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.
Showing posts with label Hipsville Weekender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hipsville Weekender. Show all posts
Wanda & Dottie in front of Dave Taylor's lighting - Photo by Retro Man Blog
Hipsville, our favourite musical (and social) event of the year never disappoints and although I probably say this every time, I think this really was one of the best so far. Despite various setbacks with location and venue changes over the years, I believe that the tireless and enthusiastic organisers Andrew, Ade, Alexandra and their team hit on a winning formula that managed to combine all the very best Hipsville elements that we have grown to love. Hipsville is the perfect antidote to all the current greyness, bad news and depression enveloping Brexit Britain – it is a bright and colourful splash of Hawaiian shirts, fez’s and fancy dress. Bands and fans from all over the world congregate to enjoy the music, make new friends and basically, party! After two years at Margate’s vintage Dreamland funfair, Hipsville has relocated to the town’s Cliftonville area to the Lido and the nearby historic Winter Gardens, which once hosted Laurel & Hardy and The Beatles.
The Jack Cades at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
I thought both venues worked perfectly – the suitably scuzzy Lido was ideal for this year’s Soho-A-Go-Go theme with its red upholstery, dark nooks and crannies and sticky carpets – just like an old-school Soho boozer or afterhours drinking den. Dave Taylor from Enjoy Yourself provided stunning lighting and visuals and his impressive oil projections transformed the Lido into a seething multi-coloured Psychedelic dreamworld. This all made for a perfect backdrop for the gorgeous Hipsville Go-Go dancers to strut their stuff - Wanda de Lullabies, Miss Diabolik, Alexandra Beat Girl, Celia Formica, Tina Tuna, Nocturna, and although sadly there was no Miss Ge Veve this year, we did have the welcome return of Dottie Gooseberry. This year saw the official introduction of two Go-Go boys too, Steve and Khalid from The Action Men, who both seemed to thoroughly enjoy the whole experience. The Jack Cades opened up proceedings in the Lido on the Friday evening and despite only just releasing their excellent debut album “Music For Children” on Dirty Water Records last year, they included a few really promising sounding new songs in the set. I sincerely hope this means that there will be more good stuff released by the band very soon indeed.
The Jack cades at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Deadly Spirits from Sweden were great fun and their raw Rock ‘n’ Soul went down really well with the crowd. The band are from Karlstad so it was nice to bump into a couple of them and chat about mutual friends and bands such as Tonbruket, Cat & the Underdogs, Nymphet Noodlers and Mattias Hellberg. The final band, The Anomalys, powered through a set of fast and raucous Punk Rock and then it was over to our favourite Hipsville DJ's who over the weekend included Neil ‘Sick’ Smith, Adam Diddy Wah, Carl Combover and Fritz Buzzsaw who all ensured the party never stopped.
The Deady Spirits at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Mighty Tsar at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
On Saturday afternoon, the Glass Jar hosted the Tiki cocktail Bar and we enjoyed a drink while being serenaded by The Mighty Tsar and theur swampy Skiffle Calypso and some suitably mellow tunes courtesy of DJ Ian Greensmith. We then wanted to see Das Clamps for the first time and just managed to squeeze our way into the superb, but tiny, Fez Bar that was so packed it resembled a Tokyo subway train at rush hour. The duo comprise Miss Tangerine Tassels on guitar and vocals and then there is her sidekick on drums and vocals, Tina Marina who for some reason reminds me of Tina from Oh! Gunquit...anyway, they played foot stomping stripped back Cramps inspired songs from their forthcoming album “Shit Music For Shit People” which is out soon on the excellent Trash Wax Records. Unfortunately, French band The Scaners had to pull out at the last minute due to one of the members breaking their leg, which was really bad news as I was looking forward to seeing them very much. However, the good news was that The Baron Four stepped in at short notice and proved more than capable substitutes with their own brand of upbeat Garage R'n'B.
