Disappointed that Debbie can't make it out tonight I make my lonely way towards Brixton on her Old Dutch worrying about the flippy sounds I can hear coming from behind and startling myself when using the front brake. Really must give it a once over and put that rear mudguard on. Arriving at the Windmill promptly I sit outside the front having to listen to someone's life story and then their friends life stories and then some. Tardily Pete, Wendy and Todd arrive and we move out into the beer garden of which one of our group not to be named seems strangely fascinated by the gaudy rockery. Fashionably late and dressed Simon and Jules arrive and we're off inside to see the first band.
Tojemura 7 are a two guitar and drums trio who lurch between seemingly (I'm sure it's not) shambolic post punk festival sort of psychedelic stuff with I think a weirdly high number of references to surfing, given they look nothing like your typical Beach Boys or punksurf band. When they are together they are tight and impressive. When not they are interesting art punk. A good start to the evening. After a brief sojourn in the salubrious garden and a bit of rockery rework we're back inside for a band that I can't decide whether politically correctly or politically incorrectly named. A brief google this afternoon reveals them as an original punk band so I'm very interested regardless of the name...
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| First of 2 sets for our hard working guitarist |
The Homosexuals are another three piece with no bass. Not that the guitarist needs any other strings on stage but more of that later. The front man is very striking and is obviously the only one who has 70s punk roots as guitarist and drummer don't look like they were alive back then. Our main man tells us that he's 66 and he looks it. Well, apart from his style which is printed shirt and multicoloured hair in a DIY 70s style. But he's great up front. A real performer and really into the music occasionally popping back to hit the hell out of the drum or cymbals. Great shouty voice in a style that flicked two fingers up at the early 70s singer songwriters which is as refreshing today as it was back then. And lyrics designed to make you think about life. Wizard (I think that's what he said he was called) alternated between hopping about to the rhythm, staring intensely at the audience in a J Lydon sort of way (there are a few similarities, in fact he's a cross between Nik Turner and JL which is not as weird as you may think given that JL was a Hawkwind fan and am sure studied NT's performances cos that's what they were) and waving his arms around or staring at the ceiling during the particularly psych guitar breaks. And he has some sort of shaking thing going on with one of his arms which Dr S says is typical of palsy as it stays still when he's concentrating. Anyways he jokes about this (singer, not Dr S) and gets the audience to shake with him. Great visuals and that's just the singer. Drummer is hidden at the back as most of them are but gets a few checks from the front man. And some joker from the crowd who shouts out that our front man hero is being carried by the drummer and claiming all the glory. Cue guitarist applauding the sentiment and much banter amongst the band. Yeah the guitarist. Denim shorts. Boots. Beardy. Short hair. Leather jacket (in this heat). Expecting heavy punk thrashiness especially as I spy some ligger with an Anti Nowhere League T on and suspect they're here to see old school post punk punk in a, well, ANW vein. Instead got post punk punk in an Alternative TV, PiL, punkadelic vein. And as with ATV a lot of the chat seems to be about Deptford High Street and how dangerous it was back in the day. Sorry. The guitarist. You know those virtuoso spanish guitarist who play the bass rhythm with a couple of fingers whilst also playing twiddly solo bits. It was like that but punk. Amazing to watch and I did wonder if I was mesmerised due to one too many bottles of Roof Dog (RIP) but Pete thought the same and went up to chat to him afterwards. He veered around straight up punk riffing, hard rock power riffing and lead guitar running up and down the neck with a psychedelic twinge. Great stuff and brought the power in the songs up and down at will. Knows the value of silence too. A great sound and a fantastic set. How come I never come across them before? After all that excitement we need a breather but the pace is upped and soon enough we're back to see the headliners.
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| The Introduction |
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| The Audience Stare |
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| The Question |
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| The Rocking Out |
David Cronenberg's Wife have the first bassist of the night. Yay! And quite a few others. Including our first woman on stage.Yay! again. From the back: drummer, guitarist, bassist, violinist, singer guitarist, keyboardist. They look like an art house band with the singer guitarist in smart jacket and tie which only come off right towards the end. He's the main man and orchestrates the rest of the band quite literally at times telling them where to come in. Most songs he looks to the other guitarist who is from the first band tonight so I assume he's standing in and needs a bit of reminding about what to play for each song. That's clever. The female keyboardist also seems like she's not been playing for ages as has a sheaf of paper next to her and picks out the next song. At one point all this drops off the keyboard and onto the dance floor but our Homosexuals front man kindly picks it all up and hands it back to our flustered heroine. The keyboards are good though lending a fuzzily hard repetitive hypnotic tone to some songs. The violin gives us a wild dancing vibe getting crazily faster for some of the more upbeat tunes. Bass and drums keep the whole performance tighter than Simon's wallet (where did this beer tax mularky come from?!) whilst stand in guitar picks over the beat and the main guy is left free to hit hard rock and roll riffs or meander about a bit. Good singing too with a hard edge belying the look and as intense in it's own way as Mr Wizard. Nearly. Post punk art rock chunky rhythms. Gypsy violin wildness. Shouty battering vocals. Minimalist synth keys. It's all in there. A direct line of descent from old time RnR leaping on to The Fall and skidding into Fat White Family. How can you go wrong with that. And with a touch of commercial nous as the front man introduces each song with what album it came off and whether it's a single before telling how we can get our dirty mitts on said vinyl. All too soon we're told that was the last song before they immediately launch into what is the last one. Great band. Great evening. Go see all three. Soon. The first will no doubt sharpen up losing a bit of edge and entertainment. The second may not be around for too much longer at least in such an energetic form. The third, well I think they'll be around for a while yet. We finish our drinks (as in all sup from Wendy's pint) out in the garden before taking our leaves and I have an enjoyable cycle ride back home on my 15 mph max speed bike which is why I brought it out tonight. Front brake's still a bit noisy. Must have a look at it instead of writing blogs no one reads. If you are reading then leave a comment.
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| Guitarist just making sure he's playing the right notes, in the right places |
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| Concentration - note very small keyboard and crib sheets |
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