The Everyday Gig Review Roundup (June '22)

Still on a high from last month’s music festivals, we’ve been getting our breath back in recent weeks (or in Kerry’s case, interviewing artists left right and centre). But we’ve managed to get out to see some live music, at least – luckily, because we’d probably malfunction and melt down otherwise.

First up, on June 16, music editor Fran and culture editor Kerry popped out on a very warm evening and headed in different directions entirely. Fran caught DRAG’s gig at The Louisiana with support from Frances Pylons and Bible Club; a varied lineup of three of Bristol’s most exciting acts. Meanwhile, Kerry reports back from The Marble Factory on the Bristol leg of Peaches’ world tour to celebrate twenty years of The Teaches of Peaches. Finally, Fran headed out again on June 24, a little over-excited to see Les Amazones d’Afrique playing Bristol’s Jam Jar for a sold-out show on the eve of their performance at Glastonbury.

Peaches @ The Marble Factory, Bristol

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Words by Kerry Mead, images by Vonalina Cake Photography

What do you get when one of the most famous no-fucks-given women in music reaches that ‘certain age’ when famously, women just don’t give a fuck anymore? You get The Teaches of Peaches Twentieth Anniversary Tour. Electroclash pioneer and societal subverter Peaches released her debut album The Teaches of Peaches in 2000 and it propelled her into the international spotlight, as much for its Queer, body and femme-positive rallying cries and fuck-the-patriarchy attitude as for the music.

Peaches started the UK leg of the world tour on 10th June in Brighton, taking in a headline Saturday night slot at Grace Jones’ Meltdown Festival at The Southbank Centre, and culminating in a packed-out show in Bristol on 16th June. Her music and live performances always stand head and shoulders above the fray; Peaches is a performance artist as well as a musician, and her live shows are as well known for their artistic curation and jaw-dropping costume design as for their atmosphere and general hedonism. But this tour was always going to be even more special; any excitement at seeing her perform her seminal album from start to finish intensified by that exhilarating wave we are all still riding on where we still can’t quite believe we’re allowed out in a sweaty, throbbing crowd again.

Arriving at The Marble Factory at 7.30 on a balmy, sun-drenched evening, the courtyard is already packed with the cream of Bristol’s queer, underground and artistic communities. The outfits, hair and makeup are outstanding - this is a gig that people have pulled all the stops out for, and all know it is going to be a space where people can truly be themselves. I could have stood crowd watching all night, but there are people to catch up with I haven’t seen in an age, and a support act to watch.

Support tonight is from Grove - a Bristol artist who has been on a steep trajectory upwards over the last eighteen months - and I can’t think of a more perfect fit for the support slot here in Bristol. Their Queer-and-Black-positive amalgamation of dancehall, rap, deconstructed 2 step and more, delivered with pure sex attitude, is the perfect example of the cultural and musical atmosphere Peaches helped pioneer in the early noughties, and what it looks like now it has arrived in the future. As always, Grove’s entire set was on point - fizzing with dirty energy and huge basslines and beats, yet flawless in its delivery.

After enough time to cool off in the courtyard, The Marble Factory starts to fill up again and is soon a heaving, smiling sea of anticipation. Peaches enters stage left crouched over a zimmer frame with a handbag slung over the handle, wearing one of the famous vulva hats from previous tours (this is as much a costume design retrospective as an album anniversary tour), huge, puffy tit slippers, a pink jacket to match those infamous pink hotpants from The Teaches of Peaches album cover, and a massive smile. I think every person over the age of forty inwardly squealed ‘thank fuck for Peaches’ at that point (I did), and this fearless, humour-filled stage entry was immediate confirmation that Peaches still has the same fuck-you attitude. Peaches pushes the zimmer frame aside, swaps it for a Roland on wheels, pulls a mic out of her handbag with a flourish, and as the intro bars of the opening track Set It Off build and intensify, tears off her wig, strips off, fakes cunnilingus on said Roland and launches headfirst into the track, resplendent in those pink hotpants over a pair of beige granny-pants.

Which sets the scene for the rest of the night; a perfectly orchestrated, aesthetically stunning fast-paced flurry of sex, flesh, humour, theatre, political commentary and crashing, luminous hits that hold the whole audience in rapt attention. I daren’t even go for a wee. Of course, Peaches covers the whole of The Teaches of Peaches in her set, but also includes some later big hits as well, such as Boys Wanna Be Her and Talk to Me, culminating with probably her best-known track Fuck the Pain Away. Well, we think it culminates with Fuck the Pain Away, but Peaches does something that doesn’t happen as often as it should nowadays, an actual surprise encore; a hilarious, x-rated version of Celine Dion / Meatloaf’s cover of It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.

