Issue 72 / November 2016

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Issue 72
November 2016
Hooton Tennis Club by Nata Moraru
Hooton Tennis Club
Zuzu
FUSS
Musicians Against
Homelessness
The Last Waltz

WED 19 OCT 7pm
WE ARE SCIENTISTS
FRI 21 OCT 6.30pm
LISA HANNIGAN
+ HEATHER WOODS
SAT 22 OCT 7pm
THE HUMMINGBIRDS
THU 27 OCT 7pm
DINOSAUR JR
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CLEAN CUT KID
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Bido Lito! November 2016
5
Bido Lito!
Issue Seventy Two / November 2016
bidolito.co.uk
12 Jordan Street
Liverpool L1 0BP
Editor
Christopher Torpey - chris@bidolito.co.uk
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Craig G Pennington - info@bidolito.co.uk
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Media Partnerships and Projects Manager
Sam Turner - sam@bidolito.co.uk
LET’S SWAY, WHILE THE COLOUR LIGHTS UP YOUR FACE
Editorial
A couple of days after my 17 th birthday my sister took me to see Doves at Mountford Hall, my first gig. The heat, the nerves, the hubbub of the
crowd, the mixed smell of sweat and beer, the slightly uncomfortable proximity of the lads behind me singing along to every song, the worry that
I’ve misjudged the dress code and I look like a wally, the adrenalin rush when the band come on: these are the things that I remember most vividly
from that night, the experience rather than the action. As I was drinking in this alien environment’s simultaneously unnerving and exciting goings
on, I was subconsciously re-setting my own personal boundaries. The crowd were speaking to me, and I was listening intently. The thrill of shared
experience had gripped me. It’s funny that those feelings that had me nervously gulping down my first pint of weak gig booze from a plastic cup
almost 15 years ago are the same feelings that I look forward to experiencing when I go to a gig now: being part of a crowd is part of the whole
theatre of live music that I love, that makes it feel more real. And I still worry about what to wear when I go out.
I was pitched back into this memory recently at Liverpool Psych Fest, when my older sister brought her three children along, partly to get them
out of the weekend routine of Xbox, telly and lazing around, and partly to expose them to something new. It’s hard to explain what Psych Fest
actually is to a hardened gig-goer never mind three adolescents – it’s just one of those things that has to be seen, heard, smelled, felt. I was hoping
that it might be the thing to open their eyes to the worldly possibilities that exist outside of their bedrooms, and that the older of the three (15)
would be so taken by the experience that he’d want to accompany me to even more gigs, another initiate into the world of live music. And I had
high hopes: their parents are both keen gig-goers, and all three display remarkably psychedelic imaginations in coming up with answers when
we’re playing Consequences. Imagine my horror, therefore, when I found that only the youngest of the three, Jean (10), had made it past the front
gate, while her two older brothers were cowering back in the car trying to hide from “the hippies”. And we’re not 100% sure if it was the offer of a
pizza or the prospect of catching Ulrika Spacek that swayed Jean into taking the plunge; I suppose I’ll have to wait to pass that particular baton on.
There’s a parallel here between concert audiences and sporting crowds, and it was in reading Adrian Tempany’s brilliant book And The Sun Shines
Now that this similarity jumped out at me. Tempany’s book considers the developmental journey that football has taken since Hillsborough, and
how the Premier League’s ascent has mirrored societal and cultural changes in the UK. One thing that he speaks positively of is the idea of terraces
at football matches playing a large part in developing structures where a shared culture can be experienced by previously unconnected people in
a community, and where traditions are learned, passed on, modified. Mixing with other fans on terraces, Tempany argues, is an important rite-ofpassage
for younger fans, where they can feel part of something bigger. My early memories of attending Tranmere matches on the terraces with
my dad and brother aren’t as vivid as my first gig memories, but they share a similarity in that it was the sights, sounds and overall experience that
struck me more than the specific details of what we were there for. It was the feeling of being part of something bigger than myself that enraptured
me, and still does to this day. Tempany, a survivor of the Hillsborough disaster, puts this notion forward as a reason for bringing back terracing – to
help knit our society of isolated individuals back together – while also cautioning that safety must be the ultimate priority.
In essence, there’s a form of tribalism at the heart of both of these formative memories of mine, that something deep in me was resonating with
that cultural experience of being part of a group with a shared vision. It’s hardly Lord Of The Flies, but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel
part of a tribe – it’s ingrained in our human psyche. Nor should we be scared of tribal alliances, be they football club, band, political party, religion
or whatever. All the members of these ‘tribes’ is doing is desperately groping for some kind of identity in our disconnected Big Society. The real
issue is trying to break down the barriers that get thrown up between various ‘tribes’, pitting one group against the other. And we have the best
tool to combat this inside our tribalistic human brains: knowledge.
Christopher Torpey / @BidoLito
Editor
Reviews Editor
Jonny Winship - live@bidolito.co.uk
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Words
Christopher Torpey, Bethany Garrett,
Alastair Dunn, Orla Foster, Tom Bell, Matt
Hogarth, Del Pike, Damon Fairclough,
Stuart Miles O’Hara, Scott Smith, Glyn
Akroyd, Sam Turner, Elliott Clay, Andy Von
Pip, Kieran Donnachie, Richard Lewis, Paul
Fitzgerald, Jules Bennett, Evan Moynihan.
Photography, Illustration and Layout
Mark McKellier, Nata Moraru, Chloé Santoriello,
Georgia Flynn, Keith Ainsworth, Tommy
Graham, Robin Clewley, Natalie Williams,
James Madden, Mike Sheerin, Stuart
Moulding, Glyn Akroyd, John Johnson.
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The views expressed in Bido Lito! are those of the
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reflect the opinions of the magazine, its staff or the
publishers. All rights reserved.
bidolito.co.uk

6
Bido Lito! November 2016

Hooton Tennis Club
7
Words: Bethany Garrett / @_bethanygarrett
Photogrpahy: Nata Moraru
Ah that hard, old, oft-fabled nut in the music
biz that is the tricky second album. With the
wonderfully organic, character-driven, colourful
debut that was 2015’s Highest Point In Cliff Town neatly
tucked away in their back jeans pockets, how would
the four best mates collectively known on these shores
as HOOTON TENNIS CLUB cast themselves adrift on the
tide and sail into the sunset with their second offering?
With their trademark ease, lack of pretence and knack
for melody, some added pop sensibilities and the help
of one Edwyn Collins, it would appear, after they washed
up in his Clashnarrow studio at (almost!) the highest
point in Scot-Town, Helmsdale.
“I think there was enough space in-between writing
this one, wasn’t there? Not to be confident, but to be like,
‘Alright, this a new thing, let’s do this’,” James (Guitars,
Vocals) offers when I rendezvous with the four-piece in
Ye Cracke’s leafy beer garden to talk through their second
album, Big Box Of Chocolates. Wary of the tendency of
some artists to take a complete left turn at Avenue Album
Two but equally wise to the perils of making “Highest
Point in Cliff Town squared”, the Heavenly-signed group
have struck a balance between being themselves and
adding a good, healthy dollop of pop to proceedings.
“There was a big effort to be more pop… Poppy as in
out of the sludge of our first album,” James reassures.
Pop here is no dirty word; it entails a world of cleverlycrafted
Beatles references, infectious melodies and
swinging, sophisticated 60s go-go guitars à la Jacques
Dutronc. “Yeah, pop as in classic 60s pop – I think it was,
like, a backlash from sort of being labelled a ‘slacker
band’, which I don’t think we ever really thought we
were,” Cal (Bass) chimes in before Ryan (Vocals, Guitars)
adds: “We all just thought, ‘We’re not like that; we’re
gonna show them!’ We had the idea in our heads that we
were gonna be smart and wear suits and work on it like
it was a proper job. Recently, the hashtag is that we’re
#GoingPro.” Behind the jokes, however, there does lie
a genuine sense of frustration in being tarnished with
the ‘slacker’ brush, as Harry (Drums) expresses: “We try
really hard to play our instruments and record songs
and everyone says, ‘Oh, it’s slack’ – [but] it’s just that we
can’t play! We try really hard; we’re just not that good.”
Don’t let this modesty or their flannel shirts and beatup
trainers fool you, mind. With BBOC, Hooton have
captured some of that 60s pop aesthetic without losing
their trademark fuzz and thoughtful lyricism. When
I observe that the record does sound very Beatles-y
indeed, Cal muses: “I wonder how that happened… I
wasn’t listening to The Beatles for, like, six months,”
before Ryan taunts his bandmate: “Not this story – not
at John Lennon’s favourite pub, Cal! Basically, Cal only
listened to Abbey Road for six months.”
Ah, so is that why the album sounds like it’s been
produced by George Martin – full of texture, imagination
and little quirks? “Yeah, that’s Edwyn’s great gear as
well, isn’t it? He’s probably got stuff that was actually
used by The Beatles; he bought stuff from Abbey Road,”
Harry offers. Gifted with a grotto of retro and analogue
gear – music geeks and freaks and Orange Juice/Edwyn
Collins superfans everywhere, brace yourselves – they
also made use of the BM fuzz pedal from A Girl Like You
and the Mu-Tron pedal from Rip It Up. And, between the
nitty gritty of recording when they could snatch half an
hour, they would devise hip hop alter egos on Edwyn’s
Kaossilator, a Gameboy-like four-track recorder. Here’s
hoping they get issued as B-sides.
As well as being so generous with his “Buckingham
Palace of music recording”, the band cite Edwyn’s ear for
melody and hook, his speed of working and his ability
to minimalise arrangements as integral to the process
of making the album. “There were a lot of times where
he’d just press the intercom button and he’d sing the
melody to someone and say, ‘No, it needs to be like this!
No, like this! No!’ And you’d do the melody again.” The
designated “tastemaster”, he would be the one to have
the final say on each take, keeping everything moving
along swiftly, and preventing the band from becoming
too “dithery”, during their two-week recording window:
“That was also what was so good about working with
Edwyn – we’d do a take and he’d be like, ‘Great lads,
great lads, let’s move on – what’s next?’ Whereas if it
was down to us we’d be painstakingly going over it.”
Collins would, though, follow this up with a booming
“and one more time for Jesus!” and have them play it
again, just in case. Collins’ catchphrase was of such
significance that they came very close to christening the
album with it, but were wary of its varied connotations
and it feeding into their rep as ironic, sonic slackers;
instead, you’ll find it etched into the sweet, shiny black
platter on the run-out groove of the vinyl release. Quite
literally making a mark on the album, Hooton assure me
that, “If you listen on some of the tracks, you can hear
Edwyn at the end going, ‘Wahey, that’s the one; it’s great
lads!’, dead quiet because he’d leave the tannoy on and
the engineer would be like, ‘Edwyn, you’ve just spilled
into the track!’ He still had that enthusiasm for some
songs that took 20 takes.”
The band absolutely glow with adoration and
appreciation as they assimilate their experience of
recording there. To hear them describe the studio itself,
perched overlooking the Moray Firth is a marvel: “His
house is at the bottom of the hill, and then you walk
these 50 steps or so up this hill and there’s the studio
and the artist accommodation that he’s built with it, and
then behind is a shed, a big, huge outhouse, which is
his equipment base.” Ryan likens it to Tracy Island from
Thunderbirds, while James reinforces that, “Basically, the
whole strip from the sea up into the mountain, he owns.”
An immersive experience, when things were getting
a bit cabin fever, Grace, Edwyn’s wife and Helmsdale’s
resident angel, would take them on trips out in the
community minibus that she drives for residents of
the village. Cal recalls: “There’s a documentary about
Edwyn, The Possibilities Are Endless, and you know
where he goes down the big steps – Whaligoe Steps –
she took us there, and it was just like my life-affirming
moment; it was like looking around like, ‘Why am I here?
What’s going on? Why do I deserve to be doing this right
now?’.” Escorted down the steps by “Davey, the local
eccentric and master of the steps”, a friend of Grace and
Edwyn’s who invited the band to his garden and had
them attempt to ride a bike with backwards handlebars
successfully for 50 quid (“You’d steer right and it goes
left – he doesn’t tell you that the handlebars are the
wrong way round – and everyone falls over”), perhaps
the experience mirrors the profundity and playfulness
to be found in the album itself.
Growling, existential opener Growing Concerns and
gorgeous, emphatic closer Big Box Of Chocolates are
both very much on the profound end of this spectrum,
questioning the value of making art – although the
album perhaps answers this for itself. Bootcut Jimmy The
G, sounding like a character who’s just strutted straight
out of The Beatles’ Get Back (read: Loretta’s ‘high-heel
shoes and low-neck sweater’), is definitely on the silly
side – you won’t be able to un-hear the Lennon and
McCartney in James and Ryan’s vocals either, nor on the
go-go groovy of Statue Of The Greatest Woman I Know.
The album is awash with Big Star guitars and harmonies
(with a Mersey and Deeside twinge as opposed to
Memphis and the Mississippi) and Jonathan Richman
realism, wit and melody.
Discussing some of their loopy and lovely lyrics,
James explains that, “Usually they’re something that
springs to the top of your head and you think, ‘Oh, that
could be funny to explore’ or, like, a certain character
or a certain time or something you’ve experienced. So
most of the songs are about 30% non-fiction,” before
Ryan finishes his sentence for him, “and then you make
a story around it.”
With a high non-fiction content, the infectiously
playful Lauren, I’m In Love! is an ode to 6Music DJ Lauren
Laverne, so it’s only fitting that it has a melody that’ll roll
straight off the radio, burrow into your brain and make a
little nest next to your pineal gland – a faux serotonin fix
to keep you happy, warm and full-on fuzzed-up through
winter. Sit Like Ravi and O, Man Won’t You Melt Me are
deeply heartfelt and cosmonaughty, and Meet Me At The
Molly Bench and the familiar recent single Katy-Anne
Bellis are heliotropic wonders, shimmering jingly-jangly
golden odes that’ll have you forever leaning towards
the sunny side of things. Bad Dream (Breakdown
On St George’s Mount) sounds like Blur at their best,
Frostbitten In Fen Ditton has a little Gilded Palace Of
Sin about it, while Lazers Linda is fast-paced, fizzy rock
‘n’ roll fun.
All in all then, quite a pretty peach of a second album
and one that is quietly rooted in Helmsdale, their
hometown for a fortnight. But don’t just take it from
me; let them talk you through their take on all 12 tracks
themselves overleaf.
soundcloud.com/hootontennisclub
Big Box Of Chocolates is out now on Heavenly Recordings.
Hooton Tennis Club play the Invisible Wind Factory on
9th December.