Das Clamps at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Das Clamps at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Autoramas at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Then it was over to the grand Winter Gardens and there were more excellent visuals from Dave Taylor – movies of Swinging 60’s London and Soho Street signs and the stage had red telephone boxes on either side for the Go-Go girls, boys, and gorillas to dance in. The DJ booth was imaginatively transformed into a seedy sex shop. Tonight’s opening act were the fabulous Autoramas and as regular Blog followers will know, the Brazilian space age retro rockers have fast become one of our favourite bands ever since we first saw them play courtesy of Hipsville back in 2015. Their unique blend of Bubble-gum Garage Rock and B-52’s/Devo style New Wave with crunching bass sound and Gabriel’s trademark vibrato effects pedal was simply mind-blowing. The always glamorous Erika adds keyboards, Theremin and guitar and dances non-stop, even getting down to dance with the audience too. They are a fantastic band, one of those that you really have to try to see play live and such lovely people too.
Autoramas at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Night Times with Celia & Wanda at Hipsville - Photo Retro Man Blog
Next up it’s the U.K. debut for the hotly tipped Californian band The Night Times who wowed the crowd with their traditional nuggets era Psych. They have a superb drummer who was a blur of hair as she thrashed away behind her kit and the lead vocalist/bassist was throwing himself about so much that his bass kept going out of tune. They were such a great live act and there was a tangible buzz about them throughout the whole weekend. Next on stage it was the turn of MFC Chicken who played a thoroughly entertaining set of Fabulous Wailers songs that had everyone dancing along. Classics like “Mashi” and “Out of Our Tree” went down a storm and they even made the perennial classic “Louie Louie” sound fresh. There was also a surprise appearance by Elsa from The Jack Cades who joined the band to wow everyone with a soulful vocal performance.
The Night Times at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
MFC Chicken at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Action Men entertained us with an amusing dance routine, which featured a cameo from Mr A, and then the winners of the fancy dress competition were announced. In the sad absence of Davros and his Deep Space Deviants, this year saw The Stags put in a hilarious performance with a Mary Whitehouse lookalike on vocals and a band comprising Policemen in a uniform of helmets, tunics and suspenders. What a perfect ending to a fabulous day. On Sunday, it was back to the Fez Bar to be serenaded by Professor Baba and His Invisible Band who bewitched us with some entertaining Voodoo Blues and general mumbo jumbo. I thought it was strange how the Professor reminded me of Simon from Oh! Gunquit – that band must have many lookalikes running around Margate. We made it into the Lido just as Spanish band Los Wilds were finishing their set and the wild-eyed frontman was down to his underpants and cowboy boots. A normal Sunday afternoon at Hipsville then.
Professor Baba at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Night Times at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Next came The Day Tymes, the not-so-subtle alter ego of The Night Times who blew the Lido apart with their ‘secret’ show. During a wild version of “Gloria” the singer put his bass down and jumped into the crowd for the duration of the song prompting David Arnold of The Stags to take over on bass duties, he should have quickly tuned it up while he was about it. The good news is that the band are hanging around in the UK for a couple more weeks and as I write they are in North Down Sound Studios with Lois and Mole from State Records recording songs for a new single. They will also be playing Brighton on May 17th and Weirdsville in London on Saturday May 18th so if you missed Hipsville be sure to catch them play if you can, you will not be disappointed. The Hipsville team could finally relax and let their hair down at the Sunday night after show party at the Cinque Ports pub – they had invited legendary DJ Mike Gunn (himself no stranger to a bit of sleaze) over from L.A. to close the weekend in his inimitable style. We all kept our eyes on our wallets and our whisky and ensured that no Go-Go dancer was left unchaperoned in the presence of the lascivious titan of the turntable! What a great weekend, I just cannot wait to do it all again next year.
DJ Neil 'Sick' Smith & Hipsville Organiser Mr A
Hipsville organiser Ade, or is it Mike Gunn...with Dave Taylor
Please take the time to click on the highlighted links throughout the feature to check out more information on the relevant bands. You can find more photos of the Hipsvile Soho-A-Go-Go weekend at our Facebook page here and more videos over here at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel. Check the Blog archive for lots of features on previous Hipsville weekenders and Weirdsville club nights. We have also played tracks by many Hipsville/Weirdsville related bands in our Retrosonic Podcast and all episodes are available to listen to or download from our Soundcloud site here.
