Hot Music Live Presents Fundraiser for The Tin #4
Review
I suppose it's an indicator of success when people start praising a gig online before you have had time to complete your own formal review: it is certainly most gratifying that not only did the latest ‘Hot Music Live Presents' curated fundraiser for and at The Tin help play its part in supporting and sustaining this much loved and needed venue, but so many enjoyed hearing and seeing Monday Nights, What About Eric?, Creaking Twitch and Robert James Grey on Friday evening.
In many cases it also was an introduction for audience members to one or more hitherto unknown artists (once again I didn't meet anyone who'd experienced all four previously) and this is a key HMLP aim of course.
It also highlighted not just the strength and quality of contemporary Coventry and Warwickshire original music but also its diversity. However I think at this point I ought to praise sound engineer Mike Price: diversity is a wonderful thing to showcase but the one person it thus presents with challenges is the person tasked with presenting it faithfully. At which he succeeded magnificently and was even kind enough to say that he relished the challenge.
Another facet of the event was how much each of the acts is on a journey: we captured them all at important sections of upwards trajectories. None is treading water nor trading on past glories.
As you'll know from recent reviews of his singles, Robert James Grey has deliberately distanced himself from his past glories by adopting a new stage name, though it was great to see him reconnect with a venue he'd not played in about seven years, despite running an Open Mic there previously.
His brand of deeply personal, atmospheric, piano led ballads works to perfection in such a venue in front of such an audience, including many new to his music. The space is great for loud, energetic bands with fans who like to dance similarly, but it also is ideal for offering an intimate setting where people can immerse themselves in quieter songs of such emotional truth & power. The first two of Robert's singles under the new name have gone down exceedingly well, with the third arriving soon. I do hope that he gets the chance to play them in equally sensitive environments (and most of his planned live work will be as part of a trio: unfortunately not all his band was available on Friday).
Creaking Twitch are definitely one of those louder bands I alluded to and they too are moving into new territory. With drummer Izzy off on sabbatical, Nathan and Amie have reimagined their body of work and taken an electro route: to which one can only raise one's hat in respect to their vision and tenacity.
And it works really well. (You hopefully heard a preview in Nathan's reworking of "Fight for the Cause" which appears on ‘Hot Music Live Presents Volume 14'). The punk attack (and lyrical approach) is fully intact so nothing is lost. The energy level remains high and the other two definitely throw themselves into new intensity to compensate for what Izzy brought to the performances. In terms of musical input, the electronic input provides powerful beats to replace the physical drumming but also adds new textures not hitherto part of the arrangements.
At their most extreme, this actually manifests as adding noticeable elements of trance: yes really. Given the basis of most of their songs in punk apart from those which head Sabbathwards, that sounds unusual to say the least but I stick by what I took away from my experience. It certainly moves their music onwards in leaps and bounds without in any way diminishing the original compositions and adds a uniqueness which is to their credit.
Given their amiable stage presence between the forthright songs concerning subjects which ought to be of concern to us all, Creaking Twitch 2.0 are as well worth your time seeking out as the previous incarnation.
What About Eric? are most certainly a band going places: their reputational rise is largely fuelled so far by their growing reputation on the live circuit (though you can hear their "Cascade" which is also on ‘HMLP 14' as well as Spotify) and you can understand why.
Their tight uncompromising (and more on that in a bit) sound wherein Joe, Ethan, Noah & Libbi mesh together in an obviously well honed & developed cohesive combination is beautifully counterpointed by Libbi's serene singing: an oasis of calm within the eye of a hurricane of arrangements which involve melodies & dissonance dancing with each other. It's magnificent and the contrast reminded me of examples such as The Velvet Underground, Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division or later Siouxsie and the Banshees where the vocal offers a sense of majesty when circled by such energy.
This is their music & I really admire how they stand by their vision: it takes some taste to get what they are doing and inevitably some people just don't have that. They have made it clear in discussing it with me that they will not compromise in order to dilute their sound for cheap popularity. Of course the "Live On Stage" project run by The Tin with Coventry Music and which the band have been part of, very much supports artists' sticking to their own identity.
And this brings its rewards: they had a large & dedicated fanbase present at the gig but even more than this (important as it is), inevitably there were people present who'd never heard What About Eric? before and several of these, ones with many decades' experience of music, expressed admiration. Talent can take you far (and unfortunately you can get success without much too) but integrity gets you high quality fanbases as well.
Apart from discussing their values, the band also shared some plans for the coming months with me: watch this space for What About Eric? continuing to make significant progress.
Monday Nights have been the subject of many reviews of releases and live performances in the magazine: they are now established as one of the area's leading bands. Performing on this occasion with Louis Bailie depping in for Ali Hutton on drums, even I was taken by how powerful the live sound now is: extra layers of powerful playing seem to have been added though Jacob's sensitive singing on what remain haunting songs thankfully is still there: don't expect what you hear in concert though to sound a precise facsimile of what you enjoyed on record. They've evolved.
Adding players of the quality of Matt Good & John Glanville on guitar and bass to the core founders of Jacob and Ali is a major part of this, though having seen them mainly outdoors on the more recent times I've seen them, I was certainly impressed by the magnitude of their impact in a relatively tightly enclosed space like The Tin. If you've not caught them in such an environment then I recommend that you seize any suitable opportunity to do so.
This band are steadily accumulating a very strong body of original work (though they did manage to squeeze in a rendition of "Teenage Dirtbag" as an encore to end the night: the only cover of the whole event) and lord knows they have bags of talent. They are absolutely ready to impress those outside Coventry and Warwickshire as they already have within the area. May this process be swift.
The next concert in this series is on Friday 20th June & features Monastery, Gutter Puppy, Permanent Daylight & King of the Alps: tickets are available via this link:
https://www.ticketweb.uk/event/hot-music-live-presents-monastery-the-tin-at-the-coal-tickets/14371523