“Life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get.”
We had Hooton Tennis Club tell us some of the quirks, characters, stories and sentiments behind each track on Big Box Of Chocolates – here’s what they came out with.
1 Growing Concerns
James: “I adlibbed the vocal bit,
the tannoy thing – Ryan
phoned me and said we’ve
got this…”
Ryan: “…gap of two bars – and
I didn’t tell him, I just
pressed record and he came
out with this story about
travelling around the Romanian mountains. We redid it
in the studio with Edwyn’s Tannoy that sounds like an
old BBC-backed speaker.”
2 Bootcut Jimmy The G
R: “We were invited
to a birthday
party for Jimmy
f r o m
T h e
Kazimier but we didn’t know who Jimmy was and didn’t find
out. There was this one guy in the middle of the room going
for it, throwing the moves, really such a groover and he was
wearing these bootcut jeans and like a shirt from Next, just
a really ordinary looking kind of dude who was completely
immersed in himself.”
J: “There was no one else dancing so we assumed he must be
Jimmy. He wasn’t!”
3 Bad Dream (Breakdown
On St George’s Mount)
J: “Bad Dream was written about
three years ago – I guess
maybe it’s about when you
have someone close to you
and you think would they be
better off without you because
you’re just not good enough.”
R: “It’s that relationship thing
and that’s why I really like it
because it’s not shy of that proper classic pop song – you
know, girl meets boy.”
4 Sit Like Ravi
Cal: “We were in South
Germany on a day off on
tour and we got really
high. It was the night of
that big red moon, the
supermoon, so we got
cosmic.”
Harry: “Ry started playing guitar
dead high up like it’s a
sitar, sitting on the floor
cross-legged.”
R: “Pretending to be psychedelic. We were out of our comfort
zone vocally but in the studio, Edwyn was like ‘let’s keep
the harmonies!’”
5 Katy-Anne Bellis
R: “Ah, Katy-Anne! She lived in the Garlic
Mansion – she’s such a good person,
just really creative and enthusiastic.
She’s one of those people who just
wants to help, doesn’t mind, she never
wants anything back and so when I got
to know her for a little bit and then she
left, I was like ‘ahh I wanted to know
more about her’ – her name worked
really well as a melody and the rest is just literal!”
6 O, Man Won’t You Melt Me
R: “Edwyn does the backing on this one.”
H: “He comes in and sounds like God
with this big, deep voice: ‘Oh it’s not
me!’”
J: “We were really scared about asking
him as well.”
H: “Yeah, we asked Grace first.”
R: “And he was just like ‘can you write it down for me?’ and
then he was holding it all day practicing it so he got it really
right.”
7 Statue Of The Greatest
Woman I Know
H: “It’s got one of my favourite bits on the
album, which is Ryan’s vocal when he
goes into a bit of a Scouse accent.”
R: “Gerrrreaat-est! That part ‘I painted the
kitchen, I painted the top of the stairs’ is
something I heard my dad say to my mum
in a silly argument: ‘I’ve bloody painted
the kitchen and painted the stairs, what
else do you want me to do? Cut the grass?’
It was a good little nugget of married life.”
8 Meet Me At The
Molly Bench
C: “It’s about a bench in
Mollington just outside
Chester.”
J: “It’s equidistant from mine
and Ry’s house and it’s
where we used to meet on our bikes.”
R: “The bike bell, why did we choose to put that in?”
H: “It was in the right key, we didn’t have to pitch shift it at all,
and it’s a song about bikes. In the studio, you couldn’t hold
it without muting it so you had to attach it to a drumstick.”
9 Lauren, I’m In Love!
C: “It could be taken in a certain way,
as like a lustful thing, but it’s not,
it’s about our appreciation of her
and what she [Lauren Laverne]
does for 6Music.”
H: “And about 6Music in general.
That sounds even more suck up-y
but we went in to do a session
and I just remember thinking ‘What are we doing? We’re
in 6Music doing a live session and we’re just four – four
dickheads is what we always say’.”
10 Frostbitten In Fen Ditton
H: “Originally it was just going to fade out with
the chords and Edwyn said try something
different and we came up with that ending
in the studio.”
R: “We were going for that country and
western, jangly kind of sound.”
C: “We were listening to like a lot of Americana
music like The Flying Burrito Brothers, Lee Hazlewood…”
J: “… And trying to get that atmosphere on the track with
Edywn’s lap steel.”
11 Lazers Linda
R: “We wrote the most throwaway lyrics we’ve ever tried to
write.”
J: “We fictionalised a character in
our heads didn’t we? Linda is a
reference to It’s Always Sunny In
Philadelphia, but we made her
this guru who can help you.”
C: “And we argued for ages about the track title – it should be
an ‘s’ instead of a ‘z’ but we just thought in the end ‘z’ looks
better, it’s cooler.”
12 Big Box Of Chocolates
J: “I think the greatest bit
in this one is where Ry
sums up what it’s like to
create something in front
of the ocean, cos we were overlooking Moray Firth.”
R: “To say, like, ‘I’m trying to make this art but I mean look at
that, I’m never gonna make anything better than that’.”
C: “It definitely influenced the album just being there and
having this view.”
R: “You were just pinching yourself all the time – here we are,
10 years down the line, we’ve been mates since high school,
we try to make music and suddenly we’re in Edwyn Collins’
studio and it’s just like ‘fuck, what?!’ So then you feel like
you’ve got to make something good of it or you might waste
the opportunity.”
H: “Or at least, if not make something good, appreciate what
you’re doing while you’re doing it.”
C: “But then realising that there are bigger things than what
you’re doing.”

GET INTO
THE SPIRIT OF
CHRISTMAS at
LIVERPOOL
PHILHARMONIC
Box Office
liverpoolphil.com
0151 709 3789
Principal Funders
Fb.com/LiverpoolPhilharmonic
@Liverpoolphil
Book Now!

Last year we published an article highlighting the ongoing
issue of homelessness in Britain focusing on Liverpool,
which has one of the highest homelessness rates outside
of the capital, with recent government statistics showing that
hundreds are sleeping rough on our streets each night. We are
currently way beyond the national average for homelessness.
One of the main points raised in that issue (Issue 61, Dec
2015/Jan 2016) was that the local music and arts communities
appeared to be doing more to ease the growing problem than
the government, through organisations such as Hopefest and
We Shall Overcome, alongside independent support from the
likes of the invaluable Whitechapel Centre. Despite the work
of these groups, evidence suggests that the problem does
not seem to be going away, as any trip into the city centre will
immediately reveal. In revisiting that article we will see if the
situation has improved or not, and by speaking to some of the
people involved in helping the homeless find out
what still needs to be done,
and what you can do to help.
Bold Street, that great multicultural
boulevard of food, drink
and arts, is blooming and, in
recent years, despite intense
austerity, the thoroughfare has
seen a rise in bistros, cafes, bars
and alternative shops. Visitors to
the city cannot help but be stunned
by the range of international cuisine
on offer, and in the evening the glow
from each establishment appears
warm and inviting. It doesn’t take
long, however, to see the cracks, for
in the doorways in between lie
the stories of thousands of
broken lives. Huddled
in sleeping bags
and
newspaper
beneath
blankets live
Liverpool’s
homeless.
To many,
this is a
royal
pain in the behind – no-one likes to be asked for money, it is
awkward and ultimately depressing and how many of us have
harboured thoughts like, “If I give to one then I’ll have to give to
them all” or “If I give them money, they will only go and spend
it on drugs”?
It’s an all-too-easy way of ignoring the issue, but behind those
worn faces are people and, in most cases, it’s not ‘their fault’: one
instance of bad luck, a bout of bad health or a breakdown in the
family can be the one step away from living in a shop doorway.
Honestly, we don’t know how near most of us are from this often
sudden descent into despair.
One person who knows from experience what it is like to
find himself homeless and who is currently playing his part in
helping others is Bernie Connor. A constant figure
on the Liverpool music scene
since
the days of Eric’s,
Cream and beyond, Connor is proactive
when it comes to raising awareness and money for issues
close to his heart. As I enter Buyers Club during Connor’s Lunatic
Fringe event, I find him in his usual high spirits. The event is to
raise money for local food banks, and the admission price can
be either monetary or a bag of non-perishable foods. “It’s just
like punk,” Connor shouts pointing towards the band on stage,
describing how there’s no point sitting around but to get up
and do it. “Someone has to.”
“What we are doing is ostensibly a benefit for food
banks,” Connor tells me later on. “The idea
for the food bank benefit was the idea of
Jack Greene, lead singer in The Probes. He
thought it would be good idea as they’d done a
similar thing the year before and for obvious
reasons, I picked it up and ran with it.”
Connor’s intentions run deeper
than this, however, and he
has an understanding of
the people he is aiming to
help. “The challenge is
mighty. I’m not
ever going to
pretend I can put myself in a homeless person’s shoes. My own
experiences from having nowhere to live, due to a breakdown
in a relationship, were horrendous, and I had a network of
well-meaning friends and colleagues who were looking out
for me. I’m perfectly aware that most people don’t have that
network of support; in fact, I would go as far as guessing that
most homeless people have no support at all. Apply that to
those who are drug and alcohol afflicted and beset by clinical
depression – surely one of THE main symptoms of homelessness
and poverty – and the situation becomes clearly worse. Where
do you find the space to even think about your plight if you have
more pressing items to deal with?”
MUSICIANS
AGAINST
HOMELESSNESS
Words: Del Pike / @del_pike
Illustration: Tommy Graham /
tommygrahamart.com
Photography: Nata Moraru
This recognition of the fact that
depression is a major factor in individuals
becoming lost on the streets is vital to
the common understanding of the public,
as the plight of people left homeless is
often overlooked as simply laziness and
a reluctance to get a job. Depression
remains one of the most criminally
misunderstood human conditions;
Connor is clearly aware that this
situation is not improving. “I think [it]
gets worse every year. Poverty and
chronic housing shortage seem to
be mainstays of 21st-century British
society. There’s been a reluctance to
look these pertinent subjects in the
eye for many years.”
Looking at individual case studies provides an almost
Dickensian feel to life in this supposedly forward-thinking city.
Speaking to a homeless
guy on a wet Saturday
afternoon on Slater
Street, I realised how
diabolical life can
be. This particular
gentleman was in
a wheelchair and
clearly
finding
it difficult to
manoeuvre
around
the
hustle and bustle
of shoppers and
early-afternoon
revellers.

I gave him a pound, for which he was extremely grateful and
shook me by the hand: I’m told that not everyone is like me and
some people are “horrible”. “They take one look at me, they see
the wheelchair and they turn the other way.”
It is almost impossible to fathom how a disabled man, bound
to a wheelchair and clearly in need of medical assistance, can
end up on the streets, feeling unwanted and
ashamed. That his conversation is peppered
with endless apologies and thank you’s
suggests a man humbled beyond any pride
he may previously have held.
One group of people who have made an
incredible difference to life on the streets
is Reallove. Reallove was formed as a nonpolitical
voluntary street team in 2015 by
two founding members, Cathy Clements
and Martin Atherton. They began by
walking around the streets with bags
of clothes and food and a trolley with
soup and hot drinks, doing the best
they could to reach out to people living
on the streets and in need. Then Sian
Cuthbertson joined them, providing
more trollies, and the team became
more organised. Bit by bit, more people joined and a
Facebook page was set up to raise
awareness of the work they were
doing.
I spoke to Reallove about their
work, and they began by telling
me how valuable voluntary support
has been. “Now it is a team of 13 and
the public have shown us the most
fantastic support. Without them
there would be no Reallove. We work
alongside other amazing street teams
and kitchens and our aim is to work
closely to positively supplement all the
good work that goes on with the official
mainstream services, and to point people
in their direction. We are all working
towards the same goal, supporting our
homeless community.”
Reallove believe that “homelessness is a
world that most people can’t comprehend,
an alien existence.” We ask them to put it
into some sort of context: “Imagine having
to sleep rough because you have nowhere
to call home. It’s freezing, it’s terrifying
and it makes you ill. You are so tired
because you don’t sleep for days on end,
and when you do shut your eyes, you only
have one closed for fear of attack. Hate
crime on the streets is rife. Attacks on the
homeless are commonplace.”
“National statistics show that all
forms of homelessness, including rough
sleeping, have continued to increase,
and with further cuts to services and
welfare reform it has been predicted that they
will continue to rise,” Reallove continue. “Again, we have seen
through our own voluntary work that there appears to be more
people on the city’s streets, which is reflected in the amount
of provisions we get through now compared to 12 months ago.
Rises in all forms of homelessness are associated with changes
in government policy, and it is important that these figures are
measured in relation to these structural and policy factors.”
Here lies the nub of the problem: groups like Reallove and
The Whitechapel Centre are left to pick up the slack in providing
provisions for homeless people and rough sleepers when a
coordinated government response is lacking – and as long as
such groups exist, the government will continue to sit back
and do nothing. Further, the divisive and punitive measures
the government implements plunges even more people into
the situation where food banks and homeless shelters are the
norm, placing even greater pressure on the already creaking
infrastructure of support. Sadly, organisations like Reallove
and The Whitechapel Centre – often staffed
by volunteers – are becoming ever
more essential, particularly as the
winter months approach.
“It’s important to emphasise
that these figures must be
understood in the context of the
government’s austerity programme,”
says Reallove’s Amanda Atkinson.
“Reform/cuts to housing benefit
and the squeezing of local authority
budgets, the shortage of housing and
the expansion of the private landlord
sector with unaffordable rent prices,
funding cuts to homelessness, mental
health and substance use services, and
a reduction in the number of hostel/
shelter places – these have all played
major contributing roles to these rising
figures. Sadly, such figures are just the tip
of the iceberg, and have been predicted to
rise in light of further austerity measures.”
So what can we do to help, beyond
passing loose change to individuals
on the street? “It’s important that we
keep chipping away at changing public
perceptions of homelessness,” Reallove
suggest. “It’s easy to forget that anyone
of us could become one of them. They
are all someone’s son, daughter, father
or mother, and they all have families.
Something went wrong and it led to
them losing everything that they had
and ending up homeless.”
Practically there is a great deal we can do. “People can also
get involved by donating supplies to street teams like ourselves
or by setting up fundraising events.
There are around 15 street teams
and/or static kitchens that exist in
Liverpool that have been set up to
help meet the needs of those living
on the city’s streets or in temporary
accommodation. All the teams work
together and we coordinate our work
but we could not do this without
the kindness and generosity of the
people that donate. Whether it be
a pack of biscuits, a sleeping bag, or
toiletries such as baby wipes, these
items can make a positive difference.”
Please don’t ignore this growing
problem: it’s not just about giving a
handful of change away, it’s about
changing attitudes, and that is
something we are all capable of.
Head to bidolito.co.uk now to read a full version of this article,
including an interview with Alan McGee about the impact of his
Musicians Against Homelessness project.
Reallove’s exhibition Homeless: The Human Cost Of Austerity
is open between 19th and 27th November at Road Studios on
Victoria Street.
Following on from last year’s successful
campaign, which saw us raise over £2000,
we will be rolling out our #GuestlistGiving
project for a five-month period during the coldest
part of the year. Once again we’ll be teaming up with
Liverpool’s independent venues and promoters,
with the aim of raising a substantial amount of
money for the Whitechapel Centre, to help them
carry out the vital work they do in helping the city’s
homeless community.
The Bido #GuestlistGiving Campaign will run
from Thursday 20th October to Thursday 23rd
March, and will raise money by asking anyone who
is on the guest list at any affiliated gig or show
during this period to make a small donation to the
charity. Bido Lito! Editor Christopher Torpey explains
the reasons behind setting up the campaign.
“There’s a saying that you’re only ever two wage
packets away from being on the streets yourself,
which I think is a sentiment that a lot of people
in our city’s music community can empathise
with. Although the issue of homelessness is
something that needs fighting all year round, the
Christmas period throws it into sharper focus as
the differences between those
people who, through varying
degrees of misfortune, have
to sleep rough and those who
have the luxury of celebrating
the festive season indoors with
their families become even more
acute.
“With this campaign we not
only wanted to raise awareness
of the issue and highlight ways
in which we can help, but also
back it up with a sizeable chunk
of money that will help the
Whitechapel Centre keep up and
expand their work during this
period. Last year, through the
generosity of the public and our
city’s venues and promoters, we
raised some much-needed funds.
This year, let’s aim to double
that.”
Ruth McCaughley, The
Whitechapel Centre’s
Fundraising Manager, says “The
#GuestListGiving campaign
has been a great way for us to
reach a wider audience across
Liverpool, encouraging latenight
clubbers and gig-goers to
call our No Second Night Out
telephone number to let us know
about people who are sleeping
rough. We are really grateful to
everyone who donated, as well
as the bars, clubs and bands who
have promoted this campaign –
it has raised a fantastic amount
of money which will help us to
get people off the streets and to
prevent others from becoming
homeless.”
Head to bidolito.co.uk for a full
list of affiliated shows in our
#GuestlistGiving campaign
#GUESTLISTGIVING

