The Loons, Kaleidoscope & The Misunderstood at Le Beat Bespoké Weekender Friday April 03rd

The Loons - Photo by Retro Man Blog

I’ve been a big fan of The Loons ever since their debut album "Love’s Dead Leaves", and not just because it was produced by Ebbot Lundberg of The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Frontman Mike Stax is also responsible for the superb "Ugly Things" magazine which once boasted an immense feature on Soundtrack’s previous incarnation, Union Carbide Productions and included a copy of TSOOL’s debut E.P. for subscribers. So, I was thrilled to finally get to see the Californian-based band play live. Actually, the Friday night of the New Untouchables Le Beat Bespoké Weekender was the place to be for Loons fans, as not only did the band open proceedings as “themselves” but they also headlined as the backing band for Glenn Ross Campbell’s The Misunderstood. But back to the beginning of the evening and The Loons took the stage and treated us to a perfectly paced set of their concise and tuneful Garage Rock nuggets that despite the early start, warmed up the growing crowd nicely.

The Loons, Mike Stax & Anja - Photo by Retro Man Blog

Unfortunately, there are no songs from their debut album in tonight's set, so I don't get to hear "Not The Same Girl" or "Insecurity Smasher", which was a bit of a shame for me, as they've been long time favourites. However, with the majority of the set filled with songs from their excellent album "Inside Out Your Mind" I can’t really complain too much! The slightly melancholic strains of “Moon and Tide” were a particular favourite as was the frantic “Picture Book” Kinks riffing of "Siren City". The band played both sides of their brand new Dirty Water Records single “Miss Clara” and “Alexander” which were really well received and “Diamonds, Garbage and Gold”, the only track from “Red Dissolving Rays of Light”. Mike is an all-action front-man, a blur of energy with his “Acid Blues” scrawled tambourine. Next to him is Anja on the Rickenbacker bass, a study of cool in her blue mini-dress drawing admiring comments from guys and girls around me in the crowd. They play two cover versions, a rousing and raucous run through of the Sons of Adam’s “Saturday’s Son” which is really excellent as is their set closer, the somewhat more familiar “You’re Gonna Miss Me” by the 13th Floor Elevators. The band leave the stage to a great round of applause, unfortunately there’s no encore but luckily it won’t be the last we will see of The Loons tonight.

Peter Daltrey of Kaleidoscope - Photo by Retro Man Blog

Next up were Kaleidoscope, and like The Misunderstood they took the stage represented by just the one original band member, in this case vocalist Peter Daltrey, who announced “don’t worry, we’ll play all your favourites”. He has assembled a great young band around him that include members of The Trembling Bells and a superb sitar player, Graham Gordon, who all do considerable justice to the old Kaleidoscope material, beefing up the songs and adding a bit of power to proceedings. The set is packed full of melodic songs such as "In The Room of Percussion", "Faintly Blowing" and "Snapdragon" with choruses that stick in the head and prove perfect for the crowd to sing along to, which many did with great enthusiasm. Peter’s voice was on top form and he was a charming and engaging front-man and when he introduced original drummer Danny Bridgland on the bongos, there was a surge of warm applause. Actually Danny and Peter go back even further than Kaleidoscope, right back to their days in The Sidekicks, who once supported The Who in the early 60’s.

Kaleidoscope - Photo by Retro Man Blog

There are three excitable ladies in front of me waving at Danny and cheering loudly every time he is in the spotlight. The youngest one of the three has tears in her eyes and another turns to me as though to apologize for their behaviour. I notice the look of pride and affection in her face as she gestures towards Danny and tells me, "That’s my Dad…!" It was a nice moment. Peter mentions that "Bordeaux Rosé" has been snapped up for a long term French wine advertising campaign, it’s one of a few Fairfield Parlour songs that are played throughout the set, but to be honest I am not so familiar with them. It’s really the Kaleidoscope songs that make more of an impact on me and “Dive Into Yesterday” and “Flight From Ashiya” are both really special. After a superb version of “A Dream of Julie” Peter says "I wish you'd all been around at the time, you might have bought the record and made it a hit!" Peter Daltrey is also busy with various solo projects, artwork and books which you can check out at the comprehensive Chelsea Records site here. I just hope he’s not too busy to prevent us from seeing more of Kaleidoscope in the near future.

