After
a Covid-induced one year hiatus, and a slight bump from its’ usual slot into
early September, “The Swindon Shuffle” – the ‘don’s answer to the “Camden
Crawl” and a free, multi-venue, charity fundraising showcase of Swindon’s
musical talents – makes a welcome return to my gig itinerary! And this time I’m
out for more than just the single “one and done” nights I’d been restricted to
in 2019 and 2018, due to a number of intriguing acts being scattered across the
breadth of the event. Also, this year the charity beneficiary is, appropriately,
The Prospect Hospice, falling in line with the recent “My Dad’s Bigger Than
Your Dad” Festival fundraiser in honour of recently lost Swindon musical
stalwart Dave Young. So I’ll be throwing some folding into buckets at some
point…
So,
“Shuffle Day 1” Thursday (although event organiser Ed Dyer would argue the
Shuffle starts with Wednesday’s quiz night!) saw me “on it” pretty much from
the off, parking up in Old Town and hitting the upstairs room of The Hop about
7.30, just as opener JIM BLAIR was finishing off his set with a fuzzed-out
cover of stompy old blues staple “Come Together” and his own “Dancing
Barefeet”, one of Dave Young’s favourite numbers. Caught up with folks before my
real early-bird motivation, ABSTRACTION ENGINE, due on at 8. Since catching an
impressive showing from this lot at 2018’s “12 Bands”, I’d been meaning to
sample a “live” set of their own material, but events and unfortunate clashes
have thus far conspired against us, so I was glad to set that straight tonight,
settling in front and centre for their set. For whatever reason, I’d expected a
set of post-millennial, intelligently crafted US alt-indie-influenced rock from
vocalist David Moore and his charges, and opener “Low” initially underlined
this, creeping in low and slow-burn in a pseudo-laze Real Estate-meets-Promise
Ring style. However, “What Would You Say” was notably more upbeat, with
cascading ringing guitar interplay and some very fine hooky choral harmonies,
and by “Dreamer”, next up, the robust drum intro and darker, almost proto-Gothy
atmospherics saw them almost channelling “Spiritwalker”-era Cult! A chameleonic
lot, this, then, with various rock/indie musical styles and references aplenty
thrown into their melting pot; difficult to pigeonhole, but thanks to a welcome
penchant for insistent, hooky chorus lines (“Talk In Your Sleep” even recalling
a rootsier Big Star chorus!), very easy to enjoy. Final number “Shiine”, which
with its absorbing melancholy and largely instrumental intricate meander felt
as if it could have walked off 90’s Boston faves Wheat’s “Hope And Adams”
album, put the final polish on a splendid set – nearly 3 years in the waiting,
but well worth the wait!
Had
a chat with David – a fellow veteran of the post-punk wars! – and his splendid
bandmates in the beer garden, before heading off to The Tuppenny. CANUTE’S
PLASTIC ARMY were rounding off their set in front of a full house, with some
galloping acoustic guitar and Anish’s as-ever strident, commanding vocals the
feature of their version of the old folk staple “Gallows Pole”. I caught up
with some folks (again) and took an early watching brief (which, happily for my
buggered knee, turned into a sitting brief next to my old Brunel mate Andy) for
THE LOST TRADES. Opening with “One Voice”, this collective of 3 acoustic/ folky
singer-songwriters again proved the whole is greater than the sum of its’
parts, with an enchanting set of stripped-back, smoothly pastoral numbers
overlaid with interwoven 2/3 part harmonies. A lot quieter than I’d normally go
for, but I’m a total sucker for choral vocal harmonies (the likes of Gigolo
Aunts would attest to that), and this equally honey-throated trio delivered
them by the bucketload. Some fun between-song banter as well, Jamie debating
the rights and wrongs of wearing the t-shirt of the band you’re going to see (a
total no-no in my book!), and Tamsin bubbling over the video for a
finger-clicking “Oaks” garnering them a mention in “The Guardian” (!). “Good
Old Days” was again my highlight, Phil contributing some comparatively
startlingly strident electric bass, and “Groom Of The Stools” (“Horrible
Histories in musical form!” quipped Tamsin) was a untypical yet jolly way to
end another charming Lost Trades set. And for me, to end Day 1!
“Shuffle
Day 2” Friday – or “Nappy Night” as some termed it, stealing a reference to
those 70’s/ 80’s U18 Brunel Rooms nights – was all about young bands up The
Vic! I parked up behind the Roaring Donkey and headed in at 8.30 for openers
KOTONIC, or, “the Kotonic two!” according to the vocalist/ guitarist, due to
the absence of their drummer for Covid reasons. This impromptu duo played an interesting
brand of dark emotive rock, veering towards 90’s post-grunge, 2000’s emo and
even contemporary darkwave, without plunging headfirst into any of those
styles. Easy to see where the big riffs would be, even in these stripped-back
acoustic versions of their material, and clearly the vocalist is used to
howling above the noise, evidenced by his strident yet commanding tones and the
conviction of his delivery. New single “Roots” and a later “Not Broken” were
both slow burns towards big, angst-ridden chorus crescendos, and whilst some of
the material seemed a bit overwrought and serious, there was definite promise
here.