Words: Orla Foster
Photography: Georgia Flynn / georgiaflynn.com
Z
U
Z
U
ZUZU is a name you may have heard bandied around a
lot lately. A musician whose unapologetic take on indierock
captures the excitement and ennui of modern life,
she’s quickly making waves with her crisp guitar stylings and
relatable lyrics. Raised in Mossley Hill, Zuzu moved to London
at 18, where, after a few years cutting her teeth on various
projects and record deals, she formed her current band and
started getting some traction.
Take note: her music is accessible and fun. It’s a little
power-pop, with echoes of Elastica, the slacker appeal of
Pavement, and harmonies to rival the La’s. Evidently, it’s time
to start paying some more attention to Zuzu, and a move to
Birkenhead means we could be seeing a lot more of her in the
coming months. But what triggered the return to Merseyside?
“It’s not that there isn’t a scene in London, but I feel our
band is more welcome here,” the singer/guitarist explains.
“There’s so much electronic stuff in London at the moment,
whereas a lot of real bands are coming out of the North West,
and that’s what I’m into. I love guitar music.
“And maybe it’s because I’m home, but people are really
keen to be supportive and we always get such a nice
welcome.”
A case in point is her support slot with Courtney Barnett
at the O2 Academy in December 2015, coming not long after
she’d move back home. The support, it transpires, went both
ways, with Barnett showing up in the audience and making
plans to hang out.
“I think when you’re playing in front of bands that you
really look up to, there are always a few nerves there, as
confident as you might act. When Courtney Barnett was
watching us play, I felt so nervous. It was surreal. But at
the same time it was a lot of fun.”
Those lucky enough to have caught the show may have
observed a link in their songwriting style – a deceptively
breezy, devil-may-care insouciance which masks a darker
neurosis. Barnett will dash off lines about getting “cheap
stuff at the supermarket” and “crying in the kitchen.” Zuzu,
in turn, will share tales of catching the bus in the rain or
sitting up all night watching TV.
“By the time we supported her, I was already a huge
fan, super fan, superduperduper fan. She had us in for
pizza before she watched our set. She was so kind that
I basically cried the whole way home. And I stuttered! I
don’t ever stutter, but I stuttered in front of her. I was so
nervous. But it was definitely a highlight for me.”
I find that I’m enjoying talking to Zuzu as a music fan,
so we carry on discussing bands and gigs for a while.
She tells me about seeing Conor Oberst at Manchester
Cathedral a couple of years back.
“It was one of those really intimate gigs when you
just love the band and know every word. And they’re
there right in front of you! That was the first time I’d seen
Conor Oberst, and I’ve been obsessed since I was 14. I
find it amazing that he can go into such depth about
something when he’s halfway across the world, and
yet I feel exactly the same sat here.”
I admit I missed the chance to see Bright Eyes while
queuing for money tokens at Benicàssim. But I can
understand how her work relates to the rawness of
Oberst’s material, as well as the idea that sharing
details weirdly unique to you can resonate with
strangers in ways you didn’t expect.
“Yeah, definitely. I always try to stay as close to the
bone as possible, because I feel like the more honest
and more specific you get, the more people relate to
it. I don’t like to mince my words; I say exactly how
I’m feeling and make it rhyme.”
Deciding which single to release took serious
consideration, but ultimately the band agreed Get Off was the
one for the job.
“We’d lived with it for a while and all really enjoyed playing
it. But I wanted to make sure it was as honest as possible. It
freaks me out how easy it is to regret things these days. Once
something’s out there, it’s out.”
Watching the video, which features the band in their rehearsal
space, it’s clear they’re pretty close. While the music is very much
Zuzu’s personal project, she acknowledges a special bond with
the people helping her make it happen.
“Those girls are amazing. So is Kurran [guitarist], obviously,
but the girls are incredible. It’s weird; beforehand I never really
knew any other girls that played music, and I was always in
bands with guys. Not that it was an issue, but it’s nice to meet
like-minded girls who play and just care about playing and
nothing else.”
One thing you’ll notice about Zuzu’s output is the 90s influence,
both sonically and visually. I mention a stray Beanie Baby I spied
towards the end of the video, and right away she spins her laptop
around to reveal an immaculately-curated shelving unit housing
an army of plastic figurines, novels and Beanie Babies. It’s the
perfect nostalgia hit, which seems appropriate given her love
for the era.
Back to band stuff. Even the most garlanded new act can fold
under the pressure of conflicting personalities, unforgiving work
hours, or even just trains. What keeps Zuzu motivated?
“It’s weird; my band discuss this a lot. I don’t know how to
explain it. It’s like there’s some drive inside you that makes you
wake up and write songs every day. That’s it. I’ve been doing it
since I was a child.”
What about the bad days, when inspiration doesn’t come?
“Yeah, of course I throw away loads of songs before I even
demo them. The band help me sieve through – they’ll tell me
that’s a good one, or that one isn’t, because I don’t really know.”
She frowns. “I mean, I know if something’s too depressing,
but that’s about it. And I feel like some stuff is too sad. Too sad
to even show the band. I just like to be quite self-deprecating
that’s all. It’s funny. And if anything, that’s probably what I am
keen on in songwriting, the bit of humour that comes with it.
Because everyone’s a bit sad, aren’t they? And I feel like laughing
about it helps.”
I’m about to say my goodbyes when she spots the Rushmore
poster above my head and lights up all over again. “I love that
film! Have you ever seen I Heart Huckabees?” I tell her I missed
that one too. Not because I was queuing for paper money,
but because I have a gap in my film knowledge the size of the
equator. I was 20 before I saw Free Willy.
“Well, watch it! The character Jason Schwartzman plays —
he’s just like me. He’s so self-deprecating, and just like, ‘Fuck
everything’. I don’t know how interested you are in existentialism,
but it’s a super-twisted comedy and it’s pretty funny considering
it’s such a trippy idea. The opening scene is like, my life.”
Later that night, I watch the scene she’s talking about. As
promised, there’s Schwartzman locked into a hand-wringing
internalised monologue: “What-am-I-doing-I-don’t-know-what-
I’m-doing-maybe-I-should-quit-DON’T-QUIT”. Just as tuning into
other people’s doubts can strike a chord with all but the most
hardened crank, surely it’s this same looming fear of failure
which informs the best songwriting.
Not that fear is something you’d associate with Zuzu’s tight
live shows, or the sanguine frontwoman hammering out lines
like “Whether you like it or not, you’re gonna see me a lot!” Zuzu
is clearly going places, and this time we get to tag along for
the ride.
soundcloud.com/thisiszuzu
Get Off is out now via Hand In Hive. Zuzu supports Hooton Tennis
Club on their UK tour in November.

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Thanksgiving Day, 25th November 1976. The Winterland
Ballroom, San Francisco. The day The Band called it
a day.
And what a way to bow out, after 16 years on the road, a final
concert, entitled THE LAST WALTZ, aided and abetted by a guest
list to die for of musical luminaries and friends – Muddy Waters,
Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Eric Clapton to name
but a few – and all captured under the direction of zeitgeist filmmaker
and music aficionado Martin Scorsese, whose film of the
concert has done much to preserve its legendary status. But the
road keeps a-calling and 40 years on a young Irish troubadour by
the name of Dave O’Grady, aka Seafoam Green, is set to present
his own celebration of The Band’s legendary blow-out in his
adopted home of Liverpool.
I caught up with O’Grady in late summer just as he was about
to embark on a six-week, 20-date tour of the US. I asked him, of
course, about his earliest musical memories and sure enough
his parents had a great collection of vinyl. Guitar-led music, such
as Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Band, was on heavy
rotation. “I liked the music since I was four years old but I didn’t
play until I got my first guitar at 12 and then everything else
went out the window, I just loved it, it blew my mind; as soon
as I struck a chord it was, ‘Wow, I did that’.” However, it wasn’t
until his early 20s that he really ‘got’ The Band. “I think you need
to be a bit older to really get a group like The Band; I mean, you
can like the guitars n’all, but the fighting, the loving, the beers,
the drugs, you need to have a little experience to really get those
references.”
O’Grady started playing live at 14, taking buses and trains,
walking or hitching a ride, telling his parents he was somewhere
else. “I’d try to get on early so I could get home with a believable
story,” he laughs, eyes twinkling at the memory of evenings
spent jamming in pubs and folk clubs all over his native County
Kildare. “If you had the confidence you could walk up to the bar,
look them in the eye and order a pint of Guinness… and I was
confident, you know.” If you consider that even when he was
still at school he’d be playing four or five times a week and that,
now in his late 20s, he plays over 200 gigs a year you get some
idea of the experience O’Grady has built up over a relatively
short space of time.
Having honed his live performances, O’Grady found himself
recording backing vocals in Nashville in 2011 where he met Rich
Robinson of The Black Crowes in his guise as producer. They
struck up an enduring friendship and O’Grady has supported
Robinson on US and European tours, following which they
agreed that Robinson would produce the first Seafoam Green
album. The songs on the album were 10 years in the making but
were polished in the days immediately before recording, spent
at Robinson’s LA home, a hubbub of creativity and collaboration
as Robinson prepared not only for the recording of the album
but for an exhibition of his paintings. O’Grady credits Robinson
as a major influence in the development of his songwriting. “I
wrote a song in the first person, I was putting myself in a slightly
elevated position, and he said, ‘Why are you the centre of this?
Why are you the important person?’ He was right, you shouldn’t
be writing songs just to make yourself feel amazing; you could
write your own movie but you’ve got to be honest, otherwise
stop wasting people’s time. Now it’s a much better song.”
The album, Topanga Mansion, is released on Mellowtone
Records on 1st November. O’Grady talks about the organic
nature of the recording process, of documenting a moment.
“It’s a psych-folk record, with some rock ‘n’ roll; it’s quite spacey
in parts. One song [Sister] is nine minutes long because we
just felt it when we were playing and took it somewhere, we’re
not even looking at each other, it’s heads down and someone
might drag and we slow down or there might be a spike and
we go somewhere else. When you listen to it you can be sure
that that vibration existed at a time and place on this Earth.
It’s not a drummer in New York sending a track to a bass player
in London. It’s a bunch of musicians in a tiny studio in Santa
Monica, talking Chinese food and jokes, and taking the piss out
of each other and getting mad at me for fucking-up takes, but
that can produce something because if the drummer’s mad at
me he’s going to hit his drums a little harder and that might be
the thing that makes it special.”
Topanga Mansion, in its style, its songwriting and its
musicianship has the feel of classic Americana; it rides the
hills and valleys with beautifully nuanced tempo changes and
reveals O’Grady to be a man who can conjure up the sweetest of
melodies alongside the grittiest of guitar riffs. Soulful backing
vocals and funky organ licks sit alongside the prettiest pedal
steel and fragile piano melodies. O’Grady’s rich, resonant vocals
are equally at home singing ballads or rock ‘n’ roll and Seafoam
Green serve up the sort of aural melting pot that The Band
themselves were noted for.
The ideas and opinions pour from O’Grady as we talk. “I’ve
gone off on a tangent,” he says on more than one occasion,
but O’Grady’s tangents are always interesting and illuminating.
We laugh about how much recorded conversation I will have to
go over – “I reckon if I listen back to this I’ll learn more about
myself than I ever knew; sometimes I say things and think, ‘Oh,
so that’s how I feel about that’. It’s the same with songwriting:
you write a song about something and subconsciously you’re
telling yourself this is how I feel about this. I can get closure from
finishing a song.” If songwriting can close doors on his own past
then his songs can, in turn, open doors for the listener. “I was
meeting people after a gig in New York and this guy waited in
the queue, looked like he’d had a moment, you know, and when
I shook his hand he told me he hadn’t spoken to his mum for six
Words: Glyn Akroyd / @glynakroyd
Photography: Natalie Williams

years and when I’d played My Oldest Friend he walked out,
called her and told her he loved her. That made me happy for
a year.” As Robbie Robertson says in the movie of The Last
Waltz, “It was the musicians in New York who were doing
the greatest healing.”
O’Grady’s 40th anniversary celebration of The Last Waltz
takes place immediately after the US tour and a further
three weeks performing in Ireland. Fortunately, the band
who will be accompanying him – Adrian Gautrey, guitar/
keys; Martin Byrne, bass; Ben Gonzalez, drums; Muirreann
‘Muzz’ McDermot Long, vocals; Jez Wing, keys – are well
versed in the songs and are long-term collaborators, and he
is pretty sanguine about the five-day rehearsal period. “We
all know it ‘cause we all love it, but we just need to know it
in the room. I don’t want to give it too much grandeur, but
we’re a real band honouring a real band,” he reflects, before
rattling off a list of guest artists who are to appear including
Edgar Jones, Nick Ellis, Mersey Wylie, Paul Dunbar and Chris
Nicholls. “We don’t want to recreate it. Some people have
done it where someone dresses like Dylan and the drummer
looks like Levon [Helm], but we just want to be honest with
the music. I wanted to use great local musicians; it would
be easy to get people in to play The Last Waltz at the Phil
but it’s about the local music community, people who’ve
dedicated their lives to the music like The Band did.”
The Band did so at no little cost to themselves and in
The Last Waltz Robbie Robertson opines that being on
the road “is a god damn impossible way of life”. “It is,”
agrees O’Grady. “We’re doing it for as long as we can. You
just do it and then… well, there is no destination.” I ask
him if he wishes he could sit still sometimes. “Oh I’d love
to,” he replies, “but I’m not supposed to. I’m so far gone,
man, the needle is so far in my arm, leave me be, save
yourself, stay in school, get a job, make money, be happy.”
He looks thoughtful for a second and then laughs. The
endless highway that The Band departed so memorably
still beckons for Dave O’Grady. The party isn’t quite over yet.
seafoamgreenband.com
The Last Waltz takes place on 25th November at the
Philharmonic Music Room, with Seafoam Green joined
by special guests in recreating the unique atmosphere of
The Band’s final concert. Topanga Mansion is out on 1st
November on Mellowtone Records.

Words: Alastair Dunn
Photography: Chloé Santoriello
The current crop of new guitar acts in Liverpool is as
varied and tight-knit as ever, and the sheer number of
shows each week that are populated by homegrown
acts backs this up. A supportive atmosphere is one that benefits
everyone, a sense of mutual encouragement that results in
great outpourings of creativity. One of the more distinctive
voices to recently emerge from this effervescent pool is FUSS, a
band who, over the past year or so, have seemed both slightly
elusive and yet ever-present on every good bill around. Mates
David Baddeley (Vocals, Guitar), Tony Dixon (Vocals, Guitar), Karl
Byrne (Bass), Cormac Gould (Synths) and Bobby Reardon (Drums)
are responsible for FUSS’ signature space-folk sound, and the
quartet are in a relaxed mood when we catch up with them at
Greendays Café on Lark Lane. It soon becomes evident, not long
into our chat, that they’re not short on ambition either. After all,
who wants to stay in a bubble forever?
“People are liking [us] and things are happening. Hopefully,
next year we can play bigger gigs and people around the country
will start hearing us, not just in Liverpool,” says David of the
band’s justifiably lofty ambitions. “We want to play all around the
world. I want band music to become popular in this country again
and us to be a part of that. I think it could happen, definitely. We
just want to keep making groovy tunes and see where it takes us.
If it takes us really far, then that’s what we want. That’s what I’m
looking for, to be honest, to go to the top. I think it does deserve
to, because I think the music that’s on top now isn’t any good.”
FUSS are hardly the first guitar band to declare their assault
on the pyramid that seems to tower above them – in fact, it was
once expected that bands of their ilk would spout statements
like this on a regular basis. What marks these comments out
more is the fact that you rarely hear grandstanding like this from
up-and-coming bands anymore, and we kind of miss it. However,
before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to know how these
South Liverpool lads got to where they are.
“I met Tony at a party about a year ago and after that we spent
pretty much every day together,” says David. “I asked him if he
wanted to make a band and it just kind of grew from there. We
started off with a different drummer, but once Bobby got involved
that was it, the sound was defined.”
That sound – a kind of nostalgic, dreamy gloop of shoegaze
and folk – is in the ‘psych’ ballpark, at least if you count Spectrals
and The Growlers as such. As for what the band are consciously
or sub-consciously groping for, that’s a little more difficult to pin
down. “You can’t really do what’s already been done, but you
can kind of re-create a vibe and a sound that’s of a certain era,”
David continues. “People have given us quite a few labels, like
dream pop, synth pop, psych. I don’t think we necessarily fit into
any of them, but when everything is put together it can come off
a bit psychedelic. I think that some of the sonic qualities of that
genre are definitely there.”
“All the songs are written acoustically and if you strip them
back they’re all basically just folk songs,” states Tony. “Last week
me and Dave were both playing in different rooms and we each
came up with a part of a song that fitted with the other. So we
put them together and it formed a really nice tune.”
They’re reticent to get bogged down splitting genres, instead
finding it much easier and more comfortable talking about their
processes. As usual, David takes the lead on the topic: “We
usually write realism. One of the songs we wrote recently is just
about the realities of life and being skint. But it’s put in a way
that sounds nice and not too heavy.” Interjecting, Cormac picks
up on this thread: “Nothing is too overly thought out. We just do
what we do and stuff happens. There are no rules. Everyone can
contribute what they want and the tunes just come out of that.
If it sounds good, it sounds good.”
Their appreciation of what sounds good has been spot on so far,
with each of their singles being accompanied by a quite distinctive
video - stand-alone pieces where the visual aspect becomes as
important as the music. “Each one is tailored to fit the vibe of the
song,” David, who makes the videos, tells us. “I think each single
feels like a document of where we’re at,” adds Cormac. “You can
hear a bit of progress in between each one. Right now we haven’t
got the money or the set of tunes to make a full album. So we’re
kind of just cataloguing.”
“It’s like a proper reflection as well,” adds Tony, picking up a
couple of threads. “Just being able to listen back to them and hear
them properly for the first time. When people hear us live it isn’t
exactly what we hear ourselves.” “Yeah, live it sounds massive,”
adds David – and we agree. The recorded tracks don’t do justice to
the heaving beasts that come to life when FUSS play live. It seems
as though the band are as surprised about this as us. “The first
time we realised it was when we played Leaf and it just sounded
huge. We weren’t expecting it because we practise in our house,
so it’s usually pretty quiet and restrained. But then on stage there
was just this big wall of sound. So it’s good to be able to go back
and pull the songs apart. To just hear them in a new way.”
The ambition, then, seems under wraps for the time being as
the four band members work out the intricacies of what they’ve
created. They’re not going to be deserting their fellow sloggers
on the gig circuit any time soon. “The local scene is fucking boss!”
exclaims Karl. “We’re mates with loads of the different bands and
there’s a proper sense of community there. Like, we love going
to gigs and playing gigs because we get to see all our mates.
Everyone just wants to support each other and enjoy each other’s
music.”
“The main thing for the band right now is just to make sure
we’re always making really good tunes and that they each have
their own little thing going on,” David confirms. “That’s the most
important thing and if that’s right then everything else will
hopefully follow. We’re not trying to fool anyone with anything
else or trying to make people like us for any other reason.”
“We’ll only make music that we’re sure is fucking good,” adds
Tony.
So, that’s what all the fuss is about.
@fussband
FUSS support Cabbage at The Magnet on 4th November. And watch
out for the video for Fluff on bidolito.co.uk soon.