The Misunderstood (The Loons & Glenn Ross Campbell) - Photo by Retro Man Blog

Next up, The Loons reappeared as The Misunderstood with the band’s original pedal steel guitarist Glenn Ross Campbell. You could sense that Mike was as thrilled to be on stage as we were to be witnessing it. After all, in 2004 he released a compilation of previously unreleased Misunderstood tracks called "Lost Acetates 1965-1966" on his Ugly Things record label and has written exhaustively on the band’s history over various issues of Ugly Things magazine. Campbell’s unique pedal steel guitar swooped and screamed like a Stuka dive bomber, a full-on Blitzkrieg of mind (and ear) bending sounds, particularly on the classic “Children of The Sun” which was quite phenomenal. “I Can Take You To The Sun” was another highlight as was a storming version of "My Mind".

The Misunderstood - Photo by Retro Man Blog

The band’s legacy and influence has certainly outstripped their somewhat meagre recorded output, so the set was unfortunately quite short, but the intensity of the performance more than made up for the brevity. They play a Loons track “Red Dissolving Ray of Light” from the album of the same name on which Campbell played his pedal steel, and I’m guessing that’s where the idea of a further collaboration was formulated. For the well-deserved encore the band are then joined on stage by another original Misunderstood member, guitarist Tony Hill and also Ray Own, Glenn Ross Campbell’s band-mate from Juicy Lucy who he formed on leaving The Misunderstood, and they treat us to another blistering take of their version of "Who Do You Love?" It was a triumph and the crowd lapped it up, so it seemed did Mike Stax, beaming brightly with the look of a true music fan living out the dream of sharing a stage with their musical heroes.   

The Misunderstood - Photo by Retro Man Blog

The night was far from over and the action moved to the smaller adjacent venue for some more drinking and dancing to some excellent Psych and Soul sounds from the guest DJs and the Le Beat Bespoké organizer Rob Bailey. Two of The Meyer Dancers took the stage for a couple of eye-catching Go-Go routines and then it was back to the dancing…and the drinking…!

The Meyer Dancers - Photo by Retro Man Blog

I’d really recommend you joining the New Untouchables network, you can sign up to their mailing list here for news on their many and varied gigs, club nights and happenings. For more photos of the afternoon at Le Beat Bespoke please visit the Retro Man Blog Facebook page and if you are not already following hit “Like” and “Get Notifications” for access to the exclusive Photo Album.

Beat Bespoké Organizer Rob Bailey thanks the crowd - Photo by Retro Man Blog

More videos can be found at the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel. With thanks to Rob Bailey. All photos and videos copyright Retro Man Blog 2015. Part 2 of the feature will follow soon...

Le Beat Bespoké 10 "A Decade of Delights" Easter Weekender Thu 2nd/Fri 3rd/Sat 4th/Sun 5th April 2015

Le Beat Bespoké the annual indoor festival promoted by newuntouchables.com returns over the Easter weekend at 229 The Venue, Great Portland Street in London. New Untouchables run regular club nights and gigs throughout the year spotlighting 21st Century Modernist & Sixties inspired underground music culture. They are also responsible for releasing a series of excellent and much sought after Compilation LPs with selections from DJ Dr Robert, picked from the dance "floorshakers" of various NUTs events that compliment this wonderful, inclusive happening.

Some bands that have appeared at previous Le Beat Bespoké events over the years include: STAX feat Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn and Eddie Floyd, The Sonics first ever show outside the USA, Arthur Lee & Love, The Undertones, The Strypes, Billy Childish, Eli Paperboy Reed, The Horrors, King Khan & The Shrines, Buzzcocks, Pretty Things, Arthur Brown, Jim Jones Revue, James Hunter, The Remains, The Fuzztones, The Flirtations, The Poets, The Sorrows and Chocolate Watchband to name just a few. However, the live music is only part of what makes Le Beat Bespoké such a wild and unique event. For your dancing delight there will be a dynamic DJ line-up from all across Europe armed with explosive sounds that are sure to melt your heart and mind. Have a good look around the Le Beat Bespoké website at the program which features band news, music, videos and photos, DJ playlists, event podcast, market and record fair information plus travel and accommodation tips.