But
my main target, and ultimately my highlight of the night, was next up. I’d been
meaning to check out CONCORD DRIVE for some time, not only due to some
favourable “live” reports indicating a young indie band of burgeoning promise,
but also because the guitarist was the son of an old friend – yup, that’s where
I am now, I’ve graduated from supporting my mates’ bands, to checking out my
mates’ kids bands! I’d caught up with Nathan briefly earlier, so hit the front
for their set, the band emerging at 9.15 in front of a packed and
unsurprisingly young crowd of their contemporaries. Opener “Stranger Still”
immediately underlined that reported promise, being the kind of urgent,
insistent indie rock that would have seen me gleefully piling into a mosh in my
90’s heyday, and the repetitive hook and looser, almost funky drummer beat of
“LDN News” marked them out as more than one trick ponies. But it was the latest
single, “Don’t Wanna Be” that was my highlight; a proper indie banger, this, a
thrashing dervish of a song recalling Indoor Pets’ excellent “Teriyaki”, and
delivered in a confident, swaggering style by young vocalist Jacob, who with
his Justin Young-meets-Jarvis Cocker stage presence, preening and posing and
rabble-rousing in equal measure, is either a natural-born frontman or the
biggest show-off in town! “Train To Boston”, a Bowie/ T Rex glammy stomper was
another highlight of a rapturously received set of urgent, vital and propulsive
indie rock from a very promising band: “next year’s headliners?” mentioned Ed
Dyer to me… maybe…
TRANSFER
WINDOW, another youthful lot, followed in short order; they’d apparently
recently shed one member so were debuting as a 3-piece, the young guitarist/
vocalist apologising for his, “terrible voice,” in advance of their opener, an
upbeat emo-esque beast with an angular, backbeat chorus. This set the tone for
another frantic, fast paced indie rock set, with an early “Shallow Tendencies”
(“the first song we ever wrote – it’s fucking terrible!”) an embryonic and
grungy howl, and other numbers veering between punky amphetamine gallops and emotive
thrashes (one later number recalling Jimmy Eat World’s “Sweetness” for me). In
similar musical territory to Concord Drive, they might be a bit behind in terms
of songcraft and development, although their recent personnel changes probably
won’t have helped their forward trajectory. Either way, still another young band
worth watching out for…
This
brought us to 10.45 and headliners STAY LUNAR. Still a bunch of spritely young
bucks themselves, they seem almost veterans of my sojourns into the local scene
now, as I’d seen them as Shore and Rainy Day Fund as well as their current
incarnation. I’d always enjoyed them before without being blown away, but
tonight they took a step up with easily the best “live” performance I’d seen
them deliver. From the strumalong opener “Thinking About You”, through the
upbeat robust jangle of “Not Your Fight” to the smoother (dare I even say
radio-friendly) 80’s synth-embellished pop vibe of “Anywhere/ Everywhere” they
were notably more practiced and polished than previous outings, whilst
retaining their hazy, dreamy 80’s melody. The 80’s in fact are quite the
touchstone for Stay Lunar, with many and varied similarities popping into my
head (C86, The Smiths, Nick Heyward, even The Lotus Eaters!). New number “Hello
Old Friend” a song about mental health, shone with its introspective charm, and
closer “Brainshake” was a funkier groove to close out their popular set, before
Ed persuaded them back out, somewhat reluctantly it seemed (!), to reprise an
earlier “Immediately”. A set-list grab and a chat with Concord Drive’s Jacob (tonight’s
Star of the Show for me; sorry Stay Lunar…) rounded off a very successful
“Nappy Night”!
So
“Shuffle Day 3” Saturday was my final action, as other commitments precluded my
Sunday attendance; after a busy and emotional day, I was out early as well,
parking up behind the cinema and wandering up to The Beehive, scene of
tonight’s shenanigans. Met SI AND MATT HALL outside for a chat before taking a
spot stage-front alongside Paul and Sophie Carter for their opening set, prompt
at 7.15 under the watchful gaze of a photo of esteemed local music reporter
Flicky Harrison, also lost earlier this year, the Beehive stage renamed for The
Shuffle in her honour. The boys kicked off with oldie “Rhythm And Rhyme”,
before “My Remedy”, the first of a smattering of newies, underlined what
compere “Dubs” had alluded to in his introduction, feeling a little more
alt-Country than Si’s usual tubthumping blue collar rock,
Springsteen-meets-Mould style. “Slow Burn”, another newie, lived up to its name
with some hushed guitar work underpinning an angsty lyric; then a storming,
singalong “Back To The Fall” (“an old Raze*Rebuild number for these guys [Paul
and myself]”) was my set highlight, predictably enough. “Reluctant Shut-In” and
closer “Audiobook”, racier musically yet coming-of-old-age lyrically, proved Si
has had as productive a song-writing lockdown as brother Matt has had a
guitar-making one, Matt showing off his new construction this evening!
Ran
into Rich and entourage before popping outside and chatting with Si, Matt and various
other folks; then back in for the first couple of numbers of SPLAT THE RAT’s
Irish folk set. I enjoyed their authentic cover of The Waterboys’ fiddly-diddly
80’s classic “Fisherman’s Blues” whilst musing that it felt contrary to the
spirit of The Shuffle ethos to play lots of covers (oh shut up, you bloody
purist!). But in any case, my busy day and a couple of late nights were
catching up with me, so I bailed at 9, grabbing a kebab and heading home. Sorry
Flour Babies (headlining The ‘hive tonight)… I will catch one of your sets ere
long!
Thus
endeth The Swindon Shuffle for me; once again an excellent opportunity to catch
up with old and new friends, as well as a fine showcase of the musical talent
Swindon has to offer; plus, tellingly, evidence that the torch is being passed
to a younger crowd, both of performers and punters, which can only serve to
revitalise and enrich the scene. Whatever, after the Covid cancellation of
2020, it was just great to have it back!
