1,314 B SYDES, Heartwork, Ed Poole, Swindon The Tuppenny, Thursday 15th February 2024

 

Continuing with my gig February, despite still needing crutches to get around out and about; this one promised to be an interesting night, an emo-leaning triple header of acoustic guitar acts for this week’s Tuppenny Thursday Music Club, headed by recent “live” favourite and now-Swindon local Ben Sydes! This was the second of a brief 3-date tour from this 3-headed emo hydra, ironically named the “we are laughing and we are very good friends tour (!)”, and I’d been corresponding with Ben recently on the subject of Spanish Love Songs (Ben going to their Bristol gig on the day of my knee op), promising him that if I was up on my feet, I’d get to this gig, even if that meant getting a taxi!

And so it proved; with my dear lady wife out in London, Logan and I booked a cab up the hill for my first such gig transport since I don’t even know, I’m guessing The Popguns at The Link back in 1992 (gig 212)! Arrived at 8 and bagsied a seat down the front, also catching up with Tupp luminaries Ed and Linda, Grant and Lisa, Nick and a visiting Mr. Gaz Brookfield! Chatted briefly with the star of the show as well, before settling in for opener, Scouser Ed Poole just after 8.30. After a couple of entertaining and frenetic openers, featuring some neat off-mic undulating vocals, Ed unfortunately hit some technical issues, requiring the help of Heartwork’s Dan O’Dell to sort out, which immediately jogged my memory as to when I’d seen Heartwork before; he’d been “Mr. Fixit” at Gaz’ 2022 Fleece Chrimbo do (gig 1,257), sorting out busted guitar strings during Ben’s opening set! Anyway, back to Ed; tech issues (mostly) sorted, the subsequent “Collapse” was a fast-paced, almost Woodentopsy acoustic rattler with a passionately delivered, dark chorus and descending hook; “Punchline” was by contrast stripped back and bleak; and finale “Knives” was my favourite of a well-delivered set, another galloper with a big yearning emo hook. Good start!

 The affable young Mr. O’Dell, AKA Heartwork, was next up… opener “Achilles Friend” was an intricately-picked paean to lost love, Dan quipping at the denouement, “we got through a whole song without something going wrong!” apparently not only in reference to Ed’s set, but also his own most recent appearance here, when he didn’t quite manage to complete 3 numbers! The angsty, octave straddling “Right Thing” featured a quick appearance from Ben, “Wreckage” (introduced with, “to pick things up, a song about divorce!”) was a duet with Mr. Poole, and strident closer “Party” a purging exorcism and essay on mental health, all being delivered with a witty, affable bonhomie often at odds with the dour, darker lyrical subject matter. Again, a fine set from Mr. Heartwork…

 

Old Ben Sydes (!) then took the stage for the headlining set just about 10, his unique soaring nasal quaver dovetailing in nicely with the droney riff of opener “5 Minutes”. An excellent, passionately delivered version of his best number, the soaring and lengthy pregnant pause-punctuated “Crutches” was next up, happily dedicated to my good self, so I gave my crutches a little wave to emphasise the point! “Good Times” was a fine singalong from the packed and engaged room, and before a discordant, off-kilter “All At Sea” Ben emphasised the “we are very good friends…” angle by mentioning, “we’ve been sat on my sofa all afternoon watching “Dolphin Bonk” on YouTube!” A work-in-progress newie, the lockdown hymn “Screaming Infidelities” (nicking a Dashboard Confessional title!) skipped a verse, but as I whispered to Ben at the end, “it’s a new number, we [the audience] don’t know any different!” “The Desperate Dance” (which also saw his 2 tour mates desperate dancing by the door!) was a final singalong, before Ben thanked us, “for coming out on a rainy Thursday to what is now my home town show!”, a frantic “Still In Saigon” with the usual dramatic riffery and lengthy final vocal note rounding off another entertaining showing.

 Hobbled around the venue bidding farewells to everyone while Logan predictably nipped to the kebab house next door (!), then Rach came to pick us up for a sodden trundle down the hill and home. A fine triple-header indeed!