Peaches’ band/dancers are multi-faceted and hugely sexy - the drummer dances, the lead guitarist dances, the dancers play instruments, and all work together like a well-oiled, supple machine. Peaches herself emanates warmth, charm and boundless energy. My personal highlights, in a set full of highlights if this was any other show, are Peaches’ and her lead guitarist’s piss-taking of big dick energy 80s rock bands, which sees them both strutting and gurning whilst shredding huge, angular guitars for Rock Show, Peaches’ impressive stints of crowd surfing, firstly walking on the crowd’s upturned hands supporting her in eyepopping purple to Diddle My Skittle, then inside a giant inflatable penis which sprays the audience with fake cum to roars of delight as Dick In The Air reaches its climax.

Everyone there went expecting to experience a slice of music history tonight and I’m guessing no one went away feeling short-changed. It was exhilarating evidence of Peaches continuing ability to innovate, commentate, create, and wow an audience - and there are obviously still plenty of teaches to be taken from Peaches’ book yet.

The tour continues throughout Europe and the USA all summer - find details here.

Frances Pylons - Bible Club - DRAG @ The Louisiana, Bristol

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Words by Fran Pope

Frances Pylons

After a last-minute, Covid-induced cancellation by Erotic Secrets of Pompeii, Frances Pylons stepped up at minimal notice to open the night at the Louisiana. And while gutted to miss Pompeii, I was so grateful for the chance to discover a musician I hadn’t known about before, but who is without a doubt one of my favourite new finds in a long time.

Frances Pylons is the project of CF Sherratt, who is also a visual artist and tattoo artist and has produced artwork for several platforms and in several capacities; if you’re a Bristol gig-goer, you may have seen his distinctive designs on recent posters for the likes of Quade, Dwell and Outer Town festival, among others.

As Frances Pylons, this multi-talented Bristol-based artist was my dig in all possible ways. Bold, salty, haunting, warm, odd, dazzling, rough-round-the-edges, gutsy, idiosyncratic… his sound is hard to describe without unravelling a necklace of adjectives, and they still don’t fully capture it. Fingerpicked acoustic guitar hovered between eery English folk and twangier Americana, all oblique angles and surprising bends. But his voice was the real heart-grabber. Imagine a cavernous wooden flute, forlorn and immense, rough and smooth at the same time. It has something of Anthony and the Johnsons in its depth and sweet sadness; it has the same sense of tall grass and sunlight that filters through the songs of Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan; it carries the imaginative, full-of-life, twisted-tale narratives of Jesca Hoop or The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy. But Frances Pylons doesn’t sound like any of them.

Imprinted all the way through with strange grains, teeming with stories and secrets, his style is truly unique and alive with creative force.

He closed his short set with an acapella Irish folk song, The Castle of Dromore – a rendition so raw and beautiful that I might have stopped breathing for a few minutes.

You can download and listen to Frances Pylons on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Keep up to date with CF Sherratt’s projects on Instagram: music, art and tattoos.

Bible Club

Photo by Josh Collins @goshgoshgoshgoshgoshgoshgosh

You might remember The Everyday’s review of Bible Club’s headline set at the Crofter’s Rights back in April this year, when they were promoting their latest single, Mr. Lizard. That was definitely a show to remember, and I was interested to see how the venue and the other bands would put a different slant on tonight’s set.

And although more measured than the Crofter’s gig, it was certainly no less dynamic and impactful. As is often the case the second time seeing a band play live, it was great to be reminded of everything I’d loved about Bible Club last time around: solid wedges of high-impact drumming, robust guitar riffs, bleeding distortion, and spirited spoken/yelled vocals. The band had also gained a saxophone player since I last saw them, a great addition to their particular brand of growling murk.

It felt about 35°C in the venue at this point, and although the band were melting slightly under the lights, their performance didn’t suffer. They’re comfortable on stage, and their sound is well honed. To top it all off, they know how to have fun and to transmit that enjoyment to a crowd.

Catch Bible Club at the Louisiana, Bristol again on June 27 (tickets here) and at The Joiners, Southampton, on July 22.

You can keep up to date with them on Instagram and listen on Spotify.

DRAG

Bristol duo DRAG are Amy and Leo, better known as Red and Blue. Describing themselves as “coloured-in goths,” they’re a vibrant, clashing lifeforce of a band, and a brilliant live act. Embodying 80s synth-pop/punk with triple the energy, they’re as buzzing and brightly coloured as those red and blue slushies you see in the newsagent; but probably laced with vodka or something, since DRAG’s luminous appearance has a sharp edge and a wicked sense of humour.

Aside from anything else, they are seriously talented. Their music is tight and accomplished, fantastically catchy and danceable. And their creativity extends to their visual aesthetic, too, visible in the punk collage-style album art made by Red (see her Instagram for more) and the DIY video for SOPHIE, as well as their really ace photo montages made by George Avill.

DRAG had a warm welcome at the Louisiana with a friendly crowd going wild for favourite DRAG hits. Blue’s vocals were by turns booming and epic, elastic and howling, and he ricocheted around the stage – and off it too – spinning out some insane moves and high kicks, with what looked like a Go-Pro strapped to his chest. Meanwhile Red, in bright tutu and fishnets, shredded the bass with utter composure.

