Welcome to the ramblings of a man who really should have grown out of listening to "that sort of music" a long, long time ago...A place to share thoughts and photographs on music and related paraphernalia.
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
It's always difficult to review Weirdsville club nights, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's just that there are some gigs when it is nice to go along, relax and not worry about taking photos, notes and videos all the time. Kind of defeats the object of doing a music Blog I know, and of course I want to promote the bands and all that, but sometimes you just want to go with the flow and enjoy the acts to the full, and I certainly did that tonight. I did start off with the best intentions however as I had never seen The Teamsters or The Baron Four play live before and I was really looking forward to seeing both. I knew what to expect from Les Grys-Grys as I had seen them play a quite stunning set at Hipsville Weekender back in May. That night I had to compare them to the full-on visual and sonic assault of my favourite ever live act The Soundtrack of Our Lives.
The Teamsters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Teamsters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The night started off with The Teamsters, the London based band fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist Tom Wing. Retrosonic Podcast listeners will know that I have already played the band and I am a big fan of their excellent self-titled debut album and "Play Along With The Teamsters" E.P. both of which are well worth getting hold of. Tonight Tom and Bassist Daniel Fell are joined by the legendary Bruce Brand of The Milkshakes, The Len Bright Combo, The Pop Rivets, Suzi Chunk and Groovy Uncle, Thee Headcoats etc etc etc...Oh, and The Masonics of course...! Bruce is filling in on a part time basis but on tonight's showing it would be great if they could make it a more permanent appointment. Tom apologizes that tonight's set includes a fair smattering of slower numbers, but he doesn't need to, it all sounds great. There's a lot of new songs too, well I'm guessing they are new as I don't recognise many, and I'm hoping that means there is a new album on the horizon.
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Next up is The Baron Four, who have been raved about and recommended to me for a while from various people with impeccable taste in music. The band were formed following the sad circumstances that led to the end of the respected Garage Rock band Thee Vicars, I'd heard about this from a friend and although I knew the name I hadn't really got into them. Following all the raving and after getting a copy of their superb new 7" single "Walking Out" on State Records, I was really looking forward to seeing The Baron Four. I guessed they would be good but I didn't realise just how good! They came bursting out of the blocks, and proceeded to run through most of the faultless debut album "Out Of The Wild Come...The Baron Four" with a couple of choice covers thrown in such as Bo Diddley's "I Can Tell" and The Swinging Blue Jeans "You're No Good". In fact these two songs shine a light on The Baron Four's sound - there's the raw and primal riffing of early R'n'B coupled with bouncing Merseybeat pop and its chiming guitars and catchy backing vocals.
Joe of The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Baron Four have some great songs - there are so many highlights from tonight's set with the double whammy of "Be My Girl" and the Cavern Club freak-out of "She Said Yeah" in particular sticking in my head. However it was the next song "Wild Angel" that really blew the roof off the Fiddlers Elbow and the gig suddenly shifted up a few gears. You could sense this was the turning point as the crowd really responded, the temperature also went up a fair few degrees and I was chuffed that I managed to capture the song on video. I didn't recognise it, and was disappointed that it didn't feature on any of their recordings. I later found out it was an obscure cover of a old James Bond & The Agents track, and I really hope the band consider recording a version of it.
Troy & Mole of The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
When they slammed into "Walking Out", that was it, any chance of writing a lucid and complete review went out the window it was just too good. "Yes I Do" was the final nail in the Blogging coffin as the superb lead guitar work of Troy Lowin-Green, alternating between fuzzed up chords and almost Surf style riffs, really hit home. The band were all great visually - Troy pointing his guitar out into the crowd, rhythm guitarist Joe Eakins is a live-wire, he seems to spend more time out in the audience playing than on the stage. A bottle of vodka gets passed around the band and the front row, one of the monitors goes flying, it's bloody great. Front-man Mike Whittaker is one of a rare breed, a lead singer who plays bass and makes it look cool, a difficult thing to carry off!
Mike of The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Mole of The Baron Four at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
When he's not singing he's on his knees bashing hell of his bass one minute then scraping the fret-board against the mic stand the next. Then we get to drummer Mole, who I have raved about enough here on the Blog already with his performances in the new re-jigged line-up of The Galileo 7. Resplendent in fez and huge white rimmed sunglasses he is worth the entrance price alone, a non-stop blur of flailing drumsticks, a veritable Keith Moon of the contemporary Garage Rock scene! He also adds some top notch backing vocal harmonies along with Joe that elevate the songs to another level. So now I can join the already converted and preach the greatness of The Baron Four!
Les Grys-Grys at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
So by the time Les Grys-Grys came on I had definitely deserted my post and despite sneaking a few snaps here and there, all thoughts of doing a feature had gone. The band are just unbelievably good live, and rather like TSOOL, each band member has a distinct character and it's all mesmerising to watch. Their supercharged and authentic take on the Sixties Blues and R'n'B sounds of Richmond, Twickenham, Eel Pie Island merged with their love of The Flamin' Groovies is a joy to behold, and for a young band from Montpellier that's no mean feat. It's a relentless groove that doesn't let up on the energy for one minute, it's simply stunning. I was totally absorbed so I will hand over the quill and ink pot to Megan to sum it up better than I can at this point..."Instant review - If Les Grys-Grys are playing anywhere near you just go. No excuses. Go!" Thank you Megan. If you want to read more about Les Grys-Grys then please check out the feature on their appearance at Hipsville in the Blog archive here, which also includes some great pics by the Rock Photographer Paul Slattery.
Les Grys-Grys at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Les Grys-Grys at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Les Grys-Grys guitars at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Thanks to Mr A, Alex, Mole, Megan and Hugh from The Beatpack. For more photos of the gig then please head on over to the Retro Man Blog Facebook page and if you are not already following, hit "Like" for access to the photo album. There are also videos up on the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel, including lots of stuff from previous Weirdsville and Hipsville gigs. Here's a little taster of The Baron Four performing "Wild Angel". Enjoy!
