As tour line-ups go, I don’t think they get much better than Spanish Love Songs, Pkew Pkew Pkew and Goodbye Blue Monday. They are not only three bands that we love here at CPRW, they are three bands that we know each put on a killer live show. In fact, we know it’s a combination that works well together in a live setting because a few days prior to the Saturday 11th of May London show we went to The Hope & Ruin in Brighton to see the same line-up – and it was awesome, obviously.
There was no way we were ever going to miss seeing this momentous occasion at our favourite venue in the world, the New Cross Inn, as well though and when a second night was announced for Sunday the 12th, well, we snapped up tickets for that too. Sadly Pkew Pkew Pkew weren’t be able to play the bonus show but the heroes of Be Sharp Promotions gave us Burnt Tapes and Katie MF instead. They’re so good to us!
Both shows were destined to be incredible in their own ways, read on to find out if they lived up to our expectations…
Joining the already excellent line-up, for the Saturday date only, were New Jersey’s Save Face who were fresh off their EU/UK tour with Can’t Swim. I must admit that I hadn’t heard of Save Face before they were added to this show but I’m always up for checking out a new band. It turned out this was their first time in the UK and their second time in London, after their first show just a week earlier. The New Cross Inn was gradually filling up with some of the earlier arrivers and, although I imagine not many people knew Save Face, the crowd soon warmed to the four piece. The band were slick performers and were clearly passionate about playing their music, which ranged from jangly indie style melodies to heavier punk riffs and intricate shreddy moments. Definitely not a bad start to the evening.
Fresh from releasing their excellent second EP Every Trouble Meant on Friday, Katie MF were a late addition to the Sunday line-up. It was a very welcome addition for CPRW since we were at the EP release show on the Thursday night and therefore knew that the New Cross Inn was in for a treat. The Sunday show had an earlier start than the Saturday but there were still a fair few people about nice and early to watch Katie and her band. Playing songs ranging from the super emotional Do Without to more upbeat songs Leather Jacket, Feelgood Films and Praying For Rain, it wasn’t long before the trio were winning over the room. These are three very talented musicians and, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Katie has the most incredibly captivating voice. Finishing up their set with protest song Mr Cameron Mr Gove, I'm certain the band earned themselves some new fans. I can’t wait to see them again at the end of the month with Western Settings – also at the New Cross Inn.
When we heard that our favourite Scottish misery punks Goodbye Blue Monday would be on board for the whole of this tour we were over the moon (it may well have encouraged us to go to the extra show in Brighton). If you are not familiar with Goodbye Blue Monday, they play catchy, seemingly upbeat melodic punk with, simply put, miserable lyrics. It’s all good fun live and that was definitely the case on Saturday night, with the band dressed in matching sunset vests which they said was for Spanish Love Songs – who are from LA. Their voices were feeling the effects of being on tour but that didn’t stop them from giving it everything they had left – and if lead vocalist Graham’s voice failed him then bandmates Ross and Sean were on hand to sing harmonies. Goodbye Blue Monday had played at the New Cross Inn twice before but this was definitely their biggest crowd yet. The set included tracks from their last two EPs, as well as the latest tune Trigger Alert. It was great to hear the brand new unreleased track It’s Not Okay – which we may have had a sneaky listen to prior to hearing it played live. Finishing up with a double whammy of Misery Punk Ruined My Life and Take You Pills – two songs from two different EPs that flow so well into one another – and finally closing with Love Is A Noose For Two was just perfect. We love Goodbye Blue Monday!
I cannot think of a band more deserving of a slot on the Sunday line-up than the Burnt Tapes. The band are huge fans of Spanish Love Songs so I know they would have been looking forward to just watching them, let alone playing with them. In fact, if it wasn’t for guitarist and vocalist Pan writing about Giant Sings The Blues in a guest end of year list for CPRW a few years ago, we wouldn’t have known about Spanish Love Songs ourselves. (I’m sure we’d have heard them eventually, they’re pretty popular now, but still – thank you, Pan!) Burnt Tapes released their incredible debut album, Never Better, earlier this year which I happen to know is many people’s album of the year so far, mine included – if you haven’t listened to it yet, where’ve you been? It's full of emotional, gruff punk – or as they like to call it, regret punk – bangers. Understandably their setlist consisted of many songs from Never Better, including Drift Champ ’16, Robert Cop and Don’t Make Me Play Bocelli, as well as a few tracks from 2017’s Alterations EP. It was a slick performance, complete with some amusing on stage banter from bassist Tone, that was finished up with ‘the hits’ Yuzi and Things Get Weird. Burnt Tapes once again proving that they are the best band in London.
Returning to the New Cross Inn – basically their London home – for the second time this year, Saturday night was to be the final night of tour for Pkew Pkew Pkew. Having seen the Canadian band the previous two times at NXI (and at Fest), we knew they put on one hell of a live show – their debut in London last year was without a doubt my gig of the year. And yet, somehow they managed to blow their previous performances out of the water on this occasion. Pkew Pkew Pkew are epitome of a good time with infectiously catchy, sometimes silly and always insanely fun songs – with some of the best harmonies in punk rock. If I recall correctly, the band opened their set with Thirsty And Humble from their new album, Optimal Lifestyles, which, like many of Pkew’s songs, is about drinking and having the best time with your pals – and that’s exactly what their show feels like, everyone is pals. The set was understandably heavy on tracks from Optimal Lifestyles with Drinkin’ Days, Passed Out, Point Break and I Don’t Matter At All making an appearance. It was particularly great to hear The Pit and I Wanna See A Wolf which I don’t think I’d heard live before, alongside classics such as Glory Days, Asshole Pandemic and Before We Go Out Drinking from their first album. I didn’t even notice that the band didn’t play Mid 20s Skateboarder/Blood Clot until Colin pointed it out to me afterwards – the new songs are so bloody good so it was nice to mix it up. There was also a human pyramid at one point which is, I think, quite a rare occurrence for the New Cross Inn. At the Brighton show, Goodbye Blue Monday joked that Pkew were actually the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. This is apparently something that stuck with the bands as in London we were treated to a rendition of By The Way. Members of Goodbye Blue Monday and Spanish Love Songs joined Pkew on stage for this very rough around the edges, no doubt only put together over the past few days, but ridiculously fun cover. And that sums this band up really – ridiculously fun.
