The magnificent and obscenely talented Hærtstrings, winners of last year’s Fulford Arms Battle Of The Bands contest recently played a live session for the rather wonderful Soundsphere. There are some great interview moments with the band too. Like many of you, I am looking forward to some music from these boys very soon! Check out the video and check out our friends at the awesome Soundsphere Mag!
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The original line-up for this gig included Fully Arms favourites I Tell Lies, sadly they had to pull out. What was their replacement like? They might be a late addition to the bill, but what a fucking magnificent band Safe Harbour is! Heavy, passionate, emotional songs and they didn’t just play, this was a proper show. They played an explosive set, with intensity dialed up to 11, and gave it everything. The singer is totally captivating and has an awesome, soaring voice. There were many highlights but for me, the biggest were “Let Me Breathe” and “Sedated”. I hope I got the title of the second one right! This is a band that I think can become huge!
Next up it was one of Mayhem’s favourite bands Hærtstrings, winners of last year’s Fulford Arms Battle Of The Bands contest. It is hard to believe that this band played their first gig around seven months ago. They get better every gig and I think I have now seen them four or five times. They clearly watched Safe Harbour and rose to the challenge of “how the fuck do you follow that” with a great performance. KJ’s face makeup gave him an ethereal look under the lights, although I think he suffered for that by sweating white makeup into his eyes. His voice was great, he channels his passion and anger perfectly, and he is shaping up to be a great frontman. The whole band were in top form, but I will mention guitarist Archie, who, despite a cut finger, played like a guitar god. I have always loved a band or artist that it is not easy or impossible to put into a genre box and Hærtstrings are one of those!
Finally, it was time for headliners the Apocalypse Disco. They have one of the best band names ever and were on fire tonight. If the apocalypse was truly happening then this gig would have been the one to end the world with! Ian and Robin make far more sound than you would expect from two people and what a sound it is. banging tunes that arise from the ashes of the Prodigy with an added punk attitude. Their music compels you to dance and if you were standing still during this set, what is wrong with you? “Welcome To The Disco” is a post-apocalyptic party anthem and “Alive”, which we were treated to twice, is an electro singalong like no other. I don’t believe that anyone was quiet during that song. And are there many better opening lines than “God loves a sinner, thank fuck for that”, I think not! They gave a lovely shout-out to Kurt Cobain and played an incredible cover of George Harrison’s “Art Of Dying”. Following Safe Harbour and Hærtstrings was a huge challenge, but the Apocalypse Disco did it with a performance which registered on the Richter Scale!
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The Fully Arms Battle Of The Bands contest is back baby! After two hugely successful and titanic battles in 2022 and 2023, the truly gladiatorial music contest is back for 2024. Is your band ready, fit, and able to join the names of previous winners in the Fulford Arms Hall of Fame? How will your band’s name look alongside the Palava (2022) and Hærtstrings (2023)? Each year has had a gargantuan level of competition worthy of Valhalla, Asgard, and Olympus! Check out the poster above and get your entry in! Being a judge at the previous two contests has been among the most exciting and fun things that I have ever done, and trust me I have not led a sheltered life! Anyway, I will be dusting off my judge’s robes and legal wig ready for September to join a fabulous group of fellow Fully Battle Of The Bands Judges! I will see you there for the heats the semis and the final! Just to up the ante there is a slight change to the rules this year, where in addition to the usual set of all originals, each band will be asked to play one cover, chosen by the Fulford Arms, what a wicked wheeze that is! I have added a few videos (Chech & Chong, Jack Black, and My Little Pony Equestria Girls) which may give you some inspiration 😉
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I love it when a gig comes up and includes at least one band that I have never seen before. and tonight it is Wooze‘s turn. Additionally, I had never seen the opening act Joe Haydon and the Ghost Ship before either. In the first part of their set, I was getting a kind of Beatlesesque, the Coral and Zutons vibe. But after that, they went down a wonderfully funky road, like Haircut 100 with heavier rock credentials. “Evergreen” was a fabulous track, especially the full-on guitar wig-out at the end. Ghost Ship is a mesmerisingly good band that defies genre boxing completely. The rhythm oozes funk and the guitarist could give Ernie Isley some competition. I will definitely be checking out their new album when it hits the streets.
Next up it was the rather immaculate Hærtstrings, Fulford Arms Battle of the Bands champions 2023. This was just their fifth gig and given that their first was heat 1 of the Battle of the Bands it would be played five and won two! These lads are another band that defy genre pigeon-holing too. So much do they defy it that I wonder if we need to create a brand new genre just for them. They have slam poetry, jazz, punk, funk, heavy rock, disco (yes!) and much more. Almost everything but opera, at least not yet anyway. For a band that has only existed for 4 or 5 months, they are incredible. I believe that the future will be so bright for Hærtstrings we won’t only have to wear shades, but possibly a radioactive-proof onesie. Every song was a banger but for me “Continue” and “Talk It Out” were particular highlights.
Finally, it was time for London-based Wooze to hit the stage. Three members of the band were masked and that added a dark element of generic menace to proceedings. Their sound was grungey, punky and occasionally there was a feel of peak power Devo. Vocally it was a delicious splice of Andrew Eldritch and Tin Machine era David BowieWooze know how to put on a show. This was a stupendous performance and possibly one of the loudest sets that I have experienced at the Fulford Arms. There were some stand-out moments. “Good Old Fashioned Fan” was like Iggy Pop fronting Duran Duran in a weird and warped alternative universe. At the end, the crowd demanded one more song and Wooze delivered with a horror disco glam stomper that had beats big enough to raze Dracula’s Castle to the ground. So this is perhaps another band that is difficult to genre-ise, but I will try. Goth Funk Punk, is that a thing? It fucking is now!
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