The Night Times at Hipsville - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Hipsville Go-Go Dancers
For news and announcements on future Weirdsville and Hipsville shows please keep an eye on the You Got Good Taste web site. Dave Taylor runs the Enjoy Yourself club nights in Swanage and more information on this and his lighting can be found here. Finally, once again huge thanks to Andrew, Ade and Alexandra and their team of helpers for once again putting on such a fantastic event.
Hipsville, always Retro Man Blog's event of the year, is back in Margate over the May 3rd-5th Bank Holiday weekend and this time they are taking the mean streets of Soho to the seaside town. Check out the Hipsville web-site here for full details on the line-up of bands, DJ's, Go-Go dancers and happenings over the weekend along with info on tickets and venues. Let's hand you over to organisers Alex, Mr A and Ade for the lowdown on what you can expect. "Shady ladies! Spivs! After-hours nightclubs! Neon! All-night coffee drinking! Underground drinking dens! Dirty magazines! Held in the magical, old-school seaside town of Margate, the UK’s biggest trash party is set to celebrate seven years of mayhem by channeling the spirit of London’s seediest neighbourhood – this year’s theme is SOHO! Join us in the dark, neon-lit streets for a bold, brazen, bizarre and wild weekend amid the gangsters and good time girls that frequent the area’s late night clubs and coffee shops. ‘Ello darlin’! Garage, titty twisting' rock’n’roll, tiki, punk and hot slop! fans descend annually on the south east of the UK for a wild, riotous weekend of bands, Go-Go girls, gorillas and DJs for 3 days of crazed partying through the night and into the morning. Each year Hipsville has a theme; previous years have seen partygoers dress up for jungle, space, horror and carny parties, and this year’s Soho theme is set to be sleazier than ever – our guests really do put the world’s most jaw-dropping costumes together! This year’s travelling revue will take in Margate’s most incredible venues and showcase some of the world’s finest rock and roll bands, just look what we've got planned for you!"
This year one of our favourite bands Autoramas will be returning to Hipsville and they will be joined by a top selection of international Garage Psych Trash Tiki Punk bands such as Das Clamps, The Jack Cades, The Night Times, The Scaners, The Stags, MFC Chicken, Mighty Tsar, The Deadly Spirits and The Anomalys and more - check out the Hipsville event page here for links and info. Check the Blog archive for Hipsville and you can uncover features on previous Hipsville weekends over the years including loads of reviews and photos. The Retro Man Blog YouTube channel has loads of original 'down the front' action packed videos and various episodes of our Retrosonic Podcast include a host of Hipsville and Weirdsville related bands and too. Here's an episode from 2018.
It's going to be tough to beat last year's mind-blowing Hipsville (read our feature here) but every year I say that and they always do manage it! Here's the superb Schizophoncs from last year's show.
The Schizophonics at Weirdsville - photo by Retro Man Blog
Enjoy Yourself! the Swanage based nightclub, photography and video production company contacted Retro Man Blog to see if they could use some of our 'down the front' video footage from the recent mind-blowing Schizophonics show at Weirdsville, of course we were happy to oblige and here are the stunning results. One of the best live acts on the planet captured in four camera glory!
EY! (Enjoy Yourself!) is primarily a Club night held on the first Saturday of every month at Tawny's Juke Joint in Swanage, Dorset. The EY! vinyl only DJs spin Soul, Motown, 60's Garage, Psychedelia & classic Hip-shakers all accompanied by stunning retro oil wheel & video projections. They also offer multi-cam live video shoots with sound desk stereo mixing. EY! first got involved in filming back in the ‘90’s with the release of a video fanzine entitled “Collide-A-Scope” which featured bands such as Buzzcocks, Sultans of Ping, S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men. For more information on Enjoy Yourself! please check out their web-site here. Their YouTube channel EYTV can be found here.
The Schizophonics at Weirdsville - photo by Retro Man Blog
You can check out the review of The Schizophonics at Weirdsville here and don't forget there are hundreds of down the front original videos of all our favourite bands that we've featured over the years at the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel too. Please have a browse through our extensive archive here. Thanks to Dave at Enjoy Yourself!
