1,119 “THE 12 BANDS OF CHRISTMAS”, Swindon Victoria, Saturday 15th December 2018

 

It seems only apt that the final punctuation stop on a crazily packed 53-Gig Year of 2018 would be this one, the crazily packed Swindon music fraternity's "Christmas Party" that is the "12 Bands Of Christmas"... also that it should fall on a crazily packed day! Saturdays often fall into the category of "trying to fit a quart into a pint pot", but with last-minute Chrimbo shopping, picking up undelivered parcels, a cinema trip with my little man ("Aquaman"; not bad but the plot was, well, crazily packed!) and tea at my dad's, this one already felt like fitting a gallon into a thimble!

No matter, I drove up the hill early to ensure parking on a busy pre-Chrimbo Saturday, then caught up with the Raze*Rebuild boys (there it is, you've just sussed out why I'm really here, haven't you!) as the place rapidly filled. Wandered down to the back room, caught up with Andy Fenton and mate Nige, then took a watching brief for openers ABSTRACTION ENGINE at 8.30. As per previous "12 Bands" events, the format was simple; 12 local acts, all doing 2 numbers, both covers and ideally outside their usual genre, in their own style. So this indie jangle lot, seemingly led by Stephen King's younger brother, led off with an appropriately jangly "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", subsequently impressing more with their take on Wham's "Freedom", which turned into a 60's inflected TFC laze-rock strumalong. Good start! BASEMENT CLUB, who'd apparently come out of retirement for tonight, followed with a couple of growly vocalised numbers, including a C Lo Green song, then CANUTE'S PLASTIC ARMY impressed with a haunting stripped-back "Life's What You Make It" which was actually quite beautiful. By their second number "That's Not my Name", vocalist Anish was threatening to flatten the front couple of rows with her strong and strident vocal tones (as her neighbour and local impresario Ed Dyer, who'd joined me by now, had promised), particularly during the segue into "Whole Lotta Love".

Things were already getting busy in the back-room venue by now, so I sought some fresh air and space outside, chatting with Ed, and Graham from Cinnamon Smith (splendidly decked out tonight in a Nefertiti headdress!), before plunging back in for GEORGE WILDING. I'd unfortunately missed this talented young man's TC&I support slot, but I was glad I caught this, as young George encapsulated the spirit of the event by turning "Let It Go" into a funereal (albeit no less singalong!) death-dirge, before a glammed-up and more upbeat Abba medley which went down a storm with the by-now packed crowd. A quick chat with the lovely Bex, a star performer here last year, before CHENEY, who was joined by the ebullient Theo Altieri, who then led a rabble-rousing singalong to "Electric Avenue", which made up for a dull "Bittersweet Symphony"... no reflection on their bleep-bloop synth-effects led version, I just think it's a crap song!

Out again for another necessary breather; by now it was sardine city back there, the concept of "personal space" having long since disappeared, with the compere continually exhorting the crowd to, "take 2 steps forward" (mate, I was down the front; if I took 2 steps forward I'd be in the dressing room, never mind on the stage!). It just felt considerably oversold, and with up to 40 or so performers across the 12 bands as well, it was simply waaaay too full.

So, I squeezed into the back on my return, to catch the MATT BRYANT EXPERIENCE, Mr. Bryant himself sporting choirboy garb and leading his band of cavalrymen through a languid "Be My Baby" and a tinny "Sit Down" during which Bryant tried to get the crowd to sit down - no room to stand comfortably, mate, never mind sit! ATARI PILOT, featuring R*R bassist Paj pulling the first of his double shift, turned "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" into a chuntering and layered REM-alike jangle-fest, although their subsequent "Let's Dance" felt too faithful to Bowie's original.

