The
hottest day in the UK in my lifetime, and I’m spending the evening in a tiny
and sweaty venue supporting the support… it’s either dedication to the
rock’n’roll cause, or total insanity; you decide!
Either
way, this one was an eagerly anticipated one from Luxembourg (!) newcomers
Francis Of Delirium, whom I’d discovered on that old reliable “New Music For
Old Punks” facebook page last year, finding them a heady mixture of smooth,
swirling dreampop, widescreen epic indie and down and dirty grungy riffery,
with “Lakes”, their finest number, strongly recalling the excellent Madder
Rose’s classic “Car Song” and comfortably making it onto my “Best of 2021” CD
compo. An odd combination too, with the core duo consisting of Jana, a young
female vocalist/ guitarist and her partner-in-crime Chris, a veteran player
much (much!) closer to my age! I’d just missed their tour support with Coach
Party last year (now, that’d be a great combination) plus a June support
tour taking in Bristol, but was happy to snap up tix for this one, in support
of Briston Maroney, a name fairly unfamiliar to me. There for the support,
then!
Fully
hydrated, I set off down a baking M4 with the aircon on full, stopping at the
services to cool the car down and only putting my own tshirt on when I parked
opposite the venue! Grabbed a well-needed drink and chilled (in this heat? Ha!)
outside while the Briston Maroney massive, mainly consisting of young student
girls, filed in. So I followed suit and grabbed a front row spot, house left,
promising my front row companions I would relinquish it after FoD were done. A
baggy black-clad Jana led the 3-piece band on promptly at 8 (no Chris – I
discovered later he doesn’t tour due to family reasons; fair enough!) and
straight into the hushed intro to “Lakes”, then hitting the off-kilter, angular
rhythm riff… and hitting it hard! It was obvious therefore from the outset that
this “live” Francis Of Delirium iteration were here to rock, and they
proceeded to tear the Exchange a new one with a potent, powerful and fiercely determined
display, taking their cue from Jana herself. “Red”, next up, featured some fierce
riffery from Jana, underpinning the looped “all makes sense” hook, and the
excellent “Funhouse” clattered along propelled by an almost Bauhaus “Dark
Entries” drumbeat. “Are you all excited to see Briston?” asked Jana – nope, I’m
here for you guys!
A
droney, stream-of-consciousness “Let It All Go” ceded into the stately,
slow-burn dark and dirty dirge of “Losing”, which recalled Manchester Orchestra
(!), before my set highlight, the stark, confessional lyricism and jagged Seafood-esque
quiet-loud dynamics of “Ashamed”, which was quite brilliant, a quantum leap
ahead of the considerably more muted recorded version. The Pixies-ish build to
the terrace chant hook of set closer “Quit Fucking Around” was preceded by Jana
asking for some audience participation for said hook; I think we got 6 out of
10 for enthusiasm but only 4 “because they can’t sing”! Whatever, Francis Of
Delirium scored a perfect 10 for me for fierce, clear-eyed conviction, and
delivery of a quite stunning set.
Grabbed
my breath and left the front rows to the Briston massive after Jana had kindly
handed me the sole list, then I grabbed signatures from the affable
Luxembourgish rhythm section, unloading afterwards, plus a longer chat with the
merch stand-bound Vancouver expat Jana. Zac, a blond chap who took our pic,
complimented my rocking out down the front; I replied, “I’m only here for them
– I’ve not even heard of Briston Maroney”, to which he retorted, “me neither,
but I am in his band…!” Oops!
Egged
on by Zac and Jana, I took a watching brief at the back for Briston. I had actually
checked out brief bits on YouTube, and as expected he initially dove in with a Pixies-ish
“Wave Of Mutilation”-like chunky rocker “Bottle Rocket”, to a barrage of screams
from his young female massive – no surprise really, he’s quite a handsome chap
in a young psych-slacker Evan Dando way, I guess… Subsequent numbers variously
recalled the chunky powerpop of early Ben Kweller/ Ben Lee, or blander 70’s
druggy late night Venice Beach campfire swayalong balladry, but either way I
wasn’t feeling the vibe overall, so after ½ hour I said my farewells to the FoD
folks and left for a more comfortable drive home, back by 10.30. On another
night I’d probably have enjoyed him more, but, similarly to The Slow Readers
Club following Desperate Journalist at the Thekla in 2017 (gig 1,063), tonight
wasn’t his night. Like them, he’d already been blown off stage for me by his
support before even taking to it…! Nope, tonight was Francis Of Delirium’s
night, a searingly hot set on a searingly hot night!
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