The weekend gets underway with the superb Wolf People headlining Thursday night with songs from their three highly rated albums. For those who are not familiar with the band, if you like the bluesy psychedelic sounds of Cream, early Jethro Tull and Traffic then you will love Wolf People. The second day of Le Beat Bespoke 10 is billed as an "8 hour Technicolor Dream" which features a triple bill with Glenn Campbell’s Misunderstood, Peter Daltrey's Kaleidoscope and The Loons. Expect to hear all your favourite Misunderstood tracks performed live for the first time since 1967. After a fantastic performance in Islington eighteen months ago you can see Kaleidoscope on the 229 stage again so expect yet another magical performance. The Loons played at the very first Le Beat back in 2005 and will play songs from all three of their brilliant albums including the must-have "Love's Dead Leaves" which was produced by none other than Ebbot Lundberg of The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Evoking the wildest trips of the ’66 Sunset Strip, The Loons, from San Diego, California, have been playing their smart, inventive brand of psychotic beat music for almost twenty years. Lead singer Mike Stax also runs the legendary Ugly Things Magazine, Anja Stax plays bass, Marc Schroeder and Chris Marsteller are the guitarists, and Mike Kamoo is their drummer and producer. Shindig Magazine described them as “a perfect pairing of Love-influenced garage-psych and British underground in the mould of the Pretty Things, played with preternatural style and ability,” and The Sunday Experience raves that The Loons “pack in more soul savvy psych blues in three and a half minutes than most bands do in a lifetime.” The Loons’ fourth album, "Inside Out Your Mind" will be released by Bomp Records in early 2015. After the live show finishes at 11pm the freakout continues until 4am with DJ Dr Robert and special guests. If that wasn’t enough there will be two more rooms of partying including an authentic R&B room featuring guest club night the POW WOW.

With lots of new interest in 2015, Saturday afternoon will be a 14+ show so the new breed can dip their toes in. NUTsMAG will host the afternoon session which features two brands new bands, firstly Fogbound from Spain, who you can hear in Episode 13 of Retrosonic Podcast, and then The Magnetic Mind plus DJ’s. The Le Beat Bespoke Market and Record Fair is where you can spend or earn some serious cash with dealers and customers from all over the World. The evening's live music comes from Wild Records, one of the coolest record labels in the world today who have even had a film made about them called "Los Wild Ones". The "Wild Records Revue" features two of the label's finest artists flying in for your dancing and listening pleasure, Gizzelle and the Rhythm Shakers.  After the live show finishes at 11pm the fun continues until 6am with three rooms of partying. In the main room Cosmic Keith & guests will keep things rockin’, while the beat basement features Dr Robert & guests spinning sounds from the underground and guest club night RNB123.

The grand finale is London’s favourite club night the ‘Crossfire Allnighter’ which has three rooms of musical magic and a live performance from one of the young rising stars on the European scene today Les Grys-Grys. If you like your mid Sixties Pretty Things, Downliners Sect or the Dutch Outsiders you are gonna love these five wild young guys from Montpellier. They shook the Blues Kitchen and the Volks in Brighton last summer to their foundations; this is not for the faint hearted. Their youth (average 22) also belies their abilities, both as musicians and as exponents of a form that many have attempted, but few mastered. These guys know their music history inside out, and their incendiary live show is something to behold! They have released one sold out 45 on State Records so far with much more to come. The first two dates in the UK at the Brighton weekender and Zoo Zoo in August 2014 were a huge success, don’t miss an opportunity to capture this fearsome fivesome live before they go massive. In the main room Ady Croasdell & guests spin Northern Soul oldies in the true all-nighter tradition while Dr Robert & guests spin sounds from the underground in the beat basement after Les Grys-Grys and guest club night Mousetrap.

Please keep a check on the Le Beat Bespoké web-site for regular updates and news on what will be going on over the weekend. Hopefully we'll be able to get along to at least one or two of the days and will be sure to report back on what promises to be an excellent weekend of high quality entertainment. Please check out this video to give you an idea on what to expect...