“As
for Coach Party, that Louie gig will be a proper firecracker, no doubt…!”
Those
were my words after seeing Coach Party tear it up at the Trinity last December,
in support of We Are Scientists (gig 1,203), as I was eagerly anticipating
their long sold-out Louisiana headlining show, then scheduled for the following
month… however, Covid precautions then caused the postponement of this highly
promising young Isle of Wight combo’s January dates until now. In the interim,
they’d released a new EP “Nothing Is Real”, another collection of spritely and
snarky indiepop tunes showcasing devastating single “FLAG (Feel Like A Girl)”,
and kept their hand in “live” with some dates with the equally promising
Mysterines (one of which, the Electric Ballroom date, I was jonesing to go to,
but it sold out! Bugger!). Anyhoo, time eventually rolled round for this one;
hopefully we’ll still get the anticipated fireworks…!
I
had some company for this trip in old friend Paul, who’d joined us for a gig as
recently as last September (that triumphant Heaven 17 Roundhouse gig, no.
1,189) but with whom this would represent the first gig just the 2 of us had
been to together since June 1999 (The Dickies, gig no. 407)! His first time at
the Louisiana as well, so after arriving promptly at 7.30 and finding all
street parking now double yellows, so dumping the motor in the new car park
opposite the venue, I introduced him to a Louie – and Bristol – tradition,
namely meeting Big Jeff! Had a drink and a chat, then the rope was removed so
we wandered upstairs to the venue (Paul remarking it might just be the smallest
venue he’d ever been to!), joining the hardy batch of early comers for openers
Sometimes at 8.15. Friends of the headliners (one of their number directing Coach
Party’s videos, apparently), this was apparently their first ever gig, but they
kicked into a distinctly Dinosaur Jr.-esque riff-heavy laze rock opener
displaying few first-night nerves. “I Was The Fire”, next up, was a slower-burn
beast with an insistent hook, and following some debate led by the vocalist
about how brilliant Bristol is, other numbers displayed some very grungy
quiet/loud dynamics, with the vocalist’s high, angsty yelps a feature. Rooted
in that early 90’s era sonically, maybe, but Sometimes (or “Someone”, as the
running order on the bottom of the stairs referred to them; “that’s our
pseudonym!” quipped the vocalist!) nonetheless showed some promise and a degree
of musicianship that belied their relative experience.
Took
a breather downstairs before hopping back up into the by-now packed room,
finding a viewing spot centre stage a few rows back; thankfully Jeff was to one
side so wasn’t in our way! Coach Party took the stage promptly at 9.15 and in
short order ripped into punky, savage opener “Lola”. No messing about then!
My
“Cliff Notes” version of Coach Party increasingly reads, “what Sleeper, Pixies
and Interpol would sound like if they got together and wrote songs to purge
their bad relationships”. Even the song titles underline this; “Crying Makes Me
Tired”, “Everybody Hates Me”, “I’m Sad”, “Breakdown”, and so on… hopefully vocalist
Jess and co will find fulfilment in their lives before too long (!!), but in
the meantime they’ll have to rely on the adulation of their audience, which on
tonight’s evidence should be more than enough. The place went bonkers from note
one, and pretty soon I found myself in a mini-moshpit, bouncing off a hefty
bearded bloke but finding an occasional pocket of space which was also,
thankfully, under a ceiling-mounted cold air blower! A buoyant Jess thanked
everyone, “who’s had a ticket [for this gig] for so long!” before the sinister
Pixies growl of “Crying”, then told the story of the girls complimenting her
trousers at that We Are Scientists gig, thankfully stopping short before my
involvement…! “I’m Sad” built to a big, anthemic yet still melancholy
denouement, a ragged “Shit TV” (“we’ve only played it a few times!” pleaded
Jess) featured some taut, Interpol-esque one note riffery before a dismissive
spoken word chorus, with the subsequent “3 Kisses” immediately changing tack
with a Summery, almost Beach Boys hook. “Space” was a thunderous wall of noise,
guitarist Steph riffing for all she was worth, “Breakdown” again saw the
guitarist generate squalls of impressive volume, and “FLAG”’s screeching
riot-grrrl chorus rounded off a breathless and rampaging set, the sole encore
of an undulating “Can’t Talk, Won’t” finishing off the gig with a flourish.
By
this time I’d inveigled my way through the mosh to the front, in prime position
to be handed Jess’ list by Steph (hooray!), and after pausing for breath,
briefly renewed acquaintances with this affable yet predictably besieged band
at the merch stand. A quick and chatty journey home after another splendid gig.
Looking forward to seeing them at Victorious now, but as for tonight; fireworks
we expected, and fireworks we got!
No comments:
Post a Comment