Just for a change of scenery, this W&H hack took a step out of her normal London haunts to venture North to attend the renowned Hell’s Ditch in Liverpool, for a night of quality live Alt. Country and indie bands, set in a warm, friendly and intimate atmosphere.
It’s a great night and certainly worth checking out if you’re in the area. Not only are you guaranteed entertaining live acts throughout the evening, you also get a free, well-written fanzine and a CD compilation on entry, well worth the £4 to get in methinks. Ok, shameless advertising gush over with, now to the music.
RATTLEBUS, the “house band”, opened with a decent, solid set that rolled along, paving the way nicely for SPARKWOOD & 21 - who were the highlight of the evening by a long shot – pelting us with luscious harmony-driven melodies, lilting mandolins and energetically warm tunes, all thrown together to create a beautiful, heart-warming racket. They have a genuine, lo-fi, rootsy feel about them, while maintaining an endearing pop sensibility, with flecks of Elbow and Teenage Fanclub dotted throughout their music, but not so much as to take away their own sound. I was won over almost instantly.
They also came out with an ingenious method of telling the rabble at the bar to shut it: “This next tune is a really quiet one, so if you’re having a personal conversation while we’re playing, chances are we’re going to get to hear it, so you might want to keep it down…” Nice touch.
I’d certainly recommend going to see Sparkwood & 21 if you get the chance, and if anyone has any idea what the name means then please let us know, I’m intrigued…
The following act was a trio of seemingly road-weary rockers, SONGDOG, who, despite their reputation and credence, were sadly disappointing. As they took to the stage an air of reverence descended upon on the audience. Unfortunately, they presented a set, which in comparison to the previous band, just didn’t cut the mustard.
It wasn’t that they played badly by any means; they managed to create a heady ambience that competed admirably with the rowdy conversationalists propping up the bar. There were elements of stoner pedal steel action, gravelly vocals, and haunting guitar riffs throughout, demonstrating their obvious capabilities as musicians. For me though, the use of a synthesizer seemed unnecessary, and took the edge off the organic sound that showed such initial promise.
However, this was not my major source of contention. Like most people, I don’t exactly relish the idea of my Mum and Dad engaging in the odd bit of nookie, let alone my grandparents. So when the more-than-middle-aged Lyndon Morgan (vocals, guitar) casually proclaimed to a rather stunned audience that he “Fucks to a click track”, my gut reaction was to hide under a table and start rocking.
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But that was nothing compared to the definite shudder that rippled through the room when he sang about the “noise he makes when he comes” [at which point someone at the back let out a subtle bleat], and the general disbelief when he mumbled something about how all hope was lost when his balls dropped, all sung with the utmost sincerity. I had thought that James Blunt’s attempt at portraying intimacy was weird to say the least: “I know you well, I know your smell” [Goodbye My Lover], but this really took the biscuit.
Maybe I took these phrases out of context (although I can't see how), but I don’t care because I was forced to spend 20 minutes literally chewing my fist in horror at the nauseating image of someone older than my Dad copulating in time to a Fostex click track set at 7/8, making bizarre orgasmic noises, whilst contemplating the good old days when the world seemed a lot sunnier because his testicles had not yet descended.
After Songdog’s performance the general consensus was (apart from us being completely freaked out) that although they were good musicians, you should never walk away from a performance feeling soiled, unless you’ve been to a Slipknot gig. And there was a definite mad dash for the shower when we got back.
Overall though, Hells Ditch was a great music night, really enjoyable and warm, and we got the added pleasure of discovering Sparkwood & 21, a wicked new band worth keeping an eye on. And even if the main act was slightly freakish, it still made for good conversation afterwards.
www.sparkwood21.co.uk
www.songdog.co.uk
www.rattlebus.co.uk
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