After a little break for summer holidays and to avoid getting in the way of our friends at CovTember, the ‘Hot Music Live Presents' fundraisers for The Tin resumed last night: the seventh in the series, featuring Lucifer Sky, Little Girl Screaming, Le Hev Hev and The Muthas.
An unexpected guest was Storm Amy: if she had any effect on attendance it was slight but it does allow me to make the point that the storm brewed up indoors rivalled the lashing rain & the wind bending the birches outside.
There is so much I want to say but don't want to make this article unreadable.
Supporting The Tin (and while we were doing our thing in the venue, ‘Live On Stage' bands had braved Amy to rehearse in the community spaces alongside dance classes) is something dear to the hearts of so many, but where else would you get such a packed venue on such a night, one which cheered the highly diverse set of acts (the excellent new monthly ‘Coventry Wasteland' magazine in their kind preview described Lucifer Sky as ‘industrial noise' which is great as I find it hard to describe her music): personally I can't imagine many audiences turning up for ‘blues rock' or ‘riot grrrl punk' being as embracing of such an extreme genre: except at The Tin.
I might also cite one audience member who'd given up a free ticket for Sigur Ros at the Royal Albert Hall to come to The Tin instead: and feel thoroughly justified.
Or Little Girl Screaming's response to the warmth of the reception they received on their return to the Coventry stage after over ten years from audience members & the other bands despite few having previously seen them. Sometimes it takes those outside perspectives to grasp the full truth.
Otherwise you probably had to be there to experience the communal spirit and sense of pure enjoyment: but if you've been to a gig at The Tin, you know this.
Opening up people's awareness of artists who might not already be on their radar is part of what HMLP stands for: hence the eclectic nature of the compilations & these gigs. I had little doubt that Lucifer Sky would be embraced with her industrial noise (once again thanks for a handle) but what took me by surprise was the nature of Indira's performance.
Such a description evokes various emotional responses but this set (and realistically she created one continuous piece) was staggering in its depth & impact. And I hasten to say that the points I'm about to make are both my own response and those of people I spoke to afterwards.
Dedicated to her late friend Jessica, despite the dissonance, unexpected sounds, byzantine structure and challenging concept, the work was deeply moving: a true tribute which transcended the form and proved that "industrial" (if that's what this music is) is not the same as soulless and you don't require bland and cliched melodies to put across profound emotions.
Building slowly from the quietest elements to a work of power and impressive clout, incorporating all sorts of inputs from her collection of devices (all of which surprisingly fitted into a small suitcase) and then sampled voices & most movingly her own live heartbeat, this was a performance which impacted on those there, most of whom I suspect had not experienced the like before. I pondered a lot about how much to write about this as Indira's own emotions were obvious and still raw: I don't want to intrude too much into private grief but as I say, as a tribute it was excellent and as a performance it had tremendous weight.
As I say, Little Girl Screaming were returning to the city where they had once played so often: on this occasion, as on their ‘Count to Ten' EP released last week, this was a lineup of founders Tree and Chris playing acoustically (though their drummer was in the audience) and as you might guess, that EP formed the basis of their set. To be honest, so used am I to the power of their full lineup delivering their songs that I had no idea which ones they felt might translate the best. My predictions probably would have been terrible as the most memorably direct and forceful ones came across just as great in this format as in the original: not just "Curly Curly Hair" but veritable bangers like "Y Shaped Coffin" and "Bit Late for a Conscience" were as potent as ever. Much as I'd like to catch them with the full band, I have to admit they really lack nothing doing it this way.
Part of this much be Chris's ability to play complex yet characteristically hook orientated parts on a single acoustic which meant that the songs weren't "simplified" to any meaningful extent in relation to their essences. The other was of course the element which gives the band its name: Tree's vocals are as powerful as ever and in some ways just require a riff to turn into a full song.
