Gig Review - Independence Day West Coast Blackpool

Before I enter into this review I must ensure I fully commit myself to the knowledge that this is a review of an evening’s entertainment at West Coast and not a personal blog or other referenced outlet for my lengthy discourses and diatribes. This statement has now been made, however how well I adhere to this remains at the mercy of the flow of dialogue from the recesses of my subconscious through recollection and whimsy.

I shall therefore refrain from any attempts to reveal lengthy explanations of my current mindscape, misadventures or other acts of malevolence. I shall leave it with the precursors to this evening as I was reeling from a quite hefty session, such that my body is no longer exposed to and found the generation of enthusiasm that had been stored in earnest for my attendance to this evening of musical delight waning somewhat. I attempted to varying degrees of success to rejuvenate excitement and gusto through the medium of “topping up”, but seemingly it was the duel combination of a fair turnout of many of Blackpool’s most interesting of people and the musical delights on show that produced best results in reinvigorating my general sense of self.

Due to my aforementioned tender state I arrived at West Coast just as the Dropout Wives had started. The last time I saw a gig that contained members of this band was a Sideshow Sirens gig many moons ago at the Royal Oak is cerebral manifestations hold true. I’m never sure what to expect when witnessing a band that contains the self proclaimed (and rightly so troubadour of the “non existent” Blackpool scene” that is Giles aka Mr Stormy Weathers. One thing that is guaranteed usually is a spectacle. The very nature of the unknown offers excitement and interest before a note is played. I suppose if I was to be honest and let’s face it I usually am (often to a fault) I would say that the one thing that I wasn’t expecting was what I witnessed.

The Dropout Wives as a genuinely perfect symbiotic calculation of its parts provide a garage rock sound that appears to draw influence from in my estimation the Detroit sound that bore it, but perhaps most surprisingly of all this is all performed in a very tight and focussed manner. Words such as “tight” and “focussed” are not what one associates with Giles usually but honesty again has to prevail. There was an exceptional balance of the slightly more avant garde musical escapades interspersed with really all most dogged driving riff based rock. It felt somewhat hypnotic at times where the listener is coaxed gently and shaken roughly into coming along for the ride. The bass grooves and Dan’s perfectly balanced drumming that would appeal to Robert Southey and his premise of “just right”. This perfectly laden groove driven out further by the well focussed riffage and additional complimentary guitar work along an acquiescent journey of delight that no-one could refuse but to indulge in heavily and scream with gusto Oliver’s refrain.

The dropout wives set was perfectly complimented by the pure comical talents of Giles, which often produced the result and effect I think he often strives for upon the audience, of simultaneous delight and also the questioning of “did he really just say that”. I wish to make it clear though kind listener that a Dropout Wives gig is not a Giles gig. The very reason why the Dropout Wives work so well is that they all seem to connect and thrive on one another, providing a unified spirit that Alexendre Dumas would be proud of. This collective musical family which I suppose is born from the admirable extended value that was/is? the Felch collective. This eternal spirit of hard rocking was in evidence on this evening with guest appearances from Ligget from CSOD and the irrepressible Joey Class of previous incarnation, The Sideshow Sirens and Senton Bombs. This additional input added some further sparkle to an impressive show. To further enhance that the Dropout Wives are a perfect ensemble my personal highlight of the evening was Lola’s most impressive vocals, as exemplified most notably on their take on the Monkees hit “Stepping Stone”. So you all may indeed not be my stepping stone, but damn it your rock hard and true.

After the usual respite that is provided by the changing over of bands, Oz in his one time incarnation as Casper… er actually don’t recall his full adopted moniker for this occasion, but suffice to say he was wearing a somewhat dodgy wig, clean shaven, spouting humorous American style ranting and quaffing in the face of conformity and predilection of irregularity.

Then without further ado Goonies never say die took the stage, or should I say Gremlins never say die. Perhaps they are Goonies with a keyboardist and Gremlins without. That said to be perfectly honest I didn’t realise there keyboardist wasn’t there until Barry announced part way in. It has been an inordinate time since I have seen Goonies play and I plain forgot they had a keyboard player, but I don’t think for one second their sound suffered at all. I spent the vast majority of this performance fully engrossed, whilst the performance of the Dropout Wives as stated had an almost hypnotic pull; Goonies seem to progress this to another level. The blend of epic soundscapes coupled with a fire and intensity that would rank alongside any prose assembled by Dante’s discourses.

