How good was this lineup, eh? I mean, the lineups weren’t half bad for the entire
Dum Dum Girls' big trip to London town – but I have to say I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to a whole gig lineup as much as this little gem. Plus the ever-happening White Heat club afterwards! Absolute bargain for a fiver.
Upon arrival at the Soho establishment, at approximately 08:50pm, there was already a hefty queue beginning to spread down Brewer Street. As I had done my homework like a good little gigger, I knew that
Yuck were due on stage at 08:30pm or thereabouts, and a bead of sweat or two did appear upon my youthful brow. Once in though, and past the overly-serious burly security men, no sooner did I reach the bottom of the stairs than Yuck struck up ‘Georgia’, their forthcoming single (which can, incidentally, be downloaded for absolutely free from their
blog), and, as I’ve propounded at an earlier date on LTCO, happens to be an absolute Choooooooon (notice the capital ‘C’). Understandably for a relatively new band on the scene, they were a bit messier in the flesh than on record, but they also played a blinder. Do correct me if I’m wrong, but Madame JoJo’s, albeit a great place to go for a night out, doesn’t seem to have that great a soundsystem. On a few occasions throughout the night the balance just seemed to be a bit off. If you were there, opinions on a postcard please (or just comment below, whichever takes your fancy). In a couple of places throughout the rest of Yuck’s set, there were lovely strong echoes of Sonic Youth, which pleased me muchly as I was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the great band themselves. I couldn’t help but purchase one of Yuck’s little numbered (out of 200) hand-drawn booklets, available for the measly sum of £1 at most shows. It’s not so much having one that even counts for me, it’s the idea that a band can drum up £200 for themselves just by taking the time to make a little booklet for fans – I like to think of it as a donation to the band.
On to
Veronica Falls, and as I have also already gushed in an earlier review (again of them supporting a band – let’s get some headline spots in people!), they were great. Not quite as brilliant as the below mentioned show at Hoxton Square, but this seemed to be down to the sound quality in the place more than anything else. If you haven’t seen them, please do; the strength of their songs should be enough to convince people that they’re worth the money, and the songs are better live. There even seemed to be more people in the venue for them than for our headliners Dum Dum Girls, and I may even go as far as to say that, yet again, they were the best band of the night.
Soooo, Dum Dum Girls then. Anyone who’s heard ‘Jail La La’ will probably concede that it’s a grand song, and, indeed, it was grand live too. But the two people I went to the gig with and I all agreed on the same point afterwards: their look was a little confusing. It was like watching the cast of Chicago play an indie gig. Apart from Frankie Rose, who we also know from playing drums for Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts in the past (what a CV, eh?) all three guitarists were wearing stockings, short dark vampy dresses and heels. Not what I expected from a lo-fi scuzzy girl group. But, dear friends, therein lies further confusion. They were quite a bit less lo-fi and scuzzy than on record, which doesn’t really seem to be the right way round. The vocals were amazing, and I enjoyed the sound as a whole, but it seemed suspiciously like they had been ‘scuzzed up’ to fit the lo-fi indie-kid audience; everything about it was glossier than their recorded songs would have you believe. Throughout the gig there were repeated loud shrieks from over-enthusiastic male admirers, and I felt like it was a bit of a shame that they didn’t seem to fit in a subculture that’s all about homemade music and a down-to-earth attitude. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve downloaded the single (and played it to death) and I think seeing the gig was more than worth it, but, for me, Moulin Rouge corsets and indie girl-groups are at opposite ends of the feminist scale.
And oh, I can’t go without mentioning the fabulousness that was the No Pain In Pop DJs. I’ve never heard Gentle Friendly’s ‘Loversrock’ and Atlas Sound’s ‘Walkabout’ played in a club environment before, so big kudos to them for just having great taste.