Although Pkew Pkew Pkew were missed on the Sunday night, it was great to see Goodbye Blue Monday stepping up to take the third spot on the bill. They certainly deserve all of the new fans that they have no doubt gained from these shows and imagine they gained a few more on the Sunday – the room was certainly getting pretty packed. Wanting to change things up a bit from their set the night before, Graham explained how they hadn’t written a second setlist so were just going to make it up as they went along – ever the professionals. It turns out these chaps are pretty good at improving however, kicking things off with Take Your Pills, a song that appeared towards the end of Saturday night's set, and then storming through an even better set than the day before. There were a couple of new songs that the band hadn’t played on Saturday, including one called Alaska that they said they’d never played live before – it sounded brilliant. Unfortunately the set wasn’t without its mishaps with Sean’s guitar causing him problems part way through. Thankfully Spanish Love Songs’ Kyle was on hand to lend his guitar and, while Sean got it set up, Graham treated us to a very much unplanned cover of Iron Chic’s Time Keeps On Slipping Into The (Cosmic) Future. DIY punk rock is the best. Goodbye Blue Monday are the best.
I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about a band playing the New Cross Inn than Spanish Love Songs – I am eternally grateful to Paul Be Sharp for making these gigs happen. Having seen Spanish Love Songs twice on their first tour of the UK last autumn and once already this week (you could say I’m a bit obsessed), I knew this was going to be an amazing performance. Last year, the band’s keyboard player Meredith and bassist Trevor were not able to come over (they had a stand-in bassist but no keys) so it was great to hear Spanish Love Songs as they are supposed to be heard this time around. The show was sold out and the room was rammed with excited people, eager to sing their hearts out to these cathartic emotion-driven songs. And that’s exactly what we did, from the two-part opening of Nuevo and Sequels, Remakes & Adaptations through to closer Beer & NyQuil and everything in between. I almost lost my voice screaming along to my personal favourite from last year’s Schmaltz, The Boy Considers His Haircut, but found enough breath to sing along to the likes of Bellyache, Otis/Carl and older song Mexico, among others. The band also threw in their latest single, Losers, and their cover of Phoebe Bridgers’ Funeral which was dedicated to their new pals in Goodbye Blue Monday. The New Cross Inn crowd was incredibly enthusiastic with plenty of fists in the air and a few too many crowd surfers for my liking. Unfortunately, perhaps because this was a sold out show on a Saturday night and few people had had a few too many beers (not that that is any kind of excuse), the crowd was not without a few inconsiderate people. This was not something that went unnoticed by the band however as they commented, more than once, that they appreciated the enthusiasm but people should be aware of those around them and try not to ‘kick anybody in the head’. Spanish Love Songs still put on an incredible show and, despite my bruises from being at the front, I loved it. However, I couldn’t help going home feeling a tiny bit pissed off that some idiots in the crowd had tarnished our beloved New Cross Inn – especially as those involved had probably never been to the venue before! Thankfully, the venue had a chance to redeem itself the next day.
And I’m delighted and relieved to say that we did redeem the New Cross Inn with the second night. Before opening Spanish Love Songs’ Sunday night set, lead vocalist and guitarist Dylan spoke about what had happened the night before, for those that weren’t there. You could immediately tell that this night was going to be different however as there was still excitement in the room but it was also more chilled – it was a Sunday after all. After a minor mishap in which Meredith discovered her keyboards were not on, the band launched into the same first three songs as the previous night – Nuevo, Sequels and Haircut – before making my night even better than it already was by playing Concrete from their first album, Giant Sings The Blues. It’s the first song that I fell in love with by the band and this was my first time hearing it played live. I know the band don’t really play songs from their first album very often anymore, and second album Schmaltz is a masterpiece so that’s okay, but it was amazing to hear this – and Vermont which they played a few songs later – just the once. The rest of the set was similar to the previous night but I’d happily sing along to those songs over and over so it didn’t matter one bit. As I said, the atmosphere was just generally a lot more pleasant for the band and the audience on the Sunday night. We were still happily singing along to every word but, well, nobody got kicked in the head. It was also nice to be able to have my full attention on the band and not be wary that I might be shoved into the bass monitor in front of me at any moment. Maybe that was my fault for standing right at the front on Saturday night but I was in the same place on Sunday and had a much lovelier time! Maybe a punk show shouldn’t be ‘lovely’ but I don’t care and I don’t think Spanish Love Songs do either.
It's unlikely that Spanish Love Songs will ever play the New Cross Inn again. They are definitely, deservedly, on to bigger venues and bigger audiences (hopefully not with bigger idiots in said audiences) but I’m so happy to have been at these shows. I can’t see any other show this year topping Sunday night’s.
This gig review was written by Emma Prew. (Photos also by Emma Prew.)
No comments:
Post a Comment