It is quite frankly an obvious statement to make that a review of an instrumental band could be further enhanced by the addition of a vocalist, but there is distinction that should be made here. Not long before this gig I saw Codes in the Clouds at the Blue Room and was heartily impressed with their performance. Their music was really engrossing and captured an interesting vibe brilliantly juxtaposing the quiet/loud dynamic. I have digressed slightly but my intention for this meandering away from the subject was to state that Codes in the Clouds are an excellent instrumental band; Goonies are too however I feel the composition of their songs lends itself more to the inclusion of lyrics and vocal performance. It is fair to say that a person such as I who holds Dylan in such high esteem and quite obviously indulges heavily in as Roland Barthes would’ve described the “la plaisir du texte” or pleasure of the text. Words mean an inordinate amount to me and I cherish them and all that they bring to our minds, hearts and souls. However my interlude into the joy of Codes in the Clouds is a demonstration of my joy of music and how variant modes and off kilter scales and beats can speak a language of their own. In fact I would progress that view further in that music is by definition a language and a perfect beautiful example of one at that. Given that language can take many forms and posses an array of motives, language through music transcends the ordinary and veers to topics that resonate most significantly to us all that to me is emotion. If words are our tool to direct, instruct and explain then emotion is the driving internal instructional force we have that our varying levels of vocabulary and understanding battle with in explanation. Music bereft of words makes the journey less obvious but also more simplistic. Where beautifully formed notes oscillating through a myriad of guitar effects are left to hang in the air for just that extra second, before the welcoming squeal, snarl and grunt of distortion, heavy crescendos of drums and driving bass line grooves shout the story with pure visceral intent to all those witnessing this. This is a story told if ever there was one. So for the inclusion of lyrics and vocal lines, would this sully and diminish the story. This makes me think of the old adage that a piece of art is never finished only abandoned, evoking the notion that sentiment that to the nth degree leaves only a black piece of paper. So there is less more perhaps, often this is the case. I think this is why I preferred the lack of keyboards and the melodic and harmony structures being provided by the steady work of Simon Morgan and Barry performing in only the way he can. Barry’s physical and musical performance itself could be enough to remove the need for any emotional lyrical discourse. Pain, anguish, angst, joy and confusion all seem evident in the guitar lines and physical enthusiasm.

However all this said the structuring of the songs helped perfectly by the great bass grooves and octopus style drumming of Kerr still to me lean to the opportunity for a verse or chorus refrain. Some songs and some musicians use lyrics as a focus, some use music. I still feel music should definitively be the focus but perhaps another dimension should be added. I even found snippets of lyric lines forming in my mind as the music progressed and evoked different walls of sound and delight.
All in all a great performance and I will try not to leave as long till next I see them.

If it has been a long time since I saw Goonies, that pales into comparison and feels infinitesimally close in relativity considering the time I saw the next band last. The Locals crashed onto the Blackpool music scene with bravado, teenage angst and bullish rebellion. This courted essentially two responses from people; either an annoyance or tedium that attitude in this manner has been done by the Gallagher’s many moons ago or a warm smile and encouragement of somebody trying to break up the banality. I suppose if I had to select a camp in which to pitch my tent of opinion it would be the latter. This may be in part due to the fact that I’ve never had any problem on a personal level with them. They have always been appreciative and pleasant with me as though some unspoken kinship existed that neither of us have ever commented on but fuels a mutual respect and level of camaraderie.

Musically they always appealed to me, many would issue critique with the all too familiar opinion of criticism of wearing their influences too visibly. It’s true I would say at the outset they sounded a little too close to the Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines. On a personal level I like the Libertines and don’t mind the Arctic Monkeys but wanted to see a little more of them. I would never apply to much sway to this opinion as I saw them as young people finding themselves. Who doesn’t have an identity crisis at the age of 16, I’m eleven years on and I still constantly question myself. Mind you the day I stop will either be the day of my eventual demise or worse that I’ve fallen into banality and acceptance of the status quo.

So back to this night it had been years since I last saw the Locals play and I was looking forward to this recalling that their appeared an upward spike on the last few occasions I had seen them years earlier, coupled with many positive things I had heard about them in the development and growth.