19TH NOVEMBER
THANKSGIVING BBQ
WWW.THEMERCHANTLIVERPOOL.CO.UK

DIFFERENT TRAINS IIIIIII
The coming of the railway heralded the arrival of the
modern world and, as the source of so much narrative
potential, it’s no wonder that stations – and the
journeys that connect them – have also catalysed the creation
of memorable art. This was put into sharp focus in September
2016 when the London Contemporary Orchestra took on the
task of performing Steve Reich’s magnum opus DIFFERENT
TRAINS at Edge Hill station, one of the oldest passenger railway
stations in the world. Stuart Miles O’Hara was present for this
momentous performance, and Damon Fairclough managed to
catch up with legendary composer Steve Reich before the event:
together they explain how it all came together.
Photography: Robin Clewley / robinclewley.co.uk
Ten Minutes with Steve Reich
Now that Steve Reich’s Different Trains has steamed “What led me to working that way was the pieces I did back
through Edge Hill station, it’s easy to see the occasion in the 60s – It’s Gonna Rain and Come Out – which use bits of
for what it was. It was audacious, celebratory and a speech that are highly melodic. This is characteristic of all of us
triumph. But when I meet Reich in a Liverpool hotel bar the at certain emotional moments when we speak – it just comes
day before the event, I feel less certain about the way things out that way. We don’t intend it to, but it does.”
will turn out.
These two works are built solely from tape loops that slip in
Not that I doubt the quality of the music for a second; after and out of phase, creating resonant textures and rhythmic blips
all, Different Trains is probably Reich’s masterpiece. But will a from portions of everyday speech. But Reich traces the influence
working railway station really be the best place to witness a back even further.
work by one of our greatest living composers? I ask Reich how “The composer Leoš Janáček used to walk around Prague with
he thinks his music will cope outside the concert hall.
a music notebook writing down what people said – the melodies,
“It depends on the acoustic,” he replies, clearly sanguine not the words they spoke. Then he’d take these fragments and
about what the night will bring. “Music has to have legs; it has put them in his operas. He was listening to the speech as a
to survive no matter where it is. Sometimes the acoustics will source of melody. And, long before me, long before Janáček, all
fight against it and eliminate the qualities that are there, but if composers or makers of music were taking the speech that was
the music can’t stand up to that, there’s something wrong with around them, whatever the language, and it was having a very
the music.”
heavy influence on the music they wrote.”
No danger there, as Different Trains is acknowledged as a It’s just a few days before Reich’s 80th birthday, and the
contemporary classic, a piece that combines ghostly snippets of Liverpool performance of Different Trains is part of a global
oral history with a string quartet that mimics the musicality of celebration. I ask what he’s particularly looking forward to about
the speech. But what gave Reich the idea for this compositional the event, and he explains how pleased he is that the London
innovation, this excavation of melody from the words that Contemporary Orchestra, who are performing the piece, are
people say?
putting in considerable extra work.

IIIIIIIIIIIIII
Words: Damon Fairclough / noiseheatpower.com
“Usually, if you want to play Different Trains, you go to the
publisher and they send you the musical notes on paper along
with an audio recording. Different Trains is written for three
string quartets – one plays live and the other parts are prerecorded.
But it takes more commitment to say, ‘No, send us
the click tracks – we’re going to make our own recording’. That
shows real commitment on the part of the LCO. They really want
to dig in and do something. I respect that.”
And then, of course, there’s the opportunity to play the tourist.
In common with many city visitors, Reich has certain other music
on his mind.
“Everybody comes to Liverpool and wants to know about The
Beatles,” he says, “and I’m no exception. It’s a place that became
very famous and every American is aware of it.”
And though I’m about to tell him there are other great bands
from the city too – the likes of Ex-Easter Island Head for instance,
a group whose percussive guitar drills carry his influence in
every interlocking pulse – my strictly-marshalled 10-minute
interview is up and, before I know it, we’re shaking hands and
saying our farewells.
The rest, as they say, is history; Different Trains at Edge Hill
was one of the most memorable nights of music I’ve ever
experienced. Whether the world’s oldest working railway station
will ever see its like again, only time will tell, but for those of us
who were there, it was a train journey we’re unlikely to forget.
Steve Reich – Different Trains
Edge Hill Train Station
As if on cue, with the first ebbings and flowings of trains are fanciful. They enthuse people who know nothing
Electric Counterpoint, two trains, one inbound, about engineering or telecommunications. Tonight, art
the other out, appear and disappear alongside the and technology meet until they’re one and the same, as
lesser used southern platform of Edge Hill Station. How those Victorian engineers probably intended. Indeed, the
many passengers are on those trains? A few hundred? A few Greek word techni means art, but forms the root of our own
hundred people on the way to or from Leeds and York who technology. With samples of steam trains and the testimonials
have no idea that they’ve just been soundtracked by guitarist of holocaust survivors providing the string quartet with their
MATS BERKMAN, accompanying himself nine times over with rhythmic material, nothing in this performance has a fixed
tape loops. This concerto for electric guitar, written for Pat status. If you’re far enough back in the crowd, you might not
Metheney (and appended to the Kronos Quartet’s Grammywinning
1987 recording of tonight’s main attraction) is as and those of the pre-recorded strings. Indeed, trains aren’t
be able to tell the difference between the notes played live
close to a warhorse as American minimalism gets, but it’s still any one thing either. As carriages, they aren’t fixed in location,
refreshed by such a locomotive environment and the outdoor use, or nature. They aren’t intrinsically bad or good and have
soundsystem that magnifies the nuances of Berkmans’ been both, whether transporting the victims of genocide to
playing: sometimes snappy, sometimes silky, and even their deaths or connecting the coasts of a continental nation.
descending to a clubworthy bass throb in the third movement. They are only as useful or useless as the function we decide
Why have we gathered here, heads a-bobbin’? Is this a club for them, like most human art and technology, and Morrison
night, a gig, or a concert? A happening? More importantly, why and Reich’s film shows them in both capacities.
is American composer STEVE REICH standing out in the cold By the end, it still isn’t clear what kind of event this was.
on a Victorian platform under the heavens on a September I have a feeling that, even if there was an answer to that,
night the week before his 80th birthday? Well, two similarly be it concert, gig, or whatever, it would simply label it, and
venerable institutions approaching major anniversaries is tell you no more. What this event is, is self-evident. The four
reason enough (the train station has a century on Reich. It LCO players onstage are probably conservatoire-trained
was built 180 years ago, on the first railway in the world, which musicians, who’ve performed Beethoven for a person waving
was just six years old at the time), but it’s also pregnant with a stick more times than you’ve had hot dinners. But they’re
the status of Liverpool as a centre for contemporary art – Edge still gyrating and moving with the music, bedding in the
Hill-based collective Metal, for whom each day at the office tempo changes with physicality as well as a superior sense
must sound like an eight-hour performance of Different Trains, of tempo. They move like you’ve seen drummers, DJs, and
have collaborated with the London Contemporary Orchestra to backing dancers move.
put on this one-off event during our Biennial. Oh, and it’s the When I arrived, hanging back across the street to lock up my
premiere of a film by BILL MORRISON and Reich to accompany bike, I studied the queue that stretched back towards the top
the performance. As such, it’s a real confluence of talent, not of Smithdown (and, closer to kick off, almost up to Matalan).
just nationally but transatlantically too.
Passers-by, mostly residents, kept asking what was going
“This is a piece about place and about trains,” says South on. They would have found out anyway (re: the soundsystem
Bank Centre boss and METAL founder Judy Kelly OBE (one above), but hopefully they won’t have minded an hour of
of the city’s most prolific exports as far as the arts sector is Steve Reich – more than a few of the curious had heard of
concerned). Trains are nothing without places to go to. It’s him. Extending the catchment area across L7, it’s great to have
been argued that the Eurasian road network, not the Great such a huge crowd for a truly Liverpudlian event, imbued with
Wall of China, is the largest artificial structure visible from history, but looking toward a future involving the rest of the
space. To go one further: it’s the railways – there’s no tarmac world. In short, well worth getting off at Edge Hill for.
between us and Europe. But these are flights of fancy, and
Stuart Miles O’Hara / @ohasm1

Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam
Doumbia are the Grammy Awardnominated
musical duo that make
up the musical force that is AMADOU AND
MARIAM. Affectionately known as “the blind
couple from Mali”, the duo spent 20 years
establishing their reputation in Mali and other
neighbouring West African countries before
eventually winning international acclaim with
their ground-breaking and genreless mix of
Malian music.
Drawing inspiration from far and wide, the
pair mix traditional Mali sound with electric
guitars and various world instruments such
as Syrian violins, Cuban trumpets, Egyptian
ney and Indian tablas to result in a unique
sound that they refer to as ‘Afro-blues’.
Garnering attention from early on in their
career, the pair have racked up an impressive
count of guest appearances, collaborations
and joint productions from the likes of Manu
Chao, Beth Orton and Damon Albarn to TV On
The Radio and Santigold.
The pair both lost their eyesight at a young
age, at a time in Mali when blindness was
considered an enormous handicap. Yet through
their love of music the duo overcame their
obstacles, donned their trademark sunglasses
and embroidered Malian dress and became
a musical force to be reckoned with. Their
2008 autobiography, Away From The Light Of
Day, further highlighted the inspiring artistic
path that the couple took, in light of the many
obstacles they had to face, and shows the
broader social change that they have effected.
Ultimately, their story is one of determination,
courage and absolute devotion to music.
Amadou and Mariam are set to make their
first appearance in Liverpool this December as
part of DaDaFest – an innovative arts festival
that produces opportunities for disabled and
deaf people to access the arts. The show will
be a highlight of a fantastic programme put
together by the festival, running from 17th
November to the Philharmonic Hall show on 3rd
December. On that night, Amadou and Mariam
will be joined by a sterling support bill including
selectors adept in music from all corners of the
world, Radio Exotica DJs, plus Somalian guitar
maverick Anwar Ali. Ali, whose idiosyncratic
style takes in influences as diverse as Swahili
wedding songs and Norwegian folk, will be
joined by Liverpudlian musician Dave Owen.
Completing the line-up is the Evolve Group from
the Young DaDa Ensemble, who will perform
original songs from their trailblazing project.
In advance of their performance, Scott
Smith caught up with Amadou and Mariam
to find out their influences growing up, how
they coped with their disabilities and their
experiences in the music industry.
Bido Lito!: Where did the story of Amadou
and Mariam all begin, and when did you start
playing together?
Amadou and Mariam: Our history started in a
meeting at the Institute for Blind Children in
[Malian capital city] Bamako in 1975, one year
after we started playing together, and our first
AMADOU
& MARIAM
Words: Scott Smith / @thinkscott
gig was back in January 1976.
BL!: You’re playing Liverpool as part of
DaDaFest; how important is the issue of
disability to you as performers and how do
you find British audiences?
A&M: It’s super important for us because
disabled and deaf people should have their
own place and importance in our society. We
are happy that DaDaFest give this opportunity
and place in arts and music to join audiences
together. [When] we were young we lived
[with] some discrimination. But after some
years when we became musicians we started
to receive the affection and admiration from
the audience. We are lucky to have played in
so many different countries. British audience[s
are] very warm and welcome; they enjoy music
and they know a lot about different genres and
styles.
BL!: During your recording career you have
collaborated with a variety of musicians from
around the world; how have these experiences
affected your songwriting?
A&M: When we were young we used to listen
[to] a lot of American music, and also some
British groups. We like a lot of different styles
from rock, blues, rap, but also some French
chanson and the Afro-Cuban sounds. One of
the very nice parts of collaborations [is that] it
gives us the opportunity to mix some sounds
and styles, to learn and create, always keeping
our African sound.
BL!: You’ve achieved so much in your career,
but you didn’t have the easiest start. Where
did you find the determination and courage
to dedicate yourself to music?
A&M: Our start was not that easy because a
proper music industry did not exist in Mali at
that time nor music producer and distributor,
so we were forced to move to Cote D’Ivoire.
We were super determined to share our music
around the world. We were – and still are –
confident about our sound and music, that’s
why we did this big step. We are grateful to do
what we love and that is to play music. Also,
we received a lot of nominations, recognitions
and awards around the world that give us
energy to keep playing.
BL!: What advice do you have for any young
blind, deaf or disabled aspiring artists trying
to make it in the music world?
A&M: They should be strong and have patience.
To be strong enough to feel that they are on
the same level and [have the same] rights as
all other human beings.
BL!: We are looking forward to your
performance in Liverpool.
A&M: Thank you so much for your time and
interview. We too look forward to seeing you
all at the DaDaFest!
dadafest.co.uk
Amadou and Mariam play Liverpool
Philharmonic Hall as part of DaDaFest 2016 on
Saturday 3rd December.

