1,205 DESPERATE JOURNALIST, Shoun Shoun, Bristol Thekla, Saturday 15th January 2022

 

Finally! The 2022 Gig Year gets under way! And, following the postponement of the first 2 dates on my 2022 “Spring Dance Card” (one because a band member tested positive for Covid, and the other due to more nebulous “Covid concerns” – there’s no restrictions at the moment, people, so bloody well get out and gig!!!), we really couldn’t have a better combo in prospect to kick the year off than Britain’s best band, Desperate Journalist, at the wonderfully evocative “Dirty Boat”! 2021’s “Maximum Sorrow”, whilst not being up there with the absolute cream of DJ’s album releases, still was one of last year’s best, repeated listens revealing an extra dimension to their spooky goth-inflected rockist 80’s sound, the bass and drums combo of Caz and Simon taking a more sonic lead, underpinning Jo Bevan’s as-ever insouciant, detached yet captivating vocal, with Rob Hardy’s Sargeant/ McGeoch-esque guitar licks providing more textural background patterns. Whether that would filter through to the “live” setting, however… well, let’s see!

 It being a weekend, Logan was keen to join uber-fan Stu and myself for an early drive down to the “Dirty Boat”, hitting the venue before doors and thereby requiring a trip across the road for a loo break! Stu got the round in and Matt joined us at the bar whilst Logan grabbed his (our!) usual front-and-centre spot, and we joined him for local openers Shoun Shoun at 7.30. Late replacements for the scheduled support, they kicked off with a racey, pacey opener “Much Sweeter”, with a detached and dissonant vocal from German expat Annette, which variously recalled Kleenex’s Astrid, PJ Harvey (Stu’s shout) and Drugstore’s Isobel! Subsequent numbers were variously paced, with grungy guitar riffs sharing centre stage with keyboard and violin embellishments, threatening to burst the seams of their oft-teutonic and regimented song structures, like a prisoner squirming at the restraints of their straitjacket! “Stuck”, their lockdown number, featured a fiercely yearning vocal from Annette, adding gravitas to the hook “we’re stuck together through good and bad”, and closer “Toxic” was a four-tender alarm metronome, again with thrillingly angsty vocals. Occasionally a little overwhelming sonically with too many moving parts (less is more sometimes, folks!), this was nonetheless a fine, dark and moodily mysterious set from very promising newcomers.

 We kept our stage front spots as the place filled up, whilst some way short of capacity tonight. No mind, hopes were high as Simple Minds’ sweepingly expansive euro-synth instrumental “Theme For Great Cities” heralded the entrance of the band at 8.30. Easing in with a couple of newies – the gloomy, haunting “Was It Worth It?” and the poppier yet deceptively confessional “Personality Girlfriend” – they then went all old school on our asses with a triad of utter vintage bangers. “Cristina”, breathless and taut, “Hollow” soaring and resonant, then a stunning “Why Are You So Boring”, Jo deadpanning the final verse lyrics for extra added snark and dismissiveness, and eliciting a shout of, “that was brilliant!” from a bloke at the back, Jo firing back with, “you have exceptional taste!”

 

He was spot on. Desperate Journalist were, as ever, quite brilliant tonight. The rest of the set was largely based on the new album, with bassist Simon, low slung and imposing, like a younger, gothier Peter Hook, sharing centre stage with the as-ever riveting presence of singer Jo. The sprawling, lugubrious “Everything You Wanted” was underpinned with a powerful, undulating and articulate bass riff which – and I’m sorry for not making the connection earlier, given their walk-on music – recalled Simple Minds’ virtuoso player Derek Forbes, and a later “Fault” was propelled by a rolling riff which prompted TBATB to again chip in with, “that’s proper bass playing!”. Then there was “Cedars”… the high watermark of their canon, the one that would be played on constant repeat on the radio if the tour bus ever went off a cliff (!), this is simply one of the, if not THE, greatest songs written in the last 10-15 years, and could be played on kazoos and tin cans and still sound utterly majestic. The fact they put all their collective heart, soul and tense, kinetic energy into it, as per their entire performance, was all for the better. Just wonderful.

 Encores of “Control” and the excellent “Satellite”, plus uncharacteristically fulsome compliments from Jo (“this is the most verbose crowd I’ve ever experienced in my life!” and a final “Love you!” – whaaaaat!!!) rounded off tonight’s utterly sparkling performance, Logan meeting Simon at the merch stand afterwards while picking up a singularly appropriate t-shirt (“Never Apologise, Never Explain” – excellent!). Farewells to Matt, then home early via the kebab van. What a brilliant night. The 2022 gig year is well under way, and it couldn’t have gotten a better kickstart than Desperate Journalist!