Both seemed to have a ball: Tree used the space of the stage to full advantage to help her exorcise the emotions of the songs & Chris' movement were at times such that I several times thought he was on the verge of falling over.
The song themes & the vitality of the performance were in many ways compatible with the band that followed and after the intensity of Lucifer Sky, Little Girl Screaming built on that and won the audience instantly: the response clearly inspired them to heights as the set went on. Steps hopefully will be taken to bring them back to Coventry before another decade has past.
Le Hev Hev as a band don't have a long Coventry relationship: in fact this was their second gig & despite the connection between the members and the venue, their first at The Tin. However each member has her place in the local music history already: Sophie (drums) being in Septic & the Tanks, Beth (guitar) in Shanghai Hostage, both Michelle (bass and vocals) and Sara (aka Switchblade on vocals) alumnae of Deathsex Bloodbath & Michelle is also a founder Duck Thief. You might correctly guess how many other members of those bands were in the audience.
Starting out pre-DSB, Le Hev Hev have recently been recreated by founding member Michelle who reclaimed some of the old songs recorded by other bands in the interim: hence they kicked off with a medley (yes really: I don't hear those too often) of "My Fingers Are Wet" and "Men" from the 2026 ‘Are You There God? It's Deathsex Bloodbath' EP and included "Sue Grandad" which Michelle put out in 2022 under the name ‘Sister Panic'.
The rest of the set was as equally in our faces and uncensored patriarchy smashing (at one point Switchblade descended into the audience to apply pig's noses to male members) delivered with a zest and panache which frankly pushes my vocabulary again. If there were any filters, they were not discernible.
The energy conjured up was palpable yet there was a strange and wonderful equilibrium at work. Given the lyrics & the zeal with which they were delivered, why did the men in the audience respond so enthusiastically? Bit of magic in the mayhem I suspect.
Given the steady build up of passion, The Muthas had a high bar on entry but that's why they were top of the bill: they not only can do it but relished a response.
This was their final headline gig, their last one in Coventry & penultimate one before going into sleep mode while bassist Ben takes a global sabbatical for a year: this of course added much to the atmosphere. (He's going with Sophie from Le Hev Hev but I gather they have plans to adjust to her absence).
I would at this point like to add to my comments from the start as two musicians (one Mutha and one member of Le Hev Hev) were not well yet threw themselves into their performances such that you couldn't tell. Given their commitment, I think it's unfair to identify them, but it says much about them.
I hadn't really appreciated (I should have given that I reviewed their album ‘They Come' which provided their set) how much Mutha-music is instrumental: I suppose the natural instinct is to focus on words to identify "meaning". These guys just love playing. To be honest, their sound check lasted almost as long as their set and while much of this was an exercise in perfectionism getting everything right with sound engineer Joe McAvoy-Boss who did his usual great job curating some highly diverse & extreme sounds & problem solving mid-song, I personally wondered if they were also simply enjoying getting an extra chance to play the songs?
Joseph (guitar and vocals), Ben (bass) and Zeke (drums) too have long and noble pedigrees in a variety of bands and this has manifested itself in several ways. Firstly they are all cracking musicians: but better than that, they have a genuine chemistry. They were constantly interacting with each other onstage just as much as the audience.
Secondly, they have got taste: despite being good & liking playing instrumentals, there was no noodling nor drawn out soloing AT ALL. Respect.
Thirdly despite being modest unshowy personalities, they have an excellent rapport with their fans: I suspect their contingent, swollen perhaps because of the limitation of future opportunities, was the largest there.
Although the phrase hiatus has been used since the announcement, the message from the stage last night was unequivocal: don't worry The Muthas will be back.
And when I came to leave, I found that Storm Amy had gone too: outstormed?
Our next gig in this series will be on November 14th with Stone Bear, Alchemista, The Pristines and Massasauga: tickets are available via: https://www.ticketweb.uk/event/hot-music-live-presents-massasauga-the-tin-at-the-coal-tickets/13870444
See you there.