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Schizophonics are the very embodiment of what raw and visceral Rock ‘n’ Roll should be and seeing them play live is such an exhilarating experience. I’ve seen them twice now and although they are to all intents and purposes a high tempo act that make you smile from ear to ear, their shows are also tinged with a slight hint of danger. There’s an unpredictability bursting out from frontman Pat Beers and his totally committed and volatile performance that takes me right back to being down the front at gigs by Black Flag, Iggy Pop or The Soundtrack of Our Lives. It’s that feeling of butterflies in your stomach as he careers around the stage with no regard to his personal safety or, it would appear, those of us right in the firing line of the front row either! I first saw the band earlier this year at the fantastic Hipsville Weekender where even the huge stage of the cavernous ballroom at Dreamland could not contain Pat and at one point he teetered off the edge in front of me only to bounce back unscathed. It was as though there was a mini-trampoline hidden in the photographer’s pit. I spent a lot of that show with my heart in my mouth. I missed the band at Weirdsville last year so I was intrigued to find out how they would fare on the tiny stage at the Fiddler’s Elbow, however after the gig, when I expressed my earlier concerns to drummer Lety, she casually remarked that that was nothing, they had often played on far smaller.
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
I managed to get a spot right in front of Pat and I was half expecting to end the evening battered and bruised with splintered shards of his guitar or a microphone stand stuck in my head. As it turned out the mic stand only got knocked into us once, which is testament to Pat’s consummate skill and gymnastic ability as he pirouetted around the stage somehow managing to avoid colliding with the drum kit or injure any of his bandmates or members of the crowd in the process. Often three-piece bands can be a bit limited visually but not so The Schizophonics as Pat Beers combines the very best of all your guitar heroes and frontmen in one package. A lot of the time he doesn’t seem to be playing guitar in the conventional way, I don’t notice much in the way of strumming or picking that’s for sure, it’s more a case of the occasional smash of the strings with fist, palm or even microphone stand. Occasionally, there’s a violent blur of Pete Townshend style windmilling, right hand crashing down on the strings while his fingers on the left hand work the frets to spin out some of the catchiest chords and riffs you’re likely to hear. There is a real groove to The Schizophonics courtesy of super-cool drummer Lety and impressive bassist Blake (from San Diego band Mrs. Henry), they keep it simple to enable Pat to freestyle and do his thing and they inject a real soulful feel into proceedings. So, they have the groove and they have the stunning live performance but most importantly, the band can most definitely back it all up with the sheer quality of their songs such as the superb “Streets of Heaven”, “Venus Transit” and the transcendental groove of “The Train”.
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Occasionally, Pat places his guitar on the floor and hunches over it Jimi Hendrix style, fiddling with the effects pedals as Lety and Blake power on relentlessly. Lost in the groove, he leaves the instrument as it is, gets up and struts his stuff as the feedback screams. He does the splits, knee drops, star jumps and spins 360 degrees, pushing the mic stand back and forth so it almost topples into the crowd. He picks up his guitar again and the astounding thing is he also runs through these moves while playing the damn thing too! They include some really promising new songs in the night's set including “Egypt Land Love”, “Something Has Got To Give” and one of the highlights of my night, the excellent “One I Want” which is surely crying out to be released as the next single. They encore with a wild version of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On” which sees Pat on the floor in the crowd, a suitability manic end to a mind-blowing gig and another great night at Weirdsville.
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
As we were leaving the venue, I noticed Pat sitting outside on the edge of the kerb, alone, head in hands, drenched in sweat and thoroughly exhausted. I didn’t want to interrupt his well-deserved break with a barrage of gushing praise so reluctantly decided to head for home. However, I bumped into Lety who was holding Pat’s guitar with its (soon to be labelled ‘iconic’ I’m sure…) shark teeth carved headstock and I asked her if they had any copies of their LP “Land of The Living” for sale. I was disappointed at Hipsville as they’d sold out before I could get one and was hoping to pick up a copy tonight but didn’t see any merchandise stall. Lety said that unfortunately the shipment of albums had been held up at customs but should be delivered some time during the U.K. tour…just my luck! However, there was some good news; she also mentioned that the band will be starting work on their new album soon and if the new songs are anything to go by it is going to be an absolute classic, I'm sure. Check out the band's web-site here for up-to-date news and information.
