Feather Trade | With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

The Exceptional Mr. Hyde – Fulford Arms, York – Thursday 23rd November 2023 December 7, 2023

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 5:04 pm
Tags: alt-pop, Beck Stacey, Debdepan, Feather Trade, Fulford Arms, The Exceptional Mr Hyde, The Velvet Sheep

Having reviewed their album a few weeks back I was keen to see the Exceptional Mr. Hyde in action. Were they any good? Read on to find out, but first, let me tell you about the three support acts. First on stage was Beck Stacey. Beck gave us dark, bluesy folk with the voice of an angel. At this point let’s not forget that Lucifer was once a fallen angel. Working with that kind of theme I believe that Beck’s tunes would make the perfect soundtrack for a classic British Folk horror film along the lines of ‘The Wicker Man’. A perfect candidate would be the rather splendid “Red”. There were many highs in this wonderful set, particularly “Devil Town” and the gorgeous rendition of Townes van Zandt’s “Our Mother The Mountain”. Hearing Bek’s set strengthens my argument for never missing a support act. Beck Stacey was 100% ace!

Debdepan followed Beck Stacey onto the small and intimate Fulford Arms stage. I am not sure about the name, but the music is rather wonderful. This is Riot Grrrl meets Goth with the addition of slightly slower-paced New Order-style drums. Lead singer Chelsea’s voice is reminiscent of Siouxse Sioux and Patti Smith. Debdepan provided the perfect tunes to chill out after a hard, loud heavy metal gig. Based on this set I bloody love Debdepan. The final track had some weird, warped jazz tones in it and for me was one of the best songs of the night. But “The Goat” was my favourite track of Debdepan‘s set.

Feather Trade offer passionate, soulful, powerful rock vocals which reminded me of early U2, back in the days when they were still a bit edgy, and I am not talking about their guitarist. This was definitelythere in their new single “A Ready Defense” which includes a fabulous marching drum pattern a bit like U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. This was a stunning set from a stupendous band on top of their game and on peak form. Musicaaly that lack almost nothing. Emotional, soaring vocals, drums that are a hair’s width away from 100% perfection. Bass sounds that could bring down Olympus Mons, the highest mountain in our solar system. On top of all that their songs are overlaid with guitar sounds that could draw tears from the hardest of hearts, well unless that heart belomgs to a Tory MP! But fuck those scummy Conservatives, they have no hearts anyway. Feather Trade is a band that you need in your life!

Finally it was time for the Exceptional Mr. Hyde, this set was one of a number of dates that the band have put together to promote their new album ‘The Inevitable Rise Of…..’. I reviewed the album a litlle while ago and said “It is an album that bears repeated listening, and with each spin, it seems to build more power”. They have a great punk attitude and a mix of too many genres to mention, but fuck that mix works well! Bass and guitar work was exceptionally good. The band were missing their keyboard player, but the recorded parts worked well. They also don’t have a drummer, but the prerecorded drums (or drum machine) are mountainous. The srum sound on “Crash Land” stands in good comparison to the drum and bass style on Bowie’s ‘Earthling’ from 1997. The Exceptional Mr. Hyde blasted into their set with the song that opens the album, “Burn” and it was something very special indeed. A song about the earth and the environment, “She Cries” showed more care and conviction than any politician ever has. The ended the evening with a sonic explosion called “Solemn Power”. This was a great set showcasing a brilliant album!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVRaIJCpqQU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ6Kemrmy9E

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Westenra – Fulford Arms, York – Monday 1st May 2023 May 7, 2023

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 10:33 pm
Tags: Feather Trade, Fulford Arms, Hagley Wood Vampires, Hanging Freud, The Velvet Sheep, Westenra

This was promoted as a bit of a Goth night bringing together four acts that might bring in punters on their way home from Whitby’s Goth Festival that weekend. While we didn’t get one of the headliners of the Goth Weekend such as Christian Death, we got four great bands thanks to promoter Velvet Sheep and the fabulous Fully Arms! First, it was a duo with a brilliant and very goth name, the Hagley Wood Vampires. They gave us acoustic goth folk full of incredible hooks and melodies. Lots of songs about vampires. “Vampires Kiss” would be perfect as a soundtrack tune if ‘The Hunger’ was ever remade. My favourite song was probably “Portrait Of Youth” based on Oscar Wilde’s novel ‘The Picture Of Dorian Gray’. (Incidentally, did you know that the story was considered particularly scandalous when first published in 1890? Largely because it had a theme of homosexual desire. Sadly, even in the 21st Century, some people are still angered and upset by such things!). The band’s choice of covers was truly inspired Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” and Eurhythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)”. I believe this duo is also in a band called VampiricA, which I will be checking out very soon!

The second act to take the stage was Hanging Freud. This lot gave us Deep obsidian-hued, brooding, sometimes menacing, industrial cinematic synth tunes. This was all underpinned by a dark heartbeat of rhythm. This was overlayed with some rather spiffing vocals which were ethereal, funereal (at times), and truly epic. If you are in that kind of mood where only those dark tunes will help then listen to Hanging Freud as the perfect accompaniment, I love them! Following that it was the turn of Feather Trade, who while they may not have ticked all the goth boxes are a brilliant band and one of the most original that I have seen recently. If post-punk had begun in the 21st Century Feather Trade would have been its vanguard. There were angular Keith Levene-inspired guitar sounds and bass playing worthy of Jah Wobble in his Public Image Limited days. On top of that, there were grunge elements with an occasional nod to Kurt Cobain vocally and drumming that Dave Grohl would be proud of. I felt elements of both Iggy Pop and Ren vocally, particularly on “Dead Boy”. After that song the main highlights for me were “Just Like Film” and Big Nobody”. But I need to make a special mention of the bass player, she is one of the finest that I have ever witnessed and I have seen many, like Tina Weymouth on speed, bloody awesome!

Finally, it was the turn of Whitby’s own, Westenra. On their website the band describes themselves as having “emerged out of the shadows of Whitby Abbey in autumn 2019, three lost souls each drawn to the dark mysteries and legends of that most magickal place: Luciferia (vocals), Karl (guitars), and Dominique (bass)“. That kind of sums up the Westenra vibe perfectly it was like watching and hearing Siouxse Sioux fronting a classic British heavy rock band from the 1970s. Great songs and a very tight band. “The Last Beat Of Our Hearts” is a beautiful tune with some incredible lyrics. Luciferia was briefly overcome with emotion while singing it, but bass player Dominique stepped in to comfort her and the show went on. The Westenra cover of Iron Maiden’s “Number Of The Beast” was a brilliant take on a British metal classic. Finally, all those years ago no one expected the Spanish Inquisition, right? Well at least according to Monty Python, anyway I digress. With a similar logic to that regarding the Spanish Inquisition, no one would expect a Cliff Richard song at a goth gig, would they? But we got one, the band covered Cliff’s UK and US top ten hit from 1976, “Devil Woman”. But this was never going to be a bland facsimile cover, Westenra took the song, dissected it, rearranged all its internal organs, and turned it into a very heavy, very dark tune and they really owned it! I must confess that before tonight I had not heard of Westenra, but now I am most definitely a fan!