Talking about double shifts... I grabbed a tiny spot down the front as Jamie took the drum-stool for the first of his own double-header! First THE HARLERS; initially a 2-piece, sneering and growling through a grungy and gravelly "Molly's Chambers" and a snatch of "We Will Rock You", before being joined by a bassist for a tremendous sparky and spiky rant through The Subways' "Rock'n'Roll Queen". Then, the main reason for my attendance, RAZE*REBUILD, Si leading the band on with a quip of, "playing at 20 past 11? I'm as pissed as you lot!" before inviting a singalong for a genius selection of "Nothing Compares 2U", the Raze-boys of course turning this teary ballad into a full-on punk rock rollercoaster thrill-ride, a la China Drum's "Wuthering Heights" or Husker Du's "Eight Miles High". Yup, that good. Journey's cheesy rocker "Don't Stop Believin'" ("dialling the Cheese-ometer up to 11," according to Si) was big dumb stompy fun too, but for me the boys had led off with the real winner, and the single-song Highlight of the Night.

Stayed upfront for YVES, whose "No One Knows" was again too faithful to the QOTSA original for my liking, their take on "Take On Me" also being a bit of a mess, the vocalist not even knowing the words to the verses! Still, they were lapped up by the seething mass of bodies, so what the fuck do I know, eh? Still, one thing we could all agree on was that THE MARTYRIALS' bat-shit mental set was last year's "12 Bands" highlight, so no surprise that this unorthodox band of psychedelic punk ruffians were booked to headline tonight, with an extended 5 song set. Some inspired choices again from the totally wired Sammy and his charges; "Waterloo" was an action-packed and sheet-metal synth layered dirty and dirgy delight, as far removed from Abba's original as possible, "Danger High Voltage" was sneering and snarling, and whilst I could have done without the (almost predictable?) "Sweet Transvestite" and the closing, and comparatively plodding (apart from a frenzied punk rock mid-section) "I Want To Break Free", the unmistakable synth pulse opening of "Kids In America" had earlier heralded a breathless, brilliant version, almost matching "NC2U" for song of the night. As ever, Sammy was a supreme showman, preening, pouting and thrusting like a cross between "Ziggy" Bowie and "St. Julian" Cope, the ideal frontman to conclude a bizarre and brilliant set. I could, however, also have done without the couple of dicks that climbed onstage at the end... it's not all about you, you morons!

That bumped us up to a red-eyed 12.30 so I bade my farewells, heading home reflecting on the night. Way too packed; hopefully talk outside afterwards about moving it to Level 3 next year will bear fruit. A few too many "straight" covers for me too; the bands I'll remember are those that entered into the spirit of the thing, getting into a song, moving the furniture around and offering their own warped take on it. Kudos then to Canute's, Wilding, Raze and Martyrials... and overall (despite my couple of grumbles) a fine – if crazily packed – way to see out Gig Year 2018!

1,066 THE 12 BANDS OF CHRISTMAS 2017, Swindon The Victoria, Saturday 116th December 2017

An entirely fitting way to end a splendid 50-gig year, this, in a year that Swindon has again served me well for gigs. Only the second time I’ve taken in the annual “12 Bands Of Christmas” event up the Vic (the first being Nudy Bronque’s triumphant night, waaay back in 2013), as Gaz Brookfield’s Chrimbo show at The Fleece clashed with last year’s Raze*Rebuild-featured line-up. Same thing again this year, only Gaz had stepped his Xmas “do” up to The Bierkeller, a 14+ venue which meant I couldn’t take Gaz fan Logan anyway, so that opened the way up for me to catch my local faves Raze*Rebuild at this year’s “12 Bands”!

Usually guaranteed a sell-out as well, so I snapped up my ticket early and headed off early to ensure a parking spot. Most of the bands were already in attendance on my 7.30 arrival; the promoter hadn’t given out the running times beforehand, in order to get all the bands out early to support each other! Sneaky, but nice, ensuring a good sense of community. As before, all bands are allotted 2 numbers, both “covers”, and ideally either something festive or something out of their usual comfort zone or musical style. So, some surprises expected tonight!

