The
first gig since The Pills, waaaay back in 2004 (gig 634) that I’ve had a small
hand in organising! This one was over a year in the gestation; I’d picked up on
the splendid 2014 album by this dream pairing of 90’s indie legends, namely
Pete Fij, alias Piotr Fijalkowski, former vocalist and leading light of the
excellent Adorable and Polak, and Terry Bickers, seminal guitarist with House
Of Love and Levitation, subsequently “liking” their Facebook page to keep up
with their events. So when they announced an embryonic Autumn 2014 tour and
asked fans for further venue suggestions, I got in touch promptly about a
Swindon date, mentioning the possibility to “Songs Of Praise” promoters Ed Dyer
and Dave Franklin, who were keen on the notion from day one. Sadly we couldn’t
make the dates work then, but a window of opportunity opened up earlier this
year, when Pete contacted me to see if this November date would work as a
“stopover” for them, as they were booked to play the Butlins “Shiiine On” 90’s
revival weekender on the Sunday!
Originally booked for The Vic, this one
was moved to the newer, more compact and (due to the “pub” location) free
admission Locomotive venue down the bottom of town, following a clash of dates
and a late case of cold feet by The Vic. So I drove down early doors to meet up
with Dave, overseeing Pete and Terry’s soundcheck in front of a clutch of
daytime drinkers outstaying their welcome. Ran into Rich Craven, who’d braved
public transport from Oxford to get here (respect!) as the soundcheck
concluded, then, as a happy part of my duties as “co-host”, I took the boys to
Jack Spice for a curry and some entertaining music chat. An interesting dynamic
between the duo – Pete, laid back, open and gregarious, and Terry more reserved
and softly-spoken, but fine company both, an hour or so’s worth of rock’n’roll
gossip flying by.
We paid up at 9 and I wandered back into
the sparsely attended venue to catch up with Rich and Helen May, before Rich
led his band The King In Mirrors onstage for 20 past 9. In keeping with
tonight’s mood (and because of a schedule clash for their drummer!), Rich,
Colin and Jase played as an acoustic trio, with the material actually
benefitting from this treatment, giving it a hazy, lazy Summery vibe, exemplified
by opener, the C86-tastic “Rolling in the Sun”. Despite Rich’s admitted and
evident nerves at playing in front of exalted company, and the unfortunate
chatter from the still-going daytime drunkards, the trio relaxed into their
performance and delivered a fine support slot, with “Good Friends” (featuring
Mr. Craven on co-vocals) and the slightly out of kilter, darker oldie “The
Beach Hotel” personal highlights. Despite the nerves, nicely done indeed, Rich!
Familiars, up next, set up in short
order, the only act tonight to employ a drummer and full band set-up. I’d
personally invited them onto tonight’s bill, feeling that their delicious
melancholia and upliftingly morose material would be a fine fit with the
headliners, and thankfully my faith was totally justified. From note one, they
played a blinder – vocalist and keyboardist Steve Skinley’s face-crackingly
wide smile in evidence throughout, relishing this opportunity to play in front
of Terry Bickers in particular, a self-confessed idol of his thanks to his turn
in Levitation, and the band backing him up with a tight and superbly sounding
set. “Half Life”, third number in, followed the usual Familiars modus operandi
of being a piano-based slow-burn intro, which then built up a head of steam to
a galloping crescendo and soaring “whoa-oh”s from Steve, a born performer and a
really talented singer. Steve related an interesting story before one mid-set number,
having played it in a slowly-deflating blow-up stage at the Stroud Fringe Festival
earlier this year, only for the stage to re-inflate when the chorus came back
in! I could see that, as Familiars music has that soaring, euphoric quality…! The
circular keyboard refrain and National-esque dark drama of “Ballyhoo” was
gorgeous, and only bettered by finale “Bottleneck”, introduced as “a silly
song” but played with fun and relish, a couple of false crescendo endings
building the gravitas. Familiars – you knocked it out of the park tonight, gents,
and did me proud. Well done and thanks.
This took us somewhere approaching 11
and the witching hour, but by now a few of the local drunks had dispersed,
leaving the place emptier than before. Despite promises of attendance from many
and sundry, and plenty of promotion, it sadly looked as if Fij and Bickers were
going to play to a frankly embarrassing turnout consisting primarily of the
support bands, Rich Craven, Dave, Mr. “Paj” Jellings and myself. Shame on you,
Swindon, shame on you.
Thankfully this didn’t put Pete and
Terry off, as from note one of their show tonight they were amazing, their
chemistry undeniable, their talent in full force and effect, delivering their
mature, melancholy songs of love, loss and heartbreak with respect, reverence
and simply glorious and blazing beauty. A telling acid test of the quality of a
song is how it stands up to a stripped back rendition, and on that note Pete
and Terry’s material holds up brilliantly, pared back to an almost naked hush,
the boys understanding the emotive power and effect of silence. Their early
cover of “I Fought The Law” attested to that point, the boys extracting the
bombast of The Clash’s version and turning it into an achingly gorgeous and
lilting ballad. Prior to that, the delicious Velvet Underground-alike “Betty
Ford” opened proceedings and set the tone for their performance, and a new
number “Let’s Get Lost” was playfully introduced by Pete as, “a love song –
from me to Terry!” Then, “If The World Is All We Have” was identified by Pete
as his attempt at both a James Bond them and a Eurovision entrant, and
possessed a marked tango-esque French B-Movie feel to the verse.
At this point it seemed they’d won over
the locals, the entire crowd paying attention to each note. Sadly, the chatter
started up again towards the end of their set, and was a constant irritant for
me. The duo soldiered on gamely, newie “Millionaires” being another
autobiographical number (“the second album’s become a very self-obsessed
affair!” quipped Pete) and “I Love You” a touching ballad with a sly
undercurrent of menace (Pete relating its’ origin thus; “Terry said, “why don’t
you cheer things up? Write a song called “I Love You” – what could possibly go
wrong?””). However, after Pete introduced finale, the Adorable classic “A To
Fade In” by thanking myself and Dave F for putting on tonight’s show, I was
moved to try to quell the chatter with a loud “shhhhh!” then a “for fuck’s
sake, SHUT UP!” to the disrespectful amongst the crowd. Nevertheless, “A To
Fade In” was my undoubted highlight of the night, a massively heart-cracking elegy,
wallowing in glorious sadness and bittersweet regret. More so when Pete,
perhaps recalling our curry-house conversation earlier (wherein I’d asserted
that Adorable should have had the career trajectory of the completely inferior
Oasis, in which case “A…” would have been their “Wonderwall”), caught my eye as
we echoed the “baba ba ba” denouement back to each other. A genuinely moving
moment.
A swift (and for me unnecessary) encore
later, and it was onto photos, post-gig chat and compliments, apologies for the
paucity of the crowd (though it mattered not to the boys, true pros both) and signed
stuff aplenty (particularly from Mr. Skinley, who’d brought a stack of
Levitation vinyl for Terry to scrawl over!). Like Friday, I really didn’t want
this night to end, but, realising it was bumping up to 1 a.m., I reluctantly
headed off. A little conflicted at the time (pissed off about the attendance
and background noise), I’m now realising this was a triumphant evening, a
brilliant performance from 2 genuine Indie icons who, 20 years removed from
their alleged “heydays”, are still making music from the absolute top drawer.
Overall, it was an honour and a privilege to have been associated with tonight!
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