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Weirdsville is held on the last Saturday of every month at the Fiddler's Elbow in Camden and they have also started putting on shows in Brighton too. Coming up are some great looking shows including The Courettes with Oh! Gunquit at the end of August and The Voo-Dooms with Les Kitschenette's in September. They have also just announced details of their yearly Hipsville Weekender next May, so please check out their web-site here for more details.
The Schizophonics - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
For more photos of The Schizophonics at Weirdsville please check out the Retro Man Facebook page here and videos are up at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here. Here's a taster...enjoy!
One of the highlights of our musical calendar, the Hipsville Weekender - run by those lovely Weirdsville people Mr A, Alexandra Beat Girl, Ade and their gang of intrepid helpers - has now been confirmed for 2018 and it's back at Dreamland in Margate. Running over three days Friday 4th, Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th May, the theme for this year is "Jungle-A-Go-Go" and it's shaping up to be the best one yet! Featuring the best in International Garage Rock, Psych and Punk including The Parkinsons from Portugal, The No-Things from Edinburgh, The Schizophonics, Black Mambas and The Electric Mess from the USA, Les Lullies, Chrome Reverse and The Madcaps from France and The Oddballs and Los Wallas from Spain, there's going to be something for everyone. Of course there will be the added bonus of the Hipsville Go-Go Girls including the fabulous Wanda De Lullabies, Celia Aloha, Dottie Gooseberry, Nocturna and Miss Diabolik and some superb DJ's such as Neil & Chris Sick, Carl Combover & Johnny Alpha and Fritz Buzzsaw & Diddy Wah. If that's not enough there's the Tiki Party, the Roller Disco compered by Superstar DJ Mike Gunn, the Vintage Market and free rides on the Dreamland amusements. Seriously, this just cannot be missed!
For more information on tickets and links to all the bands and performers please check out the Hipsville web-site or Facebook pages. Don't forget to check out our Retrosonic Podcast archive for loads of great music and reports from previous Hipsville Weekenders and the Blog archive for features and photos too. I'm also planning a brand new Hipsville 2018 special episode so keep an eye out for more details on that. If you love Hipsville but can't wait until next May, don't forget the gang run the regular Weirdsville club nights at the Fiddler's Elbow in Camden on the last Saturday of every month. Check out the Weirdsville site here for further details.
It was great news to see that The Stompin' Riff Raffs were playing a gig in Tokyo while I was there and the chance to see them in a small basement club in Shimokitazawa was too good an opportunity to pass up. After all they do rank up there among the best live acts I've ever seen and any band that can make a theremin sexy has got my vote! I first saw them play at last year's Hipsville Weekender where the enthusiastic organizers Mr A, Alex and Ade can be relied on to scour all corners of the planet to bring us unbelievably good Garage Rock bands. I've been introduced to bands from Mexico such as Los Sustos, the fabulous Autoramas from Brazil, Messer Chups from Russia and The Jackets from Switzerland to name a few. But they really surpassed themselves with The Stompin' Riff Raffs. Getting them over from Japan can't have been easy and the band were hit by technical problems on the day which unfortunately put paid to Miku's keyboards. However the young Tokyo based band continued to put in a stunningly energetic performance, Miku endearing herself to the crowd by still going through the motions of playing her broken keyboard just in case it miraculously burst in life!
Miku of The Stompin' Riff Raffs at Club Three Tokyo
Rie of The Stompin' Riff Raffs at Club Three Tokyo
So, back to the present and I'm down the front at Club Three eagerly awaiting my second experience of The Stompin' Riff Raffs. They burst onto the stage and crash straight into the Surf-Psych instrumental "Parabellum". Three girls and a guy. The girls dressed identically in sparkling 1930's style flapper dresses and Green Hornet face masks. Miku plays her theremin as though it were a guitar, twisting ear-bustingly weird yet wonderful noises from it. Drummer Saori is all smiles behind her kit and super-cool bassist Rie looks great while adding harmonies and backing vocals. Singer and guitarist Nao is a truly charismatic front-man as he throws everything into his performance. The Sonics' "The Witch" gets a good Stompin' and "Surfside Date" sounds amazing. There are elements of Link Wray, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Cramps and the Ramones in their quick-fire no pause for breath approach. One of my highlights of the night is the penultimate killer track "Horror Show", which you can hear in Episode 22 of Retrosonic Podcast here.