LIVERPOOL
PSYCH FEST v.1
Camp and Furnace and District
“To fall in hell, or soar angelic, you need a pinch of the
psychedelic.” So said the psychiatrist who coined
the term, Humphrey Osmond, way back in 1965. In
search of an expansion of meaning, sensation and experience,
I find myself in the belly of the multifaceted beast that is
Liverpool Psych Fest: the port for which many a sonic explorer
from around the world is to dock this weekend. With worldly
stories from euphoria to lament, what unites the artists found
within this small corner of Liverpool is a mission to explore
sound itself, to push melody and thinking to limits previously
untouched. The music that infiltrates the crumbling red bricks
of these expansive warehouses is set to refresh and rejuvenate
the scarred ghosts of industry and bring new life to these walls.
Having once been the home of many exotic goods, it seems
quite fitting that the former warehouse spaces of Camp and
Furnace find themselves home to a GURUGURU BRAIN showcase
on the opening day. Curating a sample of the – largely – hidden
delights of Asia’s most far-out sounds, the Tokyo-based label
excel in the sounds of mind expansion, and this Western audience
is lucky enough to witness the phenomenal PRARIE WWWW lay
down the first examples. The striking streaks of white which
adorn almost every stretch of naked skin dance in the shimmers
of light, which flare amidst the brooding darkness. Their tribal
aesthetic seems fittingly matched to the music found within
them. The hypnotic drum rhythms are what hold the performance
together, as guitars wane at a bow’s touch and synths abstractly
transpire with the occasional addition of some ritualistic chants.
From Japan to Denmark we cover a 5500-kilometre plane
journey in a matter of metres to sample the delights of
Copenhagen’s finest, THE LOVE COFFIN. Having fomented in
arguably the best post-punk scene in the world, it’s easy to see
how this fits into the overall ‘psych’ (or ‘PZYK’?) aesthetic when
the five-piece take to the stage. Their nonchalant swagger is a
beam that concentrates this band’s appeal, their slurred vocals
complementing the slightly off-kilter rings of jangling guitar.
Having stumbled upon yet more worldly psychedelic delights,
I push forward through the lysergic adventure to find the West
Coast foursome COOL GHOULS. The hazy, blurred-out images
that play up on the screens behind them prove a
welcoming accompaniment to the rose-tinted,
nostalgic rock of the group, who groove
through wistful 60s pop nuggets
complete with strong basslines
and eerily ghostly
harmonies
Transitioning between the gentle, the noisy and the melodic
is made easier by the bustling outdoor area where the festival’s
pilgrims congregate to catch their breath between acts, sharing
stories that transcend any and all linguistic barriers. Such a stop
allows me to ease nicely into SUPER FURRY ANIMALS’ headline
set. With a career which has spanned over 20 years it’s not hard
to see why the room is packed to capacity, with those in situ
hopeful of catching some of the enigmatic charm of the group.
Dressed in the white boiler suits with which they’ve become
synonymous, the group spin a tapestry of songs which flaunts
the diversity and intricacy of their back catalogue. Despite
criticism that “the band aren’t psych”, Super Furries set about
smashing that statement to pieces with a mind-bending set of
radiant pop, trance-inducing electronica and, of course, Power
Ranger masks.
There’s no easing into Saturday, as I head down early to catch
perhaps one of the most fitting bookings this year. YE NUNS
are a tribute to the infamously anti-Beatles 60s garage rockers
The Monks, yet they’re far more than a tribute act. It seems the
perfect two fingers to the crowds of lazy music journalists who
fail to see past Liverpool’s biggest band. It doesn’t take long for
the habit-wearing ensemble to tear the place down by bringing
their own twist to I Hate You, Monk Time and Complication, all
equipped with the characteristic screams and manic organ stabs
that made the group a cult classic.
Having grabbed a pint of Guruguru Brain IPA I head off to
melt into the fabulous ULRIKA SPACEK. Perhaps one of the most
exciting bands to break through this year, their place on the bill
proves the festival’s ability to pick the freshest talent and place
them in front of an audience 10 times bigger than any they’ve
played before. The pedal-driven sounds of the group send
the audience into a state of catatonia, occasionally
displacing them with the likes of the visceral
She’s A Cult. With a blend of shoegaze,
noise rock and a touch of classic
psychedelia, the group prove
one of the most popular
of the day.
The metamorphosis from the primal raw punk of their first
album into the more delicate gothic post punk of Ullages
throws up an intriguing other face to EAGULLS. What remains
ever present in their live performance, however, is the brooding
intensity of frontman George Mitchell, who sways to and
through to the ominous drum beats as he dances through the
sound which feels much bigger than the four who stand on
stage.
Perhaps one of the most hyped appearances of the night
comes in the form of the synthesised glam rock of THE
MOONLANDINGZ, fronted by the Buckfast-fuelled space nonce
Johnny Rocket, the alter ego of Lias Sauodi of Fat White Family.
With a lipstick-smeared face and a mane of wild black hair,
Rocket terrorises the front row with a series of grotesque
grimaces and animalistic screams as his trusty band plough
through their sordid electro pop. It’s only as we mellow into
the animated chatter as people come down off the back of THE
HORRORS’s clubby, subby set, that we have time to reflect on a
festival unafraid to book the most obscure of bands without
the snobbery of straying into the mainstream every
once and a while. I’m utterly exhausted by the
ride, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Matt Hogarth
Photography: Keith Ainsworth / arkimages.co.uk
Two Trips
Inside The
World Of Liverpool
International Festival
Of Psychedelia 2016
A
blur, of sounds and sights and smells and memories.
That’s all that is left of LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL
FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA, along with a dull echo of
experience in our adrenalin-scorched veins. It was an utter blast,
that took in music brewed in Tokyo, Gdansk, Guadalajara, San
Francisco, Copenhagen and many more boltholes in between.
The PZYK Congregation poured their minds into the virtual
reality environments and live spaces, leaving indelible marks
on the scuffed surfaces of Camp and Furnace, Blade Factory and
District as they grooved, swayed and were swamped by the force
of the music that this broad church of a movement spewed forth.
It was a pure hit, which words and images only go some way to
describing; it’s something that has to be experienced.
Three of our intrepid explorers have attempted to assemble
their memories from the weekend here – across words and
images – to try and recreate a sense of what that PZYK experience
actually was. In essence there are a million different ways to
navigate this festival – here are some of those truths.

LIVERPOOL
PSYCH FEST v.2
Camp and Furnace and District
This is your headset; fit to eyes and ears, and zoom. To
self-generating brickwork, past stalls peddling credits for
energy units, and avatars of clipart of Golden State and Old
Grey Whistle Test. Past preambles/debriefs, past halloumi chips,
meat fetishists. Up a staircase, crab across and into a walk-in lava
lamp, then back to the throng. Is what’s behind you always there,
or only when you turn around? What really frames your field of
vision? Is a festival constant, or a moving cluster of auto-deleting
vistas? If this paragraph was bollocks, can you prove it?
Here’s some more bollocks. You’re in Blade Factory, absolutely
caning it to VAYA FUTURO, who are like ngkldj nmll;dsg; ngkldj
nmll;dsg; ngkldj nmll;dsg; ngkldj nmll;dsg; then like ngkldjjjjjh
nmll;g ngkldjjjjjh nmll;g ngkldjjjjjh nmll;g – so transcendent, you’re
right on it, you’re purring knowledgeably. Turns out they were just
fixing something. Retreat in disgrace into 10 000 RUSSOS, who
may have ingested copious Moon Duo and Fall, the repercussions
of which – a sense of their bodies rejecting it – a rammed District
gulps down. If those acts daze you with dots, IN ZAIRE – four
guitar-y fellas but somehow more like rust, magnified – are the
optical dragon that eventually charges out. In another room, a
Jamiroquai-like visage reveals who’s behind a popular parody
account in a made-up micro-realm; someone else here worked in
a warehouse with Coventry City’s Dave Bennett; next thing, there’s
a warhead growing out of your stomach. The virtual reality zone
supplies one of those clauses, but we supposedly leave the VR
and that’s Steve
Davis over there (DJ
Thundermuscle to his new
friends), stunning and screwing
through squelchy electro, snookering
you tonight.
In the PZYK PRYZM, the mirror-masked
BONNACONS OF DOOM are like Magpahi fronting
Chrome Hoof. Where some bands give both barrels then
regather, BoD only escalate, and you know that idea that you
can fold a piece of paper seven times – BoD keep doubling til
they decide to stop. It’s their reality. Ditto, in a low-end fog that
never clears, THE HORRORS – I think – and what tonight are magiceye
silhouette songs. We can trace these from muscle memory,
only the whole isn’t there. Joshua Hayward, in particular, is out
of earshot, yet this is a man who talks about striving for a loss of
sonic focus, who solders his own pedals, so let’s trust in it. Psych
shouldn’t fit accommodatingly into the known, any more than
amount to Californication and Technicolor.
I’m convinced this lot never nail A Sea Within A Sea. That
outro – that all-important outro – according to the record should
twitch and jerk and lunge. Live, it always marches. I consult
boozy pals and can’t get the theory across. But with them, as
with VR, or reality, you’re doomed if you complete; the sense of
accomplishment falls off a cliff. It’s a sea within a sea you have
to keep believing in vain can be glimpsed. “I know it will,” booms
Faris Badwan. “I know it will...”
Forward, to confirm that’s a very well-known character from
another made-up sphere, sport, psyching away unnoticed; my lips
are sealed. And drag back, and rotate under shapes that, whatever
your tonic (mac ’n’ cheese), are of another realm. The PZYK COLONY
AV realm, and you’ll have to jump between streams here:
“CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER. Warm synths bubble,
my wingman, Stevo, is at the controls cos
analogue hypnosis, beats are crisp. Enervating.
I’m getting rapid eye movement, deafening ticking,
Electronic, not digital. Sharp like a dance thing...
spinning 360s of rows and rows of drelbs.
Thanks Stevo – I’m birthed back, waxing about glorious hours
of prog-static that never occurred, or so they say. It’s semiapocryphal,
as it should be; it dithers into low-res Greenland
Street; a thumbnail captures a car; I must’ve pressed ‘sleep’ or
‘shut down’, I must’ve run out of tokens. I remember nothing.
Tom Bell
liverpoolpsychfest.com
Head to bidolito.co.uk now to see a full gallery of Keith Ainsworth’s
photos from Liverpool Psych Fest.

24
Bido Lito! November 2016
NOVEMBER IN BRIEF
PEACHES
Playing as loose with gender norms as she does with genre norms, PEACHES is an artist who truly represents the 21st century’s barrier-less approach
to self-expression. 2015’s critically-acclaimed LP Rub, her sixth, was produced solely by women and continued the Canadian’s trend of being ahead of
the rest of the industry in highlighting ideas of sexual fluidity and gender identity. A dizzying mix of electroclash, rap and disco, Rub reminds us how
the world needs Peaches now more than ever. A show not to be missed.
Invisible Wind Factory / 11th November
MICHAEL CHAPMAN
It seems like the 2010s is the decade for the renaissance of ‘lost’ artists from the 60s, as yet another folk hero enjoys their long overdue moment in
the sun. Self-styled old white Yorkshire bluesman MICHAEL CHAPMAN is one of the most underrated and accomplished British musicians of the last
50 years; his uniquely English, melancholic perspective and emotive guitar style first won him the admiration of John Peel – who declared Chapman’s
influential 1970 album Fully Qualified Survivor his favourite record of 1970 – and latterly Thurston Moore, whom he with toured in a duo.
Philharmonic Music Room / 20th November
WHITE LIES
After three consecutive top five albums, WHITE LIES took the time between switching labels to put some intense legwork into their latest record,
calling on some illustrious ‘friends’ to help them out. Friends, released in October by BMG, was recorded in Bryan Ferry’s private studio, with James
Brown, David Wrench and Ed Buller helping the trio freshen up their synth-heavy post-punk stylings. High demand has seen this show upgraded from
Arts Club to O2 Academy; all previous tickets remain valid.
O2 Academy / 26th November
MERSEYRAIL SOUND STATION FESTIVAL
The region’s premier grassroots music competition comes to a climax this month with the Merseyrail Sound Station Festival. The final of the coveted
Sound Station Prize will feature 10 specially selected artists playing a gig in front of a panel of judges. The eventual winner, following in the footsteps
of Blue Saint and Katy Alex (pictured), goes away with a year of music industry mentoring, studio time and free train travel. The festival takes place in
the unique setting of Moorfields Station. merseyrailsoundstation.com
Moorfields / 19th November
JON MORTER @ VENUE EXPO
Venue Expo returns to Liverpool’s Exhibition Centre for the third time in November alongside PA Expo, the North’s largest and most important business
and events exhibition. The free two-day event also hosts an expert panel of speakers, with one particular guest standing out as a must-see speaker.
Social media magnate/hellraiser JON MORTER will be delivering a candid How To Beat The X Factor Q&A session that lays bare his strategies in leading
successful viral campaigns, such as helping get the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and anti-X Factor singles to number one.
Exhibition Centre / 8th-9th November
THE BIDO LITO! SPIRITUAL BUNKER @ LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK
The shenanigans of Liverpool Music Week’s Closing Party are the stuff of legend, and this year’s multi-venue party looks set to add to that rich history
with a slew of home-brewed acts helping bring down the curtain on this year’s festival. CLINIC (pictured) headline at Invisible Wind Factory, with
dozens more acts pressed into action across venues in the North Liverpool docklands. And we’re hosting our own stage for it – the inaugural show at
new venue Muraki – featuring the amazing talents of STRANGE COLLECTIVE, VEYU, THE FLOORMEN, I SEE RIVERS, THE SHIPBUILDERS and more tba.
Muraki / 4th November
IAN SIEGAL
IAN SIEGAL, one of Britain’s most compelling blues artists, comes to Southport on 10th November. From his busking beginnings, Siegal has gone
on to receive numerous awards and critical acclaim. We are giving away two tickets to Siegal’s show at The Atkinson plus a copy of his album, One
Night In Amsterdam. For a chance of winning, answer the following question: What was the title of the album that won Siegal Mojo magazine’s
blues album of the year in 2009? a) Farside b) Broadside or c) Darkside. Email your answer to competition@bidolito.co.uk by 7th November for a
chance to win; winners will be notified by email.
bidolito.co.uk

Bido Lito! November 2016
25
PSYCHIC ILLS
Elizabeth Hart and Tres Warren’s fifth album, Inner Journey Out, finds the New York duo in a reflective mood as they tease around the country and jazz
edges of their laconic psych rock template. The three years since their previous release for Sacred Bones Records (2013’s One Track Mind) have been
spent testing the limits of these boundaries in what turned out to be an odyssey of songwriting, where they allowed their own sense of adventure
to lead them down soporific, fuggy avenues.
The Magnet / 29th November
TREEHOUSE OF HORROR
Remember that time when The Simpsons went all weird and Homer sold his soul to the Devil (who turned out to be Ned Flanders) in exchange for
a donut? That was one of the more memorable ghoulish twists the cult show took for its annual Halloween-themed Treehouse Of Horror episodes,
and Simpsons devotees will be delighted to hear that No Homers Club are planning a special evening dedicated to them. Featuring original artwork,
Simpsons karaoke, a donut eating contest and live music from OHMNS and Organ Freeman, this is the place to indulge your inner James “Hell” Brooks.
Constellations / 4th November
OFF THE RECORD
Manchester further strengthens its claim to be capital of urban festivals with OFF THE RECORD. The festival spans six venues across the city’s Northern
Quarter and will boast some of the country’s best emerging artists. There is also a conference element to proceedings in which 50 panellists will
chew the musical cud. The evening gigs benefit from the seasoned curation of such prominent musos Huw Stephens (pictured), John Kennedy and
Guy Garvey. For more info go to otrmcr.co.uk.
Various venues / 4th November
FIESTA BOMBARDA
The neon-charged BOMBARDA delights pitch up at The Florrie in November for an autumnal carnival. The Victorian hall will be splashed in colour for
the event, a riotous explosion of Afrobeat, dub and reggae sounds and seasonal set design. Soulful reggae star NATTY headlines the shindig, which also
features the Katumba drumming troupe, face paints, Equinox performers and all manner of vivacious goings on. Jamaican vocalist RANDY VALENTINE
and reggae bluesman LIAM BAILEY are also lined up for the latest FIESTA festivities.
The Florrie / 11th November
COFFEE CONNOISSEURS UNITE
Northern coffee quaffers can celebrate their love of the magical bean this month as the Manchester Coffee Festival returns. Formerly known as Cup
North, the event brings together expert baristas, coffee lovers and industry leaders to take in exhibits, films, workshops and talks all themed around
the world’s favourite wake-up juice. Bido Lito! have contributed to proceedings with the playlist Full Of Beans, a mix of some of the best emerging
artists from Liverpool and Manchester. Hear it online at bidolito.co.uk now.
Victoria Warehouse / 5th-6th November
HOMOTOPIA
A brilliantly eclectic bill of dance, photography, music, comedy and more makes up this year’s HOMOTOPIA festival. With the intriguing theme of
Forbidden – reflecting the fact that homosexuality is still illegal in 76 countries – the LGBT arts events welcomes artists from across the country to
perform at the Unity Theatre and other venues. The festival finale takes place at District on 25th November with a performance from the Rewind Fast
Forward project, Sandi Hughes’ (pictured) history of Liverpool’s scene.
Various venues / 20th October - 25th November
A REAL BRITISH MUSIC EXPERIENCE
The Cunard Building is set to host another stellar musical exhibition as it prepares for the arrival of Britain’s Museum Of Popular Music, a place
where you can revel in the soundtrack to the nation’s history. The Museum, which opens in February 2017, boasts an unrivalled collection of artist
memorabilia and footage, and charts the beginnings, rise and influence of British pop from 1945 to the present day. Learn how immigration
changed our musical landscape, hear how music challenged the status quo, and pay homage to some British greats who conquered the world
in an interactive studio. Full details can be found at britishmusicexperience.com.
LOVE SAVES THE DAY
New Brighton's alternative wedding boutique LOVE SAVES THE DAY is inviting Bido Lito! readers to put a twist on their special day. Love Saves The
Day specialises in vintage wedding dresses, veils, tiaras, fascinators and hats, catering for the most unique marital celebrations. If you or a friend are
planning such an occasion, follow the Bido Lito! Facebook page for a special prize giveaway this month. A lucky winner will be given £30 to spend at
LSTD by simply liking and sharing a post. For more information on Love Saves The Day go to lovesavestheday.online.
bidolito.co.uk

10 Artists
competing for the Merseyrail Sound Station Prize at the
MErsEYrAiL sOUND stAtION FEstIVAL
Live at Moorfields Station • Saturday 19th November • Free entry from 1pm
The final winner of the Merseyrail Sound Station Prize will be chosen by a panel of expert judges at the event. The successful artist
will receive one year of professional music industry mentoring, recording studio time and free train travel with Merseyrail.
Get There By Train
merseyrailsoundstation.com

[NIGHTGARDEN]
67 Greenland Street
Liverpool
L1 0BY
Future Forward Feasting
Every Friday
18:00hrs — Late
Free Entry
campandfurnace.com
@campandfurnace
0151 708 2890

