-fingered guitar accompanied by punkish bursts of drums and straight up rocking out from bassist Malia James.
The quality of banter was to match the musical aspects as Stern and James engaged in some now notorious "vagina talk" and bigged up the crowd no end. "Can we take you guys everywhere with us? Let's just rent a big fucking bus..." The addition of small anecdotes also gave great insight into Stern's career as a bit of a late-bloomer as she admitted to not knowing how to get more friends on MySpace and not being a born musician. "I figured out you could just practice a lot and get good at it."
The Brudenell seemed to get the jokes and love the show, so much that the traditional kissing booth that Stern and James implemented at the merch table was sure to make them a few extra quid for the rest of their tour. With some great support but a couple of rocky bits, the night ended a successful one with ears ringing suitably and spirits high.
All replies to this article. Log in to post a reply.
On 31st July 2009 at 08:53 stevish wrote...
Nice Review. Sorry I missed the Father & Son in Lycra jumpsuits! Purely on a technical note, did you get a kiss with every t-shirt purchase or were they sold seperately? Perhaps more bands could exploit this marketing opportunity.
Aploogies to Mucky Sailor for only being able to fit 4 acts on the search. We'll get you next time.
On 31st July 2009 at 12:52 Anonymous 7384 wrote...
Steve, kisses were sold separately! I can't remember the exact prices now but it goes something like £5 for a peck, £100 for a full-on snog!