An audience favourite was Dracula – a fabulous, goth/kitsch vampire anthem. Another was The Package (or Derek the Sex Robot), which was featured on the 2021 compilation Poland Has A Task by the PHATBristol label. PHAT is a voice for LGBTQ rights and for Polish women’s autonomy in the fight for legal abortions; check out The Everyday’s interview with founders Ola and Oli here.

The focal point of DRAG’s set was their poignant and gorgeous new release, SOPHIE – a plain-speaking, heartfelt tribute to the groundbreaking experimental pop artist who passed away in early 2021. It’s a song that resonates with profound appreciation and respect, its chorus hook, “SOPHIE, I didn’t know you, but I loved you,” wrapped in a glossy, shimmering, pounding synth-pop track that seems utterly fitting.

Find all DRAG’s links, music and socials on their Link Tree.

Les Amazones d’Afrique @ Jam Jar, Bristol

Friday, June 24, 2022

Words by Fran Pope

We couldn’t miss the opportunity to see iconic female supergroup Les Amazones d’Afrique as they stopped off in Bristol as part of their first UK tour since 2018, ahead of their set at Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage the next day. And while we reckon they could easily have filled Bristol’s O2, the much cosier Jam Jar – not only a venue, but a community arts space, and one of our absolute favourite spots – was by far the more fitting backdrop for a band as vibrant and engaged as the Amazones.

Les Amazones d’Afrique are a band with an elastic lineup, with members stepping in and out and guests over the years including Nneka, Angélique Kidjo, Rokia Koné and Boy Fall. Currently, the band is a four-piece featuring founding member Mamani Keïta along with Kandy Guira, Fafa Ruffino and Dobet Gnahoré.

But if their members and guests are changeable, the spirit of Les Amazones is firmly rooted in its key values: gender equality, feminism, education for girls, climate justice and eradicating ancestral violence. As the band’s newest member, Dobet has said, “I have joined Les Amazones d’Afrique to continue the fight for the emancipation of women in Africa and in the world. The fight of Les Amazones d’Afrique is the fight of all women, and especially us female artists.”

And their music? Four strong voices, a shining pillar of harmony and backing as each member takes turns to lead, all of which layered over deep bass grooves and rippling guitar riffs. Beats are tight and jumpy, and scratchy electronics put a bracing twist on the more traditional feel of their songs.

Although the band got off to a late start, the audience seemed super chill, and a line of smiley, chatty gig-goers formed calmly outside (it helped that it was warm, and the rain was holding off!). With true Everyday style, we waited in the car, applying glitter and cracking out the glow-sticks. When the venue eventually opened its doors, the wait only seemed to have notched up everyone’s excitement.

DJ Beau Selecta did a fine job warming up the crowd (although the good vibes were already almost tangible), playing a sassy mix of Afro house, world beats and lovely grooves – including a remix of one of our personal favourites, Angélique Kidjo’s Yeke Yeke.

By this time the Jam Jar was absolutely packed out, all the way to the bar at the back.

Just as we had staked out our spot at the very front, Les Amazones appeared, four dazzling women of varying ages, resplendent in floor-length dresses, gorgeous prints, futuristic cuts and big gold jewellery. They started their set with a poised, relatively slow number that allowed their voices to shine. But having broken us in gently, they soon upped the tempo, sending great waves of irresistible rhythms through the audience.

By the third or fourth song, they’d unleashed a whirlwind of energy. Despite the soaring temperature on the dancefloor, there didn’t seem to be a single person in the room not giving it their all at that point. “Are you tired?” Fafa Ruffino teased us, “because we’re only just getting started!” And she wasn’t lying – full-on party beats hit us with full force, and the band had us all crouching low on the floor before going wild with “Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!” This was a show for dancing and laughing helplessly, just out of the sheer fun of the music; a show that could blast sadness and worries way out into orbit.

But, of course, there is more to this band than good times – a key part of who Les Amazones are is their activism, and their positive choice to use their voices and their platform to draw attention to causes such as FGM, forced marriage and girls’ access to education. While certain causes they stand by apply especially to women and girls across Africa, many are universal, and this is part of Les Amazones’ brilliance. Not only uniting their own voices – from Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin respectively – their approach is truly international, bringing in guest musicians from all over the world, singing in many different languages and touring across the globe.

Towards the end, Fafa spoke eloquently about the drastic need for action to protect the planet, and more specifically the planet’s need for us – women – to rise up and work together for change. “We bring you this message with love, from our hearts,” she said. “Music is the only voice we have.”

Keep up with all the news from Les Amazones d’Afrique on their Instagram.

Les Amazones d’Afrique’s digital EP Live is out on June 10 on Real World Records – get an early listen here.

The band will return to the UK in July for WOMAD Festival (July 28-31), tickets here.

Follow Les Amazones on tour: #AmazonesPowerLive