Young indie band SHORE kicked off at 8.15 to an already packed venue, with nice if understated versions of The Smiths’ “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” and The Clash’s “Train In Vain”, delivered well by the sparkly-headbanded blond vocalist. JIM BLAIR AND HIP ROUTE were up next, the gravel-voiced bohemian Blair delivering a delicious desert stoner stomp version of “No Diggity”, then a more upbeat cover of Elvis’ “Burning Love” sung by his guitarist. The inventive HAIL followed in short order, their 2-piece line-up restricting the spontaneity somewhat as they required some backing synth loops to augment their drum/ voice “live” performance. However, the balance of the sound was better than last time out in their cover of Carly Rae Jepson’s poppy “Call Me Maybe”, mixed in with snippets of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, and despite stated nerves, Sophie sounded in fine fettle, a sultry and strident vocal performance the highlight of Hail’s increasingly impressive sound.

Another strident female vocal was next up too – despite knowing her/ of her since those 80’s Level 3 nights, this was the first time I’d seen Bex Harrison perform. My loss, clearly, as with her 3-piece THIRTEEN SILVER DOLLARS, she delivered smoky and strident versions of “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree” and a potent, singalong cover of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”. Despite the sax malfunction, this was a super vignette which will prompt me to check out their own stuff. Smashed it, Bex!

Chatted with various folks out the front and in the pub before squeezing back into the by-now completely rammed venue for MATT BRYANT, a glammed-up Steve Harley lookalike whose cover of “Teenage Kicks” was taut, wired and herky-jerky, and sounded as if Television, not the Undertones, had written it! Nice! GEORGE WILDING then impressed with a superbly well-appointed, if a little faithful, cover of Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” during his set, before I squeezed my way down the front for what, for me, was main event time… RAZE*REBUILD were next up, their opener turning Huey Lewis’ AOR cheese-fest “The Power Of Love” into a robust and potent rocker with big stomping hobnail boots and a massive chorus. However, better was to come, as Si announced, “Swindon, sing with me,” and burst into Queen’s racy singalong “Don’t Stop Me Now”! A neat trick, this, as I bloody hate Queen, but this was a superb, typically rampaging rendition and had me rocking along and singing raucously down the front.

Needed a breath after that, so chatted with Paj before catching RR’s drummer Jamie’s “other” band, THE HARLERS, turn The Zuton’s “Valleri” into a riff-heavy sludge-fest, whilst retaining its singalong quality. Jamie was in fact pulling triple shift tonight, as he remained on his drumstool afterwards for WYLDEST, who added a layer of sugary dreampop candyfloss to The Bunnymen’s classic “The Killing Moon”. As a massive Bunnyfan since my teens, I’m eminently critical of anyone mis-handling Bunnymen songs (including The Bunnymen themselves!) but Wyldest’s Zoe Mead covered this with style and reverence, a point I was happy to make to her afterwards. Nicely done!

The best was to come last for me, though, with THE MARTYRIALS, who were debuting a new line-up, with a slightly-built, green-haired lady drummer and a guitarist sporting a silk dressing gown joining utter headcase vocalist/ keyboardist Sammy, the only holdover from the line-up that startled and amazed at last year’s Swindon Shuffle. Sure enough, they were “on one” from the off, their keyboard fuelled version of The Caesar’s garage rock stomper “Jerk It Out” manic and magic, the sheer verve and energy of their performance causing the keyboard stand to collapse, prompting my fellow front-row punter Paul Carter to help hold it up for Sammy! The Bangles’ “Walk Like An Egyptian” was Sultans Of Ping FC-esque crazy, and amidst the maelstrom of madness they squeezed a third cover into their set, a quite brilliantly bat-shit mental cover of A-Ha’s “Take On Me”. “That was magic… pure magic!” announced the MC at their conclusion, and when I admitted to a magnanimous Si afterwards that Raze*Rebuild had just lost my “Band of the Night”, he completely understood.

Time was running on, so that was where I made my exit. No-one was going to come close to touching The Martyrial’s frankly astonishing showing, so I dropped RR guitarist Matt off and headed home via the kebab van. Great stuff overall, and I’ll make sure I’m back for more next year. As Paj so succinctly put it, “if the Swindon Shuffle is the Summer party [for the currently very challenging and fertile Swindon music scene], then “12 Bands” is its’ Christmas party!” No arguments there, good Sir - Merry Christmas!