28
Bido Lito! November 2016 Reviews
Deap Vally (Mike Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com)
DEAP VALLY
The Velveteers – Indigo Moon
EVOL @ The Invisible Wind Factory
Liverpool’s Invisible Wind Factory is certainly
an impressive location and, as one of the
newest creative spaces in the city, it looks set
to firmly establish itself as a favourite on the
local music gigging circuit. And the new gig
season kicks off in fine style as LA power-duo
DEAP VALLY arrive to wreak their own particular
brand of sonic mayhem upon an adoring
audience with an inspiring, intoxicating and
enthralling performance.
Local quintet INDIGO MOON have been
steadily making a name for themselves over
the past year, and they take up the challenge of
the ‘difficult opening slot’ with style, swagger
and vigour. There is a tendency amongst the
regional music press to somewhat overstate
the ability of local artists, often employing
unjustified hyperbole based, it would seem,
purely on their postcode, but anybody who
has watched Indigo Moon’s development
cannot fail to be impressed by their continuing
evolution. It’s an action-packed performance
in which lead singer Ashley Colley exudes real
star quality – she also has the added benefit
of having the sort of stadia-filling voice that
could stop traffic.
Before the main event, Denver two-piece
bidolito.co.uk

Amadou
and Mariam
Fri 21 Oct
ENRG 02. Kinetic Energy:
The Black Madonna
Peggy Gou
Fri 28 Oct
Abandon Silence: Echoes
Jeremy Underground
Soichi Terada
Sat 29 Oct
The Voodoo Ball:
Return to Afrotopia
Fri 4 Nov
50 Shades of Pink:
Barberos Spandex Party
Sat 5 Nov
ENRG 03. Sound Energy:
Bicep ~ Or:la ~ Blehrin
Fri 11 Nov
Evol: Peaches (LIVE)
Faux Queens
Sat 19 Nov
Abandon Silence: Echoes Selects
Denis Sulta ~ Harri & Domenic
Sun 20 Nov
DaDaFest:
Burlesque from Biscuitland
presented by Martini Lounge
Fri 2 Dec
Evol: The Vryll Society
Rongorongo ~ Zuzu ~ The Mysterines
Sat 3 Dec
ENRG 04. Magnetic Energy:
Dusky ~ Bambounou ~ Blehrin
Fri 9 Dec
Harvest Sun:
Hooton Tennis Club
Part of DaDaFest
International 2016
Saturday 3 December 7.30pm
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
The Grammy award-nominated afro-funk
duo, bring their magical fusion of pop, blues
and Malian music to Liverpool for their only
UK tour date of 2016!
Invisible Wind Factory, 3 Regent Road, Liverpool, L3 7BX www.thekazimier.co.uk
Tickets from:
bit.ly/AMUK2016
0151 709 3789
www.dadafest.co.uk
@DaDaFest

30
Bido Lito! November 2016 Reviews
brother-sister duo THE VELVETEERS led by
19-year-old Demi Demitro warm up the
audience with a compelling display of muscular
guitar riffs, hell-for-leather drumming and
Demitro’s soaring, blues-soaked vocals. They
are a band we’d suggest have big things
ahead of them, if they can replicate this sort
of commanding and gripping performance in
the future.
Deap Vally have already built up a solid
fan base in Liverpool due to incendiary
performances at The Shipping Forecast and Arts
Club over the last few years, and their latest
album Femejism, co-produced with Yeah Yeah
Yeahs’ Nick Zinner, is arguably their finest work
to date. It’s also an album that sees the duo
push themselves both sonically and lyrically to
another level and this is particularly evident in
their live performance. The pair exude a frenetic
energy and visceral power that mesmerises
the crowd. Guitarist Lindsey Troy owns the
stage, pacing up and down, crowd-surfing
and pirouetting whilst tearing distorted sonic
thunderbolts from her guitar that reverberate
around the walls of The Invisible Wind Factory.
There are choice cuts from their debut
album Sistronix in the shape of Bad For My
Body and End Of The World mixed with new
tunes from Femejism, such as the rip-roaring
Royal Jelly, Smile More and Litte Baby Beauty
Queen, which all sound even bolder and more
empowering in the live setting. Troy’s brutal,
ear-shredding Zepplin-esque riffs combine
with Julie Edwards’ creative drum patterns
to forge a monolithic wall of sound that is
powerful, uplifting and euphoric. At times it
is hard to believe that just two people could
make such a glorious life-affirming racket.
There’s absolutely no let-up in intensity as
the duo play with barely a pause for breath
across an epic 70-minute set. After they
complete a three-song encore, you only have
to listen to the rapturous applause and observe
the huge grins on the faces of the audience to
realise that this had been one of those extraspecial
nights that will live long in the memory.
A near-perfect gig from a band that Liverpool
has clearly taken to its heart.
Andy Von Pip / @VonPip
KRS-ONE
Predator Prime
Arts Club
If you haven’t heard of KRS-ONE​, you’ve
definitely heard him. If hip hop had a currency,
he’d be on the 100 denomination note, sharing
with Scott Le Rock, of course. Both made up
the original duo of Boogie Down Productions
(BDP), where KRS-ONE earned the nickname
the Teacha. Every MC today owes something
to the Blast Master (everyone has at least two
dozen pseudonyms in hip hop). Tonight, KRS-
ONE shows us just why he has the respect and
admiration of his countless peers.
First though, DJ PREDATOR PRIME ​comes
Deap Vally (Mike Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com)
on alone, stepping up to the decks asking,
“Do you wanna hear that 80s shit or that 90s
shit?” 80s wins out, of course; we are here for
that, after all. He treats us to a mix of all the
classics, flipping between both golden eras
of hip hop. Hands are up, old heads are trying
their best to rap along. After his tour of the hip
hop early years, he calls out KRS-ONE​. The
icon bounds onto the stage and the Teacha
begins to speak, starting off with the first of
many freestyles. Here is where KRS displays
his true strength; there are rappers with more
prowess flow-wise, but he’s untouchable
when it comes to lyrics – deceptively simple,
accessible and smart. Songs from the BDP d​ays
are proto-gangster rap, about life in the Bronx
and inevitably about his encounters with crime.
It’s frank rather than glorifying, preaching
betterment through learning.
As the set shifts to his newer tracks, the
songs become more and more political.
This is distilled down into the anger-filled,
anti-imperial The Invaders, about America’s
annexation of Mexico. With its pro-immigrant
message, the song strikes a chord in a post-
Brexit Britain, and it certainly gets some fists
pumping. Not long after, he starts his lecture
on the styles of MCing, rapping over a variety
of beats for each. This is him flexing his hip hop
muscle, displaying his versatility and a little
showmanship too. He frequently comes back
to the two posters on either side of the stage,
displaying his various mantras on hip hop and
his namesake Knowledge Reigns Supreme. He
takes the title of Teacha very seriously; he’s here
KRS-ONE (Mike Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com)
bidolito.co.uk

NORTHERN QUARTER / MANCHESTER / 4.11.16
DISCOVER
YOUR
NEW
FAVOURITE
BAND.
THE RUBY LOUNGE / NIGHT & DAY CAFÉ / SOUP KITCHEN
THE CASTLE / GULLIVERS / AATMA / METHODIST CENTRAL BUILDINGS
7 VENUES. 30 ARTISTS.
50 PANELISTS.
MUSIC CONFERENCE BY DAY,
LIVE MUSIC BY NIGHT.
DISCOVER
30 EMERGING ARTISTS
HAND PICKED BY...
to educate us rather than just play another gig
on another tour. He champions the importance
of hip hop for all: “Rap is something you do, hip
hop is something you live.” It’s a campaign he’s
been fighting for a long time, and hopefully for
a long time to come. As he walks off stage, DJ
Predator Prime ​jumps back into his mix. The
Blast Master then appears at the entrance,
and is quickly mobbed by the crowd, having
his photo taken with everyone who wants
one, signing anything and everything. It’s a
rare sight to see, especially straight after a set
running over two hours. He’s after hearts and
minds, to convert to his gospel of hip hop. No
one leaves Arts Club unsatisfied.
Kieran Donnachie / @KieranDonnachie
KRS-ONE (Mike Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com)
ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
Buffalo Riot – Lunar Runway
I Love Live Events @ Arts Club
If fresh-faced youths with an Arctic Monkeys
fixation are your thing, LUNAR RUNWAY have
big shoes to fill. Even though they’re just
starting out, they’re winning at Liverpool venue
Top Trumps, adding Arts Club to Studio 2, O2
Academy, and Sefton Park Palm House (at X&Y
Festival). In fact, the only criticism (and it’s a
small one) is that there’s no attempt to recreate
the heavenly choirs of On The Bathroom Tiles
in a live situation.
BUFFALO RIOT are in the middle of an
HUW STEPHENS / JOHN KENNEDY / TIM BURGESS
GUY GARVEY / MIKE WALSH (RADIO X) / FRANK TURNER
DROWNED IN SOUND / CLINT BOON / JOHN ROBB
KATE HUTCHINSON (GUARDIAN GUIDE) / JOE FRANKLAND (PRS)
LARA BAKER (AIM) / TIM THOMAS (BLUEPRINT STUDIOS)
THE LINE OF BEST FIT / THE TIPPING POINT
SHELL ZENNER (BBC INTRODUCING)
ELIZABETH ALKER (BBC 6 MUSIC)
PLUS MANY MORE…
MUSIC TICKET £15 / CONFERENCE PASS £20
TICKETS FROM OTRMCR.CO.UK

32
Bido Lito! November 2016 Reviews
abrasive sound live than on record, group
leader Phil Rourke’s initial conception of the
group as a grunge band makes more sense on
stage as the quartet parachute in somewhere
close to Seattle territory, albeit armed with a
bullet-belt full of chorus effects pedals. Bassist
Sam Banks leads the rough-edged, heavily
reverbed sound with teeth-rattlingly resonant
lines backed by sticksman Andy Fernihough’s
foundation work, while Pete Seddon – on loan
from People//Talk – supplies the fuzzed-up
rhythm guitar parts.
Intriguingly stood sideways-on to the
crowd, Rourke’s vocals evoke the resigned
sigh of post-punk denizens Barney Sumner and
Robert Smith, the Cold War gloom of the early
80s relocated to the present day. Powering
through August Eyes and their best song to
date, This City To Yours, an extended take on
Vessels supplies the evening’s finale. With the
next two EP instalments due soon, the chance
to see what they unveil next will fortunately be
here before 2016 is out.
Richard Lewis
Eleanor Friedberger (Georgia Flynn / georgiaflynn.com)
FESTIVAL NO. 6
Portmeirion
FESTIVAL NO. 6 in the rain, a slate-grey
unashamedly wide road, but they’re flipping wellrehearsed,
tight as something really tight, and
play the Loft at Arts Club like it’s a stadium. They’re
on something of a high right now, with their album
Pale Blue Oceans released over the summer,
acclaim for their session at the last Liverpool
Acoustic Festival, and now a juicy support slot for
one of the most acclaimed songwriters this year.
Oh, and a substantial fan club making up most of
the audience. Unfortunately, they take half that
audience with them when they leave the stage.
Fortunately, they’re supporting an artist who
thrives on intimacy. Rooting through a tote bag
and fiddling with the settings on her amplifier
before her set proper, ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
is still an effortless stage presence. Even with
her back turned, she’s the natural focus of our
attention. Her material might often be slower,
quieter, more spacious than her support acts’,
but it waits for nobody and leads the audience
wherever she wishes: there’s a wake of rapt
listeners trailing after the last chords of each
song.
With a growing back catalogue to draw on
(Because I Asked You, A Long Walk), Friedberger
can afford to throw in a few songs by her ‘other
band’ The Fiery Furnaces (I’m Gonna Run, Keep
Me In The Dark, and Benton Harbor Blues as a
welcome throwback to the more innocent days
of 2006) and even gently magnificent cover of
Cate Le Bon’s Love Is Not Love. It’s her own
words that echo longest, and not just because
of the sparse audience. She delivers her lyrics
with a Mona Lisa gaze that reaches wherever
you stand in the room. Some are rooted to the
spot; it’s a mystery how she manages it as a
flesh-and-blood performer. Indeed, listening
to Stare At The Sun (containing the fabulous
tercet, “If that was goodbye/Then the sea has
run dry/So I’ll fill it with tears instead”), you
could be forgiven for thinking it was the sun
staring at you.
Stuart Miles O’Hara / @ohasm1
OH WELL, GOODBYE
Echo Beach – Songs For
Walter – The AV Society
Hail Hail Records @ Maguire’s Pizza Bar
Entering the back room of DIY wellspring
Maguire’s, we are greeted by a large screen to
the rear of the stage area announcing the live
debut of THE AV SOCIETY. A one-man mission
piloted by Sam from indie stalwarts Married
To The Sea, the Soundtrack In Real Time
project sees the guitarist supplying music to
accompanying visuals. That the film in question
at first glance looks like a cinema release until
it becomes apparent it was created specially
to accompany the set speaks volumes for its
production quality. An impressive opening
salvo, the performance finishes with Movement
For Plastic Axe Normally Used For Guitar Hero,
my invented title for the last cut, played on said
device.
Mancunian quartet SONGS FOR WALTER
revisit the plaintive pop that was the stock
in trade of the indie scene in the early-to-mid
1980s, defined by the NME’s landmark C86
compilation. Using said cassette as a yardstick,
the four-piece are thankfully nearer to Scottish
twee-pop outfit The Pastels than the likes of,
say, Bogshed (whaddaya mean, who?). The
boy-girl vocals call Veronica Falls to mind, the
bass-less quartet’s short-story lyrics exemplars
of The Smiths’ strain of literate indie pop, the
reverbed lead vocals lending the tracks an
extra layer of spaciousness. The penultimate
track provides the highlight, a series of rolling
arpeggios backed by a rolling drumbeat that
took ‘years’ to track down.
Alternating between post-rock instrumental
passages evocative of Low (just don’t call ‘em
slowcore, the Minnesotans hate that) and
something akin to latter day alt. pop (don’t
call it dream pop, people usually complain),
ECHO BEACH are at times reminiscent of Wild
Nothing. The band have their surf ‘n’ shoegaze
formula nailed down: two parts shimmering
guitars, one part diversions into synth-powered
introspection. Understandably rough around
the edges, with tracks occasionally sounding
like the group have collectively lurched over a
speedbump, jolting the members forwards, for
the most part they’re very promising.
Headliners OH WELL, GOODBYE announce
themselves with a bracing intro, tearing into a
faster, more febrile version of Clandestine from
Swoon, the most recent of the band’s ongoing
series of EP releases. Wielding a tougher, more
sky, stair rods from the Giants Causeway
blowing in across the Irish Sea. The ubiquitous
ponchos are out in force, flapping in the breeze,
sticking to the skin. The bars are rammed, the
atmosphere stoic. The surrounding scenery still
looks magnificent though, hills shrouded in
mist, the slow-moving estuary waters gliding
by.
Regardless of the weather, the best way to
‘get’ this festival is to pitch yourself into the
myriad charms it holds and work out the details
later. GERRY AND THE HOLOGRAMS are doing
their zany best to make the sun shine, through
a false (Garcia-like) beard and psych rock blues.
“We’d like to do a number by Bob Dylan but he
never plays any of ours so fuck him, here’s a
new one of ours”. They’re spilling out of The
Gatehouse for the Ricky Tomlinson/Johnny
Vegas chat, and a Welsh bard is holding a crowd
in the Piazza with what initially sounds like a
traditional medieval ballad until I hear them
happily joining in with a chorus of “A-dogging
I will go”. He is followed by a jitterbugging,
Lindy-hopping troupe who quickly have the
crowd spinning beneath a canopy of whirling
umbrellas.
Saturday afternoon, and events in the
woods and at the Estuary Stage have sadly
been cancelled but such is the multifarious
nature of the No. 6 site that there are still an
incredible number of nooks and crannies for
the inquisitive to explore and delight in. You
could actually not go and see a band and you’d
still hear some fabulous tunes, the food
bidolito.co.uk

34
Bido Lito! November 2016 Reviews
crowd.
I’m picking up good vibrations from the full
tent where A CERTAIN RATIO’s electro-funk is
in full flow. The heavy bass, funky drumming,
skipping guitar and clarinet flourishes are
topped off with Denise Johnson’s superb
soul funk vocal. Across the field, Can vocalist
MALCOLM MOONEY performs the album
Monster Movie with a young band. “Who are
those guys?” my co-pilot asks. I’ve no idea,
but they smash the hell out of it with fuzzedup
guitars and driving rhythms. Mooney
looking genuinely moved and elated by their
performance.
The stair rods have softened to a Scotch mist
and nothing can dampen the expectations
of a huge crowd in the Central Piazza for the
performance of Dr JOHN COOPER CLARKE. Hire
Car, Twat (joyfully concluded by the crowd),
Beasley Street and the stand-up patter have
me in tears of laughter as always. As the rain
gets heavier, a stage hand comes out to put
Clarke’s notepad under cover. “Oh, I see, I stay
out here and catch pneumonia, don’t let the
fuckin’ notebook get wet.”
stalls, bar tents, and the boom bike pumping
out a classic mix of funk, soul, disco and rap.
In the Town Hall, the Uke Can Do It! ukulele
workshop has packed them in and wandering
vagabond Gary’s witty repartee and A & E
notation has them strumming along in no
Hot Chip (Glyn Akroyd / @glynakroyd)
time. Outside, the fish girls swim upstream,
mouths opening and closing, and the No. 6
bus disco dances its way through the smiling
Aloft in the tower of the Dome Galley,
NATALIE MCCOOL follows up last year’s set
with an assured performance, the reverb of her
guitar washes underscoring her soaring vocal.
The Galley is full to bursting by the time Bear
Growls’ Bowie Disco swings into action, and

