The "It's Not A Phase, Mum!" second birthday mini festival celebration
Review
I've never reviewed any "It's Not A Phase, Mum!" events before now, as this is a regular Alt Karaoke night at The Tin and I have no idea of how to review karaoke nights, if indeed they should be critiqued. And I'm scared someone might make me participate.
It's a shame because the organisers are great people who have all appeared in the magazine as performers & fortunately they helped me because when considering how to celebrate their second birthday, they realised that so many attendees were in bands that it made sense to have a two day festival, with karaoke on the first night & band performances on the second: which I was then able to go along to.
I have always found putting four acts on in one evening for our ‘Hot Music Live Presents' fundraisers for The Tin to be a brisk affair requiring matching organisation but five… well I salute the team for arranging Crxssed Out, Creaking Twitch, Deathsex Bloodbath, Gutter Puppy & The Caroline Bomb. Respect to for Joseph Sullivan for sound engineering it all.
As you'll know, the latter four have long been enthusiasms of mine, have appeared on our showcase compilations & played at our gigs. However not only were Crxssed Out (who I believe are regulars at the karaoke nights) new to me, this was their very first gig. Not that you could have told that from the confidence on stage. They brought a very substantial following too: unusual for a debut and so enthusiastic were these that I couldn't get anywhere near the front of the stage to take any photos: something of an interesting measure as was the immense enjoyment they obviously experienced from playing which was a delight to witness. I heard that some recording might have been taking place too.
I have reported on Creaking Twitch playing as a trio & as a duo, but on this occasion it was just Nathan whom I applaud for rearranging their material each time for fewer colleagues. We all hoped that the band doesn't shed any more members as it really can't afford to. Regardless of having to reshape & to manipulate onstage technology, Nathan's delivery of their heartfelt & socially aware songs remain as potent & affective as ever: quite an achievement to build such a connection while having to work so hard.
What can I say about Deathsex Bloodbath? As my very brief spell as their Minister for Disinformation is over, thankfully I can point you towards their own articulacy of their ever more complex legend. Simply put, the urban guerilla phase after their re-emergence from interdimensional travel (as witnessed at their appearance at the HMLP gig in June) has moved on and yesterday we had a glimpse of the band in 2056 (please don't ask me what technology must have been involved: that's beyond me). They seem to have had individual adventures in the meantime involving perils & transgressions: much as you'd expect. What you (nor I) could have predicted would have been the setlist which was substantially different from June's: one can imagine their desire to visit songs they'd had to omit that time, but it's quite a feat to work up so many after such a long time away from them. Will there be more gigs while the band are in at least this level of contact with our reality? Who could possibly speculate?
Gutter Puppy too haven't graced our stages much recently (members have understandably been distracted by pleasant life events like marrying one another) and so it was a bit of a coup securing them for the bill: based naturally on enthusiasm for their vibrant & high energy performances. This one had to be set against the context of a hot night (they played a HMLP gig last summer on another scorching night) and a strange sequence of odd onstage tech issues: Gutter Puppy for some bizarre reason often seem to be battling factors in their gigs which while unfair also seems to drive them still further in the direction of their characteristic combative style. I'm sure they'd rather not swelter and have fewer challenges but it certainly brings their best qualities out of them: culminating as usual in the seering "Oasis" which struck a chord with this crowd. Hopefully we'll see more of this band in coming months & hopefully hear the new material they are planning. Maybe they'll have a cool climate & gremlin free time to do so.
The stunning progress of The Caroline Bomb is now such that even the most potent of bands would sooner not follow them on stage. They really are operating at a unique level as far as so many other musicians seem concerned. Yet it's not the only way in which I detect progress. While Phoebe seems to be spending even more time playing in the audience which raises the stakes still further in regards to the sense of anarchic energy ("what's going to happen next?") nevertheless, I feel I hear the words more clearly each time I see them play (that might include I suppose increasing familiarity with them) and the separation of instruments seems cleaner: both I think to the benefit to awareness of just how good they are. However it also heightens the sense of how really strange their songs are in subject & structure. That of course is something I admire.
This was an evening of the weird & wonderful & definitely one which chimes with the ‘Hot Music Live Presents' preferences. However it's I suppose both a celebration of the karaoke nights & an advert for the vibe you'll find there, so I suggest that you check it out: check out The Tin's events page for upcoming dates.