899 THE 12 BANDS OF CHRISTMAS! Swindon The Victoria, Friday 13 December 2013

A regular event on the local music calendar, apparently, this one, although it’s my first time of attending... Basically, the format is simple; 12 local bands each get 2 songs, both cover versions, either to evoke the Christmas spirit, try out something new, or play a favourite or even unfamiliar number in their own style. All well and good, but what attracted me up to it was Tim's band The Shudders being present on tonight’s bill and promising a couple of intriguing covers…

So I was up for that, heading off up The Vic after Rich got back from swimming, and hitting the venue at 9, thereby unfortunately missing Shudders vocalist Danny’s girlfriend Ellen’s band The Rumour Shed, on first at 8.30 tonight. I’d been meaning to catch them “live” for a while - maybe in 2014? Bumped into Tim and Trace in the bar for a chat, thereby missing young band THE DEBUTS, on in the already very busy back room. I could make out their second number - a rambunctious “Three Lions”, but missed their opener, which was apparently a good reading of The Smiths’ “Bigmouth Strikes Again”! D’oh! I eventually wandered in at the end of DEAD ROYALTIES’ noisy finale, but was in place for THE BLOWBACKS, on at 10. Featuring Tim’s former 101 colleague Matt on drums, they turned their opener, Taylor Swift’s girl pop agenda-setter and one of Kasey’s favourite songs “We Are Never Never Never Getting Back Together” into a drawn-out alt.slacker laze-fest a la Promise Ring, then followed with an immense, stomping version of “Addicted To Love” which was more akin to Ciccone Youth than Robert Palmer. Impressive.

THE SHUDDERS were next up; by now I’d bumped into Stuart Gould, Ben Warr and entourage, and was happy to fill Ben in on what was next up, although Stuart didn’t want to know! Sure enough, Tim and crew opened with a beefy, grunge-tastic version of Smashing Pumpkins’ finest hour, “Cherub Rock”, apparently a rehearsal favourite of theirs and featuring some uncharacteristic strident vocals from Danny, which they totally nailed. Tremendous stuff. Follow-up, Phil Oakey And Georgio Moroder's 80’s synth-pop anthem “Together In Electric Dreams” was less rehearsed, a little haphazard and understated, yet ironically more akin to The Shudders’ own more thoughtful, introverted material. I suggested to Tim afterwards that they should crank up the noise more often, given how well they delivered “Cherub Rock”; he promised their new material is more upfront. I’ll hold you to that, Tim!

Next up were BRITISH HARLEM, another young band who evidently had been rifling through their grandparents’ record collections, let alone their parents’ stuff, as they delivered crowd-pleasing, modish, push’n’shove versions of “Suspicious Minds” and “Can't Take My Eyes Off You” which went down very well, the young vocalist igniting the crowd with a performance full of nervous tension and energy. However I was much more impressed with the subsequent NUDY BRONQUE; a young trio featuring a vocalist who reminded both Stuart and myself (at the same time!) of a young Brett Anderson, their covers of Cornershop’s “Brimful Of Asha” and an excellent reading of Gomez’ “Whipping Piccadilly” (for me the best thing on the menu tonight) were thrilling, glammy, riff-tastic noisefests, and made me want to check out their original material. Which I suppose is the whole point of this, really!

Took a wander to the back end of the venue as I wasn’t really impressed with SUPER SQUARECLOUD and their sparse, saucepan-bashing r’n’b numbers; then closers THE COSTELLOS took an absolute age to tune up (which was totally not the point: with the backline set up beforehand, bands literally were supposed to just bring their guitars, plug in and play...) then started up some unimpressive reggae ska stuff, which made me realise it was 1/4 to 12 and waaaay past this old chap’s bedtime. So off I went, giving Tim and Trace, plus fellow Shudder Liam, a lift home first. A very fine night, showcasing some impressive local bands, and hopefully not the last time I check out this annual local event. As for Band Of The Day; sorry Tim, but much as I loved “Cherub Rock”, I'm going to give that to Nudy Bronque!