There's a
first time for everything people say.
That's
one of those redundant sort of comments though.
Of course
there has to be a first time.
You can't
just leap frog the first time and go straight into the second unless
you want to mess around with time paradoxes, and that usually ends up
messy so please don't.
I
remember once skipping forward in time a matter of mere hours and I
missed out on enjoying a vindaloo, but managed to live through an
extraordinary long toilet break.
All the
sweat and none of the taste bud fun.
That's
not true though.
I made it
up to poorly illustrate a point while attempting to be funny.
Let
everything that you have read so far be a warning to you that trying
to be clever and funny often doesn't work.
Unless
you are drunk, and then being clever and funny comes naturally to us
all.
Maybe.
Anyway,
on the subject of first times, and not second times, Plan B Books –
a small comic/book shop that also sells coffee – hosted their first
ever gig last night.
I think
in the cold light of day they can now chalk it up as a resounding
success.
Reminiscent
of how I presume the original anti-folk scene evolved in New York it
was a basement gig that refused to engage with things like a PA,
lighting and a barrier between the artists and the performers, and
instead it focussed on the artists playing in a true acoustic manner
and creating a communal vibe.
First to
perform was one of the staff of Plan B Books called Nyla.
She
looked like a comic book character brought to life to an extent.
The
archetypal slacker heroine.
I have no
idea if how she carries herself - from her performance, including how
she engages with an audience, to how she dresses - is a result of
working in the book shop and over time she has morphed into someone
that fits the surroundings, or instead it's that she gravitated
towards employment there because it was a calling.
It's a
chicken and egg conundrum.
As
expected she has a shy, but cute, delivery that makes people laugh
and warm to her, and she also has some disarmingly quirky lyrics that
were equally expected.
For
moments it felt as if I had walked into the filming of a scene from a
certain type of hollywood movie.
Maybe
'Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
That's
not a criticism though.
It all
just seemed very casually evocative of something that is rooted in a
perception of American youth culture rather than a reality.
All
things considered it is probably something that shouldn't work, but
does.
For those
who prefer to escape the harshness of the world by being embraced by
an alternative provided by a graphic novel then Nyla is here to blur
the edges between fact and fiction for you.
The name
Winona Forever on a poster would lead you to believe that they are a
band, but they are actually just a he.
In a
short set he managed to sing in the wrong key, start a song again,
change his mind about what he was wanting to play, and generally
sounded like he was sitting in a corner of a bedroom on his own
trying to wrap his head around a song he was learning.
Yet all
of that, and more, made it a rather compelling and entertaining
performance.
One of
those moments that if captured wouldn't make much sense in hindsight,
but makes complete sense in the moment.
I suppose
there's some worth in that, but it's not something that can be
quantified, and why the hell should it.
There's
certainly an 'it is what it is, so take it or leave it' attitude to
the songs and interaction, but it never comes across as arrogantly
bullish.
Thoroughly
enjoyable.
I would
love to tell you about Olive Anne, but I was upstairs at that point
looking at the graphic novels.
As I have
previously described Billy Liar as unmissable I was however back
downstairs to catch him raise the bar.
Billy is
now at the point when all that is good about him has been refined.
If a year
ago was the prototype then here in the present is the finished
product, and all the songs need is to find the appreciative audience
that they deserves.
Lyrically
there's some brutal honesty laid bare. So much of it that there is no
gaps to slip in any hiding meanings.
No one
has to read between the likes of what is being spat out, and no one
leaves the show wondering how to interpret what they have seen.
'If I
could stick my pen in my heart, And spill it all over the stage' may
be a Stones lyric, but it may also be the motto that Billy is living
by.
He's a
force of nature, and by the end of this year with a few more releases
under his belt, and some dates in the US logged it is entirely
possible that he will not be playing basements, unless of course he
wants to.
Ghost
Mice keep it simple to an extent.
There's
no intent to reinvent the wheel and why should there be as the wheel
is entirely functional, as are Ghost Mice.
At their
core they are a punk band who want to push their stories out there
wrapped in a folk overcoat.
Everything
is pretty much short and sharp, has a point, and ultimately it grabs
you.
All the
songs are road tested to destruction and tight, but tight in that
effortless way that gives the impression that it's all just second
nature.
The
mandolin, guitar and violin set up is in itself compact and offers a
solid backbone to the tales that are recounted by Chris Clavin.
It's an
organic relationship between the words and the music that works
extraordinarily well.
I should
throw in the word impressive here as it's probably overdue a mention.
Yeah.
Impressive.
They are.
Ghost
Mice are impressive.
In
addition to how good they were the whole setting had lent itself to
building up to their performance, and similar to the environment
itself I think much of the young audience were newly being introduced
to an artist performing right there in the flesh without any of the
usual trappings of a gig.
Most
people currently have an idea in their heads about how a performance
should be framed and Ghost Mice partially turn that on its head.
Here in
the UK we often put a barrier up.
Clearly
define ourselves as an audience with a role to play while the artists
have theirs to play to.
Yet
sometimes there's something a bit more communal about it all and this
is exactly what Ghost Mice are bringing to the table.
I
sincerely hope it acts as a catalyst and now an alternative has been
provided to those who were there.
Respect
to Punk Rock Rammy and Plan B Books for pulling the night off in
style.
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