The first thing that struck me when they opened their set is that I knows truly felt I was watching a Locals gig as opposed to some young guys full of talent and spirit trying to find themselves through their influences. This appealed to me greatly, their competence as musicians included in this statement are the new members they’ve accumulated over time provides a tight but fire ridden tour de force of a young man’s views in 21st century Britain. In the past I along with many other (it wasn’t great foresight I know) opined that the Locals had that “in” sound that could do well. “In” sound I’m sorry I outright apologise for such cliché lazy work, what I meant to say is that their sound is akin to stylised genres that are seemingly gathering momentum and garnering success in the current climate. Perhaps this adoption of style could be deemed a calculated move and if that were the case, well I wouldn’t be writing anything positive right now. I don’t believe for one second it is, I feel that witnessing a Locals performance tells the story right there and then. They mean what they say and a lot of what they say is mean, but then again so is life most of the time so this seems perfectly acceptable. As stated they have flourished musically and created a sound that is more recognisable and definable as their own. The still clearly wear their influences on their proverbial musical sleeves (were Fred Perry polo shirts to have sleevesJ) but they is something that is hard to put one’s finger on that has created a distinction that stands out now. Coleman Local’s voice has definitely come of age and it is understandable why he has effectively taken the lead in the vocal stakes. Not to say that Charlie’s voice is in anyway weak, if fact the song that I recall him singing was a great vocal delivery, but to me his vocal are better suited to added that extra level of harmony that they capture to gratifying effect and also to concentrate on carving on the licks and hooks that his guitar adds to the overall ensemble. I think the highlight for me may well have been a song called something like “can’t explain” or certainly words to that effect. This along with many others had the words, if you can forgive the erroneous hospital DJ style description of, “hit” all over it. This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Next up after a further interlude from Oz’s cameo where he quite spectacularly removed all disguising paraphernalia in a tirade of abuse ridden rant comically positioned at many of his former bandmates, was indeed those people.

Of late I have seen Mauser perform on a number of occasions and reviewed them in high praiseworthy deserving celebratory fashion. I’m fully aware that I have gone a bit and hope that through this review I’ve remained as much as possible on topic. I hope that the standard and almost expectant digressions I’ve employed haven’t been too irksome and if in fact any of you have read this all the way through, thank you and I shall try and keep this briefer from this point on.
As I have said I have seen and reviewed Mauser a bit of late, so I don’t feel the need to divulge in too much detail here.

The audience had dwindled somewhat by this point, which is sad. I know people have a tendency to become restless and feel the need to seek out something else, if only to fulfil the “grass is greener” concept. Grass isn’t greener except where there is a higher concentration of chlorophyll and thus a higher amount of photosynthesis. But Blackpool town centre is largely bereft of any grass and I doubt the levels of chlorophyll would really fluctuate that much. Oops I’m drifting again. Anyways maybe it’s my tendency of if I have a night off I have a concept of making the most of it and watching all bands even those I don’t really like, but alas for whatever combination of reasons the attendance dropped a bit. One thing that is for sure this can’t be due to the quality of the band about to perform. Mauser are easily one of the premium bands in this our fair town. I personally rank them alongside Flags of…. As my joint favourite, I don’t wish to appear subjective now, as of course objectivity is the name of the game here but they seem highly praised by many others also. I think one of the things that helps shape their cross genre appeal is that they perfectly balance melody, harmony, pop structuring with grungy heavy undertones that is therefore by its very nature bound to entice in many a type of prospective attendee. They also don’t in any way take themselves too seriously and clearly have fun which as a viewer to this it is impossible to not feel drawn into as much as one might try to resist.
They performed a new song of which the title I cannot recall, but it was very good that I do now. Some of the other more familiar stuff was executed well and I was glad to see that “the ballad of Steve” was once again performed in a tuneful and “in time” manner as opposed to last time that song got an airing J
I think I have seen better Mauser performances but that is not to say this was bad in any way, they truly rocked and created that spine tingly moments that all the greats do. It was an awesome end to an awesome evening, sad that the Winter Gardens didn’t burn down, but when so much fire and intensity is on at an upper level of a club nearby those flames and ignition are bound to spread out and hit other combustibles.

Truly the founding fathers were served well by all bands this evening and an awesome night that was predicted was fully executed and delivered.


Stu