Saori of The Stompin' Riff Raffs at Club Three Tokyo
Nao of The Stompin' Riff Raffs at Club Three Tokyo
The band are all smiles and their enthusiasm is infection as the crowd go wild, there's a real sense of fun and abandonment with The Stompin' Riff Raffs. The set draws to a crazed end with another theremin-led instrumental "Ghost Train" during which all hell breaks loose on stage and everything falls apart in glorious chaos! What a show and what a band! My only complaint was that due to time restraints there was no encore so I didn't get to hear my favourite track "Linda" but I was more than satisfied. Let's hope they come back to the U.K. again very soon. You can check out more 'up close and personal' videos of the band at the Club Three Shimokitazawa and Hipsville 2016 over at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here. Here's a little taster...
For more info on The Stompin' Riff Raffs check out their official Facebook page here.
Oh! Gunquit have released a new album "Lightning Likes Me" on Decapitator Records, it features four tracks originally released last year on their "Hot Cross Fun" limited edition cassette only E.P. recorded with Jim Diamond and six superb brand new songs. The album also introduces new saxophonist Chuchi who has previously played with King Salami & The Cumberland 3 and I'm sure he's going to add another dimension to the band's already exceptional live shows. The album is packed full of Oh! Gunquit's strongest material to date, so if you are already aware of the band's previous releases then you'll get some idea of just how good this record is. Oh! Gunquit don't just straddle various genres but gleefully kick them to pieces as you might gather by this description from Dirty Water Records, who released the band's debut album: "Oh! Gunquit are a Rumble-Bop, Surf-Punk Band who concoct a brew of Raw R&R, Wild Garage Rock and Twisted Freak-a-Billy" - try finding that in the record store racks! Their blend of eminently danceable swampy, voodoo-touched Exotica will get even us old-timers bouncing around the room. The album is packed full of clever riffs and twists and turns that defy any categorization and the abundant melodies are nicely underpinned by some welcome off-kilter touches that on occasion remind me of Gallon Drunk meeting the B-52's. My personal highlight off the album has to be "Greasy Moves" which distills the essence of Oh! Gunquit into four lip-smackingly lascivious minutes. You can hear another highlight from the album, the stunning "Fireballs" in our Retrosonic Podcast Episode 25 here.
You can order the "Lightning Likes Me" album direct from the Oh! Gunquit Bandcamp site here. One track from the album "Nomads of The Lost" was released as a limited edition green vinyl single on Trash Wax Records and it's well worth getting from the label here, now enjoy the video!
Oh! Gunquit will headline the always excellent Weirdsville club night at the Fiddler's Elbow in Camden on Saturday June 24th with support from Emptifish and DJ's until 3am. It's sure to be a busy night so better make sure you book your tickets in advance from Weirdsville at the link here.
Oh! Gunquit photographed by Paul Slattery
For more info check out the Oh! Gunquit Facebook page here. Colour photo copyright Paul Slattery.
The Razerbills at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Well, yet another superb night courtesy of Weirdsville and testament to why I wanted to pay my own little 'tribute' to their fantastic set up at our next Retro Man Blog Night at the Half Moon Putney on November 18th with The Masonics, The Baron Four and The Beatpack. Mr A and Alex just keep on putting together stunning line-ups of international Garage Rock, Surf, Psych and Weirdo acts from the far flung corners of the globe at the Fiddler's Elbow in Camden on the last Saturday of every month. At the regular Weirdsville club nights and their yearly version - the Hipsville Weekender festival - I have seen acts, mostly for the first ever time, from places as diverse as France, Brazil, Switzerland, Japan, Italy and more. Tonight was a great example of their eclectic and multi-cultural pick 'n' mix that always seems to blend together perfectly as we had bands from Japan, Germany...and Bradford! This was a Halloween special with a Mexican Day of The Dead fancy-dress twist and as usual loads of people really went for it and some of the outfits were stunning and pretty damn scary too! I must admit as I went to the venue straight from the football, I didn't have chance to dress up and I felt a little bit out of place - although the comments about me winning the scariest Halloween mask of the night have been noted...!
Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
The Ladybugs at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
So, starting off tonight were The Ladybugs, a three-piece all girl Punk Rock band from Japan featuring Ai on bass, Miyuki on Guitar and Junko on the drums and lead vocals. They charmed the crowd with their huge smiles, police outfits and tuneful Punk Rock. Of course it's easy to draw comparisons with their fellow Osaka residents Shonen Knife but then they don't have a monopoly on catchy buzzing guitar pop tunes with singalong choruses do they? Well the choruses would be singalong if the lyrics weren't in Japanese I suppose but we gave it a try nevertheless! With songs like "A Pint of Bitter" and "A Cup of Tea in Baker Street" - you can sense the girls were happy to be in London and they proved their musical influence was also somewhat Anglophile with a cracking version of the Buzzcocks "I Don't Mind" too.
The Ladybugs at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
The Ladybugs at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Their last song "Hello, I Love You" was a great way to end their short, sharp and sweet set, they are a great band and lovely people too and we will definitely keep a check on what they get up to in the future. To get up to date news and order their CD's and 7" vinyl releases please check out their official Facebook page here. Guest DJ's Mole & Lois from State Records, The Embrooks, Galileo 7 and The Baron Four (not sure how they have enough hours in the day...!) played a great selection of 7" vinyl before, between and after the bands and their choices went down a storm with the crowd.
The Razerbills at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Next up were The Razerbills from Bradford who took the stage decked out in capes, mysterious masks and black fez's and then proceeded to send shivers up and down our spines with spooky organ driven instrumentals, dropping in special effects and clips from Sci-Fi and Horror movie soundtracks along the way. They put on a great show and their take on the Joe Meek sound mixed in with a pinch of Garage Rock and Horror & Sci-Fi theme music really went down well on the night.
The Razerbills at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
It was a mostly instrumental set but they did throw in a great version of The Legends late-60's Fenton Records garage stomper "I'll Come Again" which really hit the spot. I think the band have a bit in common with Speedball Jnr, The Sine Waves and Graham Day's recent side-project The Senior Service but at the moment they don't have any records out unfortunately but hopefully that will change soon so keep a check on their news at their Facebook page here.
The Satelliters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Headliners The Satelliters from Germany are just one of those bands that have 'it'. They have the look and the stage presence and they certainly got the beat but most importantly they have the songs! And what superb catchy songs they are too, with their own compositions such as "Lost In Time" and "Outta Here" quite rightly holding their own among those more well known 60's Garage & Psych classics that must have influenced them along the way.
The Satelliters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
The band remind me of The Music Machine and Shadows of Knight with their spindly intricate guitar riffs which lead you on a merry dance and stick in your head for days after. Lead vocalist Steve is kept busy all night, juggling the organ, harmonica, maracas and tambourine - unfortunately not all at the same time - and this all adds to their ultimately danceable rhythm. A truly great live act and I would really recommend seeing them as soon as you get chance. The band's latest album "More of The Satelliters is well worth getting hold of too. For more info check out their web-site here.
The Satelliters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Weirdsville is held on the last Saturday of every month at the Fiddler's Elbow in Camden/Chalk Farm, for more information on their upcoming shows please check out their facebook page here. The yearly festival version Hipsville-A-Go-Go has now been confirmed for 2017 in Margate on the bank holiday weekend April 28th, 29th and 30th. For more info and announcements on the bands who will be appearing please check out the great Hipsville web-site here. Our next Retro Man Blog Night at the Half Moon Putney on November 18th is a kind of 'tribute' to Weirdsville. It's the launch party for The Masonics brand new album and features special guests Miss Ludella Black, The Baron Four and The Beatpack, who will also be celebrating the launch of their new E.P. on State Records, so we hope to see you there! Book in advance to save money from the ticket link here.
The Satelliters at Weirdsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2016
Here's some videos of the three bands, there are more up at the Retro Man Blog You Tube channel.
