Yes, that’s right folks, two reviews for the price of one! So enamoured was I with Brighton post-punk lovelies Shrag, I saw them twice in as many months, and, much to the venue’s credit (and of course both shiny promoters Club Fandango and Baby Honey), both viewings were at the same place. They were also quite different gigs in nature, as I will explain forthwith.
Gig One was a largely drunken affair (on the band’s part, not on mine, sadly) which featured some mainly bad support acts, namely and shamely mock-punksters The Fades and pop-indie-punksters Herzoga. There was also support from sample-based mash-upper Public Service Broadcasting, but as I didn’t arrive until he had already strut his funky stuff (we call it ‘fashionably late’ in the business), I can’t possibly comment. I won’t go on about the supports I did see, anyway, as I was, shall we say, less than impressed with both and so this would only give our heroes Shrag an unfair advantage, now wouldn’t it?
After an eventful trip to the ladies’ involving a rather shame-faced couple and a rather angry-faced LTCO blogger waiting to empty her bladder for more than 10 minutes, Shrag stumbled onto the stage in what can only be described as a drunken stupor and proceeded to fumble their way through their set, regularly slurring that they’re usually much better than this and make less mistakes etc. All this was rather amusing, especially the bits where the lead singer Helen dropped her synth on the floor. It was also musically brilliant. I did think to myself ‘I wonder what they could do if they were sober’ but was relatively content to enjoy what they could provide in their inebriated state, which was some darn good (if messy) indie-pop choons. I’m sure I would’ve had a different attitude towards their drunkenness, though, had I been a paying customer an’all.
Enter Gig Two – back at The Buffalo Bar and this time supported by the stupendous Still Corners and the not-so-stupendous-but-perfectly-competent Smiths obsessives Northern Portrait, Shrag were this time in fine sober fettle, and delivered a set of, once again, messy indie-pop choons. Two lessons I learnt from this: one, that seeing a band twice in as many months means that the set really won’t be that different (no prizes for that revelation), and two, seeing a very good gig played by a drunken band does not mean that they will be even better sober. Gig Two was, don’t get me wrong, a ‘good gig’, but I’d got myself all worked up thinking that the lack of the ol’ sauce would elevate their performance to dizzying heights. I was wrong; good gigs are all about a relaxed band that feel they have the freedom to do whatever the hell they like, and, as long as they’re not self-important eejits, the audience won’t mind too much if the band in question can’t actually speak or remember the words too well.
If you haven’t yet checked out Shrag, and you enjoy a bit of DIY female-fronted indie-pop, do have a listen to the most excellent, and aptly named, ‘Hopelessly Wasted’ on their Myspace. Or, even better, if you’re feeling flush, take some pounds and pence down to your local trusted independent record retailer and purchase a copy of their album.
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