Reviews
Bido Lito! November 2016
35
people are singing and dancing on the terrace
outside and peering in through the windows to
capture a slice of the celebratory atmosphere.
As darkness falls, the Kazimier Collective begin
a lantern-lit, silver-robed procession towards
their rendezvous with space-traveller Captain
Kronos, whose appearance is for some a
reminder of the happy days of Wolstenholme
Square and for others a spectacular
introduction to Krunk consciousness. Later,
HOT CHIP defy the elements and inspire surely
one of the muddiest, spectacularly-lit mass
pogoes ever.
Sunday dawns, drier, brighter, and by midday
there is already a disco party happening at the
vodka bar, top hats and feathers ringing our
bells. A lovely moment comes at the Lost At
Sea Stage, the bird’s nest of a look-out high
above the estuary. The beautiful country folk
of LUCY AND VIRGINIA – guitars, mandolins,
violin and bewitching harmonies – has drawn
an enchanted audience when a distant
drumbeat is heard. It gets louder and louder
as a parade winds its way through the village,
threatening to drown out the siren calls and
provoking looks of amused concern amongst
our company until a rhythmic handclap breaks
out to help the song to its conclusion amidst
laughter and applause.
Today we can go down to the woods –
techno, house and disco are blasting out
amongst tangled limbs and branches and the
Lost In The Woods stage hosts some excellent,
diverse performances: FICKLE FRIENDS’ synth
pop groove, THE VRYLL SOCIETY’s psych dream
ride and CRAZY P’s polished disco/funk all play
to acolytes and converts in equal measure.
Walking down the hill from the woods, the
techno beats thunder in my left ear whilst,
in my right, the voices of the BRYTHONIAID
MALE VOICE CHOIR float ethereally up from
the Piazza, equally powerful and rather more
moving.
Back at the Clough Stage there’s a one-towatch
performance by HMS MORRIS – rocksolid
rhythm and loopy synth, some great
hooks and poppy melodies, all fronted by
Heledd Watkins’ driving guitar and riveting
vocal contortions. The crowd is rightly knocked
out.
The Main Stage pulls the largest crowds for
BOWIE RE-IMAGINED, SUPER FURRY ANIMALS
and NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS,
but the nooks and crannies have it. Does the
beastly mud and oomska ruin No. 6? Nah –
it has a go, but people rise above it, with no
little style: the onesied, the sequined, the tophatted,
the tu-tued and the be-suited pull on
their Wellington boots and dance and sing
through it all. No. 6 is not just a number.
Glyn Akroyd / @glynakroyd
Festival No. 6 (Glyn Akroyd / @glynakroyd)
Box office:
theatkinson.co.uk
(Booking fees apply)
(01704) 533 333
–
: TheAtkinson
: @AtkinsonThe
: TheAtkinsonSouthport
The Atkinson
Lord Street
Southport
PR8 1DB
Ian Siegal Band:
The Twentyfive
Tour
–
Thu 10 November, 8.00pm
“A National Treasure”
– Classic Rock/The Blues

36
Bido Lito! November 2016 Reviews
FLOATING POINTS
Blehrin – Melodic Distraction
ENRG01 @ Invisible Wind Factory
It doesn’t feel like a rave. It feels like a party,
a party thrown by that one cool supervisor for
their co-workers. The turbines are rotating
in time with the hi-hat. Somebody takes the
stool from next to me, and the sound of its legs
scraping on the floor lines up perfectly with a
conga break from MELODIC DISTRACTION. It
isn’t quite rammed yet, but they don’t tone
down their sound for the distinct after-work
drinks vibe (or is it just me?). It’s a wonderfully
mixed crowd: Kazimier once-regulars in the
yellow spotlight, kids who’ve strayed off the
beaten path (from Concert Square) in the
purple, and aging clubbers where the two
meet.
The next set is very liberal with the
saxophone solos. Now, that could be levelled
as a criticism at some, but it just bounces
off BLEHRIN. His set is dreamier and less
melodically distracting. When he rolls the
treble back, he could appear self-absorbed
and distant, but it’s just the care and precision
he takes at the decks. It’s appropriate given
how meticulous FLOATING POINTS’ approach
to his music is.
Don’t let his scientific background fool
you – Sam Shephed’s ear for a sample is so
intuitive, even the oddest choices end up
being so persuasive; there’s no way he could
have layered them any differently. Wriggling
orchestral synths? Worth a shot. Sticking Bill
Withers’ (first album, first track) Harlem over
it? That’s a push. How does it work, and how
does the electronica stay intact? It might turn
out to be genius. Might. He’s not afraid to shut
down completely to ease in a new sound, a
stunt Blehrin pulled earlier, but with Shepherd
picking the records, it’s usually some luxurious
synth, and even when that crescendo turns out
to be a horn section and glitterball vocals, the
umbilicus has long since been cut – it simply
ain’t disco anymore.
Vintage Wedding Wear
162 Seabank Road
New Brighton
CH45 1HG
@love.saves.the.day
lovesavesthedayvintage
All night long, the stewards wear tabards of
pulsating lights, the Vegas incarnation of the
Queen of Hearts’ guard. One of them grabs a
small metal box with knobs and a green LED
display and rushes off with it. What does it do
and what does he need it for?
Stuart Miles O’Hara / @ohasm1
RODDY WOOMBLE
Ceremony Concerts @
Philharmonic Music Room
It must be a simultaneously liberating
and daunting feeling to step away from the
supportive atmosphere of working as part
Roddy Woomble (Stuart Moulding / @oohshootstu)
of a whole and strike your own chord as an beautiful, lilting passages. These songs speak
individual performer. So it was for RODDY of community, of self, and of the landscapes
WOOMBLE in 2006 when he left the comfort that shaped the writer, this resident of the
zone of Idlewild to record his solo debut Western Isles.
album My Secret Is My Silence. Released with As a frontman, Roddy Woomble displays
an abject lack of anything that could be even a shy but captivating charm, choosing to
remotely described as promotion, the album perform side on, and standing at the side of
found its way in the world more despite the stage when not singing, letting the music
Woomble than because of him. The intervening take the focus. It’s an endearing quality to his
10 years have seen this collection of enigmatic performance, and proves the value he places
and evocative Scottish folk songs grow in the on collaboration and engagement. The band
hearts of its listeners and take its place as one tonight are faultless, as is the sound in The
of the most important records of its time, its Music Room, with only the addition of Hannah
roots, and its country.
Fisher’s violin to lend the folk edge; it’s a
To celebrate the 10-year anniversary, grittier, rockier sound than we’d anticipated.
Woomble took to the road to perform the If I Could Name Any Name is another highlight,
album in its entirety to packed houses up and a frail and pretty ballad, and another moment
down the country. And we mean ‘up and down where Woomble’s lyrical insight is held up to
the country’. On his way to Liverpool from the the much-deserved light, as rich in intent as it
previous night’s show in Norwich, somebody is in its delivery. Waverley Steps – written about
decided to close the M6, meaning a late arrival Woomble finding himself living in Greenwich
of the band for us, and a nightmare nine-and-ahalf-hour
journey for them. Well, we’ve waited Edinburgh skyline and its people – sees him
Village, a dream in itself, but yearning for the
10 years to hear these songs live, another in eyes closed contemplation, honing in on
couple of minutes won’t hurt. And obviously, that other time, that place, giving depth to his
as it turns out, it’s more than worth the wait. passion for both places, and the part they’ve
There’s a warm, engaging quality to this played in getting him to this point.
collection of songs, as there is too much He mentions the lack of fanfare that this
of his work, and the rich, cracked timbre of album received on its release, and he’s right
Woomble’s voice carries the images across that it’s by no means polished, it has its flaws,
the landscapes he describes. From the prosaic but tonight in The Music Room, Roddy Woomble
fragile introspection of the opening song I is relieved that the songs are finally getting the
Came In From The Mountain, we’re reminded of live treatment and the warm welcome they’ve
his skill in delivering these images, his innate so richly deserved for such a long time.
talent for phrasing his doubts and fears into
Paul Fitzgerald / @NothingvilleM

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38
Bido Lito! November 2016 Reviews
CAVALRY
Flyying Colours – Bathymetry
EVOL @ Buyers Club
With its first birthday just passed, Hardman
Street gig mecca Buyers Club has carved out an
impressive niche over the past 12 months as a
rite of passage venue for Liverpool bands, much
like The Picket, the gig space that preceded it.
Following the off-beat alt. pop of live-circuit
regulars BATHYMETRY, Antipodean shoegaze
crew FLYYING COLOURS arrive onstage. After
checking that the density of their wall of
sound is just so, the four-piece tear into It’s
Tomorrow Now, a pile-driving psych rock
banger redolent of early Ride classic Drive
Blind. Gently admonishing the audience for
hanging so far back in the venue, lead singer
Brodie Brümmer signals the start of Long
Holiday, a journey into more indie pop pastures.
Injecting the ragged energy of grunge into the
mix, thunderous sticksman Andy Lloyd Russell
flails away to impressive effect, while singer/
guitarist Gemma O’Connor adds melodic
ballast. The 2013 track that marked them out
as notables, Wavy Gravy, is dropped into the
set late on before an extended take on Mellow
concludes the affair with waves of rippling
guitar distortion and new converts seemingly
won over.
Following the Aussies’ sonic firepower,
headliners CAVALRY are a less forceful
Cavalry (Mike Sheerin / michaelsheerin.photoshelter.com)
prospect, acoustic guitars replacing the dense particular bunfight has been put together to
swirl of stomp-box-driven electrics. This celebrate the recent release of double A-side
Ceremony Concerts Present
George Monbiot & Ewan McLennan
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool - Thursday 20 th October 2016
Blue Rose Code
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – Friday 21 st October 2016
Robyn Hitchcock
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool - Saturday 22 nd October 2016
Kristin Hersh
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – Saturday 19 th November 2016
Michael Chapman & Nick Ellis
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool - Sunday 20 th November 2016
Sheelanagig
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool - Sunday 27 th November 2016
James Yorkston
The Magnet, Liverpool – Thursday 15 th December 2016
King Creosote
RNCM, Manchester – Monday 16 th January 2017
Ezio
The Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – Thursday 16 th March 2017
Ian Prowse & Amsterdam
25 th Anniversary show celebrating 'Fireworks' by Pele
Ruby Lounge, Manchester – Saturday 18 th March 2017
TicketQuarter / See Tickets / WeGotTickets / Gigantic

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SATURDAY 22ND OCTOBER
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THURSDAY 27TH OCTOBER
CAPITAL’S MONSTER MASH-UP FEAT.
CRAIG DAVID, SIGALA, SIGMA DJ
SET AND MORE
SUNDAY 30TH OCTOBER
AMON AMARTH
MONDAY 31ST OCTOBER
THE WAILERS
FRIDAY 4TH NOVEMBER
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SATURDAY 5TH NOVEMBER
JIMMY EAT WORLD
THURSDAY 10TH NOVEMBER
D’BANJ
FRIDAY 11TH NOVEMBER
ARCHITECTS
SATURDAY 12TH NOVEMBER
THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY FT.
FRANKIE BOYLE
MONDAY 14TH NOVEMBER
CARAVAN PALACE
WEDNESDAY 16TH NOVEMBER
THE DAMNED
FRIDAY 18TH NOVEMBER
LUSH
FRIDAY 25TH NOVEMBER
MARILLION
MONDAY 28TH NOVEMBER
THE FRATELLIS
TUESDAY 29TH NOVEMBER
NOTHING BUT THIEVES
THURSDAY 1ST DECEMBER
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
SUNDAY 4TH DECEMBER
CHRISTMAS QUEENS FT. THE STARS
OF RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE
MONDAY 5TH DECEMBER
TRIBUTE TO MANCHESTER VOL. 2:
THE SECOND COMING
FRIDAY 9TH DECEMBER
SCHOOLBOY Q
SUNDAY 11TH DECEMBER
THE CORAL
SATURDAY 17TH DECEMBER
CLUTCH
SUNDAY 18TH DECEMBER
THE GAME
TUESDAY 20TH DECEMBER
FORMERLY THE MDH FORMERLY THE HOP & GRAPE FORMERLY THE CELLAR
MADDIE & TAE
SATURDAY 22ND OCTOBER
JP COOPER
THURSDAY 27TH OCTOBER
OBITUARY / EXODUS
FRIDAY 28TH OCTOBER
THE UNDERTONES
SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER
MATT BERRY & THE MAYPOLES
SUNDAY 30TH OCTOBER
LOCAL NATIVES
TUESDAY 8TH NOVEMBER
LAKE STREET DIVE
WEDNESDAY 9TH NOVEMBER
PEACHES
THURSDAY 10TH NOVEMBER
KASKADE
FRIDAY 11TH NOVEMBER
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK
LIVEWIRE AC/DC VS FEDERAL CHARM
SATURDAY 12TH NOVEMBER
FOY VANCE
SUNDAY 13TH NOVEMBER
LACUNA COIL
WEDNESDAY 16TH NOVEMBER
LUCKY CHOPS
SUNDAY 20TH NOVEMBER
SAMPHA
WEDNESDAY 23RD NOVEMBER
THE ORB
FRIDAY 25TH NOVEMBER
HINDS
SATURDAY 26TH NOVEMBER
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WEDNESDAY 30TH NOVEMBER
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THURSDAY 1ST DECEMBER
ABSOLUTE BOWIE
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WEDNESDAY 7TH DECEMBER
SHURA
FRIDAY 9TH DECEMBER
PAUL YOUNG
SUNDAY 11TH DECEMBER
BRIAN MCKNIGHT
THURSDAY 15TH DECEMBER
CHAMELEONS VOX
SATURDAY 17TH DECEMBER
THE TEMPER TRAP
MONDAY 19TH DECEMBER
ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE
FRIDAY 21ST OCTOBER
KYRIS
SATURDAY 22ND OCTOBER
911
FRIDAY 28TH OCTOBER
UK FOO FIGHTERS TRIBUTE
SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER
BARS AND MELODY
SUNDAY 30TH OCTOBER
KSI
TUESDAY 1ST NOVEMBER
ANNIHILATOR
WEDNESDAY 2ND NOVEMBER
LIL DEBBIE
THURSDAY 3RD NOVEMBER
DAN BAIRD & HOMEMADE SIN
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TOO HIGH TO RIOT TOUR FT. BAS
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SLAMBOREE
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THE SOUTHMARTINS
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EDEN’S CURSE
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MOTORHEADACHE
(A TRIBUTE TO LEMMY)
FRIDAY 25TH NOVEMBER
THE DOORS ALIVE
SATURDAY 26TH NOVEMBER
ELIZA AND THE BEAR
FRIDAY 2ND DECEMBER
BIG COUNTRY - THE SEER TOUR
SATURDAY 3RD DECEMBER
LARKIN POE
MONDAY 5TH DECEMBER
EVIL BLIZZARD
SATURDAY 10TH DECEMBER
JOEY DEVRIES
SUNDAY 11TH DECEMBER
AYNSLEY LISTER
SATURDAY 17TH DECEMBER
UNION J
SUNDAY 5TH FEBRUARY
THE FEELING
WEDNESDAY 19TH OCTOBER
SOME KIND OF ILLNESS
FRIDAY 21ST OCTOBER
THE REAL MCCOY LOVERS
FRIDAY 28TH OCTOBER
TONY JOE WHITE
SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER
KAT & ROMAN KOSTRZEWSKI
SUNDAY 30TH OCTOBER
THE JAPANESE HOUSE
WEDNESDAY 2ND NOVEMBER
BLUES PILLS
SATURDAY 5TH NOVEMBER
THEATRE OF HATE
SUNDAY 6TH NOVEMBER
IMPERICON NEVER SAY DIE!
TOUR 2016
MONDAY 7TH NOVEMBER
SILVERSUN PICKUPS
TUESDAY 8TH NOVEMBER
MENTALLICA
FRIDAY 11TH NOVEMBER
THE GRAHAM BONNET BAND
SATURDAY 12TH NOVEMBER
ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD
MONDAY 14TH NOVEMBER
SKA-TALITES
FRIDAY 18TH NOVEMBER
ELECTRIC SIX
WEDNESDAY 23RD NOVEMBER
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40
Bido Lito! November 2016 Reviews
single Everything and Lucerne on venerated
indie label Fierce Panda and a homecoming
in general, and both tracks showcase the
quintet’s sound to excellent effect.
Founded on a wealth of Americana
influences – Calexico, Bon Iver, The National
–with a smattering of Elbow’s emotiveness,
the five-piece effectively create widescreen
folk rock infused with atmospheric washes of
FX pedals and synths. Battling against a fair
amount of chatter from the crowd, the band
are easily able to recreate their sound live, the
tracks on point throughout. Benefitting from a
mix that brings out the delicacy of the song’s
guitar arpeggios, which take flight when the
rhythm section enters, lead singer Alan Croft
bosses the songs as they rise to a crescendo.
Whilst everything here is beautifully played
and the set doesn’t deliver any complete
howlers, a bit more grit in the oyster would
definitely be welcome; some contrasting
spikiness to puncture the loveliness elsewhere.
Variations in pace and/or bigger choruses
would truly see the band shoot up a level.
Encouragingly, one of the best tracks aired is a
new one “that doesn’t have a title yet”, which
breezes across beautifully. A few more things
may need to fall into place for Cavalry to fully
deliver knockout punches, but their contender
status is assured beyond doubt.
Richard Lewis
PRETTY GREEN PRESENT:
THE LIVERPOOL WEEKENDER
Upper Blade Factory
Manchester and Liverpool may have their
differences, but one thing they agree on is
that it’s imperative to look great when you’re
playing your world-beating music. Pretty
Green’s Liverpool Weekender is a collision of
the conjoined worlds of fashion and music, with
many of the acts playing across the two stages
in Camp and Furnace’s Upper Blade Factory and
Gold Room going missing amongst the racks
Sankofa (Keith Ainsworth / arkimages.co.uk)
of the fashion label’s extensive sample sale
between sets. With three days to get through,
it will be a challenge to work out whether the
threads or the tunes are sharper.
RED RUM CLUB are pure rock ‘n’ roll swagger,
and the boisterous Friday night crowd is
lapping it up as they break into their single
& Supports
17th December
Seel Street Liverpool
Ticket Available At: Ticketweb, See, Ticketmaster, Gigantic, Ticketline,
02 AcademyBox Office. Ticket Price: £12.50 Advance, £15 Door

Reviews
Bido Lito! November 2016
41
The TV Said So. It’s a short foray into standard
indie rock territory, and definitely has the air
of radio fodder about it. The interesting bits
come when the Spaghetti Western trumpet
sounds explode over the crowd, giving their
sound an Ennio Morricone soundtrack feel but
with those northern swaggering vocals akin
to Alex Turner’s. The momentum doesn’t stop
as they roll on into each song, trumpet blaring
and guitar rumbling.
PSYCHO COMEDY’s vocalist Shaun Powell,
sporting a Beefheart-esque hat, growls, “Can I
have reverb, shit loads of it!” into his mic. With
one of the band’s guitarists sporting a CBGB
T-shirt, it points to this being punk (New Yorkstyle)
and loud – and there’s nothing wrong
with that. Local poet Matthew Thomas Smith
joins Psycho Comedy onstage for the opener,
spitting out the band’s manifesto over the
growling music. Each track comes with an
ephemeral garage rock haze to it, held together
by the Stooges-like proto-punk grit. It’s not a
clean sound, but Psycho Comedy revel in the
sludge. Like many of Liverpool’s upstarts,
they’re a product of a generation of global not
regional music, leftfield of what we’ve had
before, edging along between fist-pumpingly
political and danceably primal.
Continuing our tour of America, all from
within the comfort of Upper Blade Factory, we
have SANKOFA. This time it’s the Deep South for
some sumptuous but murky psychedelic blues
rock. The meandering solos prevalent in both
styles of music reverberate through the crowd.
It’s all tied together by the voice of Stephen
Wall. He doesn’t sing in a faux American accent,
but still manages to deliver a powerful and
soulful punch with each lyric, which swims in
the same waters as the Black Keys’ Missisipi
Delta. Not one head isn’t rocking, nor a toe not
tapping. Their name is of significance tonight,
with every band having grown from the seed
of music past. It’s from the Ghanaian Twi
language, roughly meaning ‘go back and get
it’, and get it they do.
Saturday’s acoustic sets begin with breaking
Wirral collective JO MARY. Perfecting their craft
over the water, away from prying eyes, the
group's reputation and musical talent has
snowballed in recent months. Dropping their
characteristic lo-fi sound (as well as a couple
of members), the group play minimalist trippy
rock basked in a gravelly glory. Despite a small
crowd, the group establish their potential as
well as their stamp on the rising Liverpool
scene.
The evening action sees the bands amped
up and rocking again, and the audacious lad
rock of BRIBES is charged with getting things
moving. Equipped with leather jackets and a
Gallagher swagger, this group seem the most
fitting band of the evening. Playing good oldfashioned
rock ‘n’ roll and armed to the teeth
with a knowing confidence and Britpop riffs,
the group draw in a huge crowd of devoted
followers – not a bad feat for a group yet to
release their first single.
Following on from the exhilarating Bribes,
we’re greeted by slightly more familiar faces
of THE SHIPBUILDERS. Having started out life
as a somewhat folky, indie group, it seems the
group have evolved into an entirely different
beast. With galloping drums and waning
guitars, they seem to have expertly fused the
genius of Morricone and Moroder to create
upbeat Western-inspired indie with just a hint
of disco.
With a sudden change of mood we’re
pitched into the lo-fi delights of AJHD. Having
disappeared off the face of the Earth for a few
months, it only takes a few notes before we
remember exactly why we love them. Perhaps
the darkest band of the night, they offer a
stream of consciousness lyrical style combined
with their ability to juxtapose the ethereal with
the brutal. AJHD provide a breath of fresh air
with their eclecticism of distortion-led rock and
delicate sordid lullabies.
Having gorged on some of Liverpool’s best
musical delights we are in in for one final treat
this evening with the arrival of Liverpool’s
answer to Brian Wilson, TOM LOW, who has
won hearts across the country with his Phone
EP, amazingly all recorded on his mobile phone.
With his humble and casual approach Low
brings light into the darkness which envelops
the room. Born from the bedroom, the music
jumps to life miraculously onstage in a swirl
of psychedelic colour painted with synth and
echoing guitars, with the audience treated to
the occasional field recording. There’s a certain
magic and childlike innocence to the music,
which adds an almost Sgt. Pepper-esque vibe
to the performance. He rounds off the night
with his blissful alien pop. It’s nights like
these when we are reminded of the wealth of
Liverpool’s rich and diverse music scene, which
we are so lucky to have.
Kieran Donnachie / @KieranDonnachie
Matt Hogarth
GARY NUMAN
I Speak Machine
Liverpool Olympia
The juxtaposition of pale, white skin on a
brutalist canvas of jet black streaked with
jarring stripes of red proves early on that, to
GARY NUMAN, theatre and drama are just as
important as the music that’s packaged within.
So it seems almost perfect for the 80s icon to
be performing at the Olympia tonight. The
extravagantly carved elephants, the flaking
gilt paint which covers the walls, and the
vertigo-inducing heights of the top balcony
seem a fitting theatre for him. Come this cold
September night somewhere just out of town,
it’s obvious that support for tonight’s headline
act is far from flaking. A sea of black awaits
us in a variety of forms from leather jackets to
thick eyeliner.
Having made our way through the theatre’s
grand doors, we find ourselves watching the
brilliant I SPEAK MACHINE. Tara Busch and
Maf Lewis, who make up the audiovisual
duo, formed a close relationship with Numan
when they created a zombie short featuring
his kids – and it’s easy to see how Numan’s
inspiration infiltrates their musical work,
beyond connections of friendship. Creating
soaring analogue synth soundscapes, Busch
Pretty Green Weekender (Keith Ainsworth / arkimages.co.uk)

42
Bido Lito! November 2016 Reviews
– the musical element of the multimedia duo –
narrowly avoids Numan’s pop roots in favour
of something slightly more brutal. Backed by
Lewis’ strikingly bold imagery, Busch paints vivid
pictures twiddling knobs and hitting keys whilst
occasionally punctuating the landscapes with
wildly distorted vocals.
Having suitably established the mood with a
set saturated with sounds and very few words,
it’s time for the cult leader to deliver his sermon
to his devoted followers. A series of neon red
beams fly at the audience to announce Numan’s
arrival, refracting off the mass of bald heads
which swim below, acting like a beacon for
the electro pioneer. Having lost the withdrawn
robotism of his early years, there seems to have
been an almost Kafkaesque transformation,
with Numan appearing more like a rock god. He
is followed on stage by his band, who, slightly
incongruously, have the air of a Danish black
metal band. However, the addition of the big
rock guitars and the full band adds just another
dimension to his music.
Primarily leaving the instruments to his
bandmates, Numan has full room to oscillate
about the stage and take hold of the audience,
which he does with aplomb. Casting behemoth
shadows amidst the dazzling light show, he
really does put on a show, keeping the audience
firmly in his grasp the entire time. Proving that
there’s more to the man than Cars and Are Friends
Electric?, even to those there for the novelty, the
noir figure offers a distinctive performance
which takes us on a multi-sensory tour de force
as striking on the eyes as it is on the ears. It may
be getting on for 40 years since Numan first
performed, but it seems like the synthesiser god
is immortal, playing like it’s still 1979.
Matt Hogarth
PROFESSOR YAFFLE
Charlie McKeown
Nothingville Music @ The
Scandinavian Church
Under the arched dome in the hallowed
space of the Gustaf Adolfs Kyrka, the pews
full and the remaining standing spaces tightly
Gary Numan (John Johnson / johnjohnson-photography.com)
packed, the lesser-spotted PROFFESOR YAFFLE
delivers a set of cosmic lullabies and acoustic
delight on a hot Saturday night.
You could never accuse Professor Yaffle of
playing too many gigs. Their appearances are
few and far between, and this September’s
performance is their first since they supported
Michael Head And The Red Elastic Band at The
Florrie back in December. In fact, this is only
Yeah Buddy!'s 3rd Birthday Party
Mad King Ludwig & The Mojo Co
& False Advertising
&
Don't Worry
&
Elevant
&
Lightcliffe
&
Sheepy
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NOVEMBER 2016

44
Bido Lito! November 2016 Reviews
SOUND MATTERS
In this monthly column, our friends at DAWSONS give expert tips and advice on how to
achieve a great sound in the studio or in the live environment. Armed with the knowledge to
solve any musical problem, the techy aficionados provide Bido Lito! readers with the benefit of
their experience so you can get the sound you want. Here, Dawsons’ drum genius Eej answers
a question inspired by last month’s feature interview with Natalie McCool.
FOR A BAND WHO WANT TO
EXPLORE THE ALTERNATIVES
TO A FULL KIT, TAKE US
THROUGH THE DIFFERENT
OPTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO
DRUM SETUPS ON STAGE.
Variations in drum setups available for
bands now are massive, with acoustic,
electronic and hybrid kit options all available
in a wide array of combinations. Thanks to
triggers that feel vibrations from the acoustic
setup, such as Roland’s RT1, analogue sounds
are sent into a drum brain that’s programmed
with a mass array of sounds, which gives
the drummer unique creativity. Bands
writing their own stuff can take a sample of
anything, from a massive thunder crack to a
vocal. Obviously, in terms of experimenting
with sounds, this allows bands to move
further afield in creating unique sounds and
broadening the horizons of their respective
genres; instead of taking one kit on stage
now, essentially, you can take 50. This allows
drummers to offer something melodic such
as tuned percussion, and it gives them
more depth as different tunings for different
songs are instantaneously recallable. A good
example of this in action is Gotye’s 2012 hit
Somebody I Used to Know, which is not very
intricate but is very effective because it uses
a lot of tuned percussion, which frees up the
rest of the band. You can get the sample to be
triggered by a drum trigger to the point where
entire songs can be sampled.
The development of these setups has
come on a lot in the last few decades. My
first recollection of a hybrid setup being
used effectively is from Genesis’s Turn It
bidolito.co.uk
On Tour, where Phil Collins and Chester
Thompson used Roland’s TD-10 brain with
RT1s on their toms and snares to replicate
the highly processed sound popular in the
late 1980s in a live environment. There are
too many contemporary bands to name
who use these setups but two household
names – Duran Duran and Muse – stick out.
In terms of bands playing smaller venues,
these kits are particularly effective as they
allow for minimal microphones – meaning
less interference – to be used with triggers
feeding into drum brains which can be sent
straight to the mixing desk, giving a much
fuller sound. Electronic drum sounds are
getting closer and closer to acoustic sounds
all the time too; Roland have now brought
out a digital drum ride symbol and a digital
snare. In the near future they will probably
bring out digital hi-hat. Twin this with
rumours of an acoustic shell being developed
and drummers soon won’t need anything
acoustic at all.
Looking towards what the future holds, it is
very exciting. This month Roland are releasing
the TD-50, which is the existing kit with
a new snare and ride, which can’t be rated
highly enough; it’s a truly breathtaking piece
of kit. Roland have got it down to a tee now
because other brands suffer from latency,
whilst they have got it down to around 0.02
milliseconds. Latency on a Roland kit is
almost unnoticeable due to the amount of
time they’ve invested in it. This isn’t to say
that other brands aren’t good, but Roland are
the only company that has covered the whole
spectrum; they’re light years ahead. Like the
TD-30, there will be three versions to the TD-
50, so it’s definitely exciting times for any
drummer looking to explore the alternatives
to a full kit setup on stage.
You can find Dawsons at their new home at
14-16 Williamson Square.
dawsons.co.uk
Professor Yaffle (John Johnson / johnjohnson-photography.com)
their 15th gig in eight years. There’s no great Coral, and formed, layer upon layer, around
master plan to speak of here, no lofty ambition the twin vocals and guitars of Lee Rogers
of five album deals and sell-out stadium tours. and John Edge, Professor Yaffle’s spirituallyimagined
songs benefit from floating around
It’s a far more wholesome and organic idea
than that. This band simply play and write in a venue such as this, a place designed for
together because they enjoy playing and peaceful contemplation. Written with a deep
writing together. If people like it, if they turn and reflective maturity, Rogers’ songs are of
up to a gig, then all the better. And they do. love, life and the human condition. The Edge
They do like it, and they do turn up to gigs. In Of Existence, written about a friend taken
fact, the gig sold out in record time, such is the too soon, and much favoured by 6Music’s
demand for their own brand of dreamy, pysch Tom Robinson, is a favourite of the Yaffle
folk storytelling.
devotees here; lilting and emotive, it’s deep,
The evening begins with a hushed reverence sad and beautifully constructed. Rogers
around the room for the deft and delicate folk easily finds a happy medium between this
stylings of CHARLIE MCKEOWN, a gifted writer level of introspection and the humour of the
and guitarist who performs with humility everyday. Last Stop Entitlement is the tale of
and warmth. Touching on elements of Nick North Liverpool pub crawls in the 80s, while
Drake, John Martyn, and Chris Wood, there’s a Put It Out finds him despairing at an Everton
lightness and effortless touch to everything he game, while a fan behinds him lights up a
plays. He loves to be heard and, just as with spliff. The very mention of Goodison brings
Professor Yaffle, he’s appreciative of being well-humoured booing from the more clearthinking
and mature-minded red contingent in
appreciated. And here, in this space, on this
balmy late summer evening, with the last of the room, to which he replies “If you want to
the sunshine straining through the old lead boo, it’s in D”. These vignettes of life through
light windows of the Scandinavian Church, the fish-eye lens of Lee Rogers’ world, come at
he is more than appreciated. An absolutely us with relaxed charm, beguiling and luxuriant,
perfect and beguiling musical pairing against and welcomed by all, and are presented by an
the impressive backdrop of one of the city’s accomplished group of likeminded musicians
most unique venues.
who simply love to love performing. We left,
With nods to West Coast 70s folk, Fred begging for an album, which, given the sparsity
Neil, early Genesis, Simon and Garfunkel of their gigs, may be with us at some point in
and, in parts, locals such as Shack and The the next 10 years.

NOVEMBER 2016
3rd ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW & THE LOW RIDERS
4th WISHBONE ASH
5th GRAHAM ANTHONY DEVINE
6th WIRRAL SONGWRITERS
9th JOHN LEES’ BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST
10th
11th
12th
12th
16th
17th
18th
GERRY MURPHY & PETER PRICE
ESMOND SELWYN
RUMOURS OF FLEETWOOD MAC
PETER ASHER AND ALBERT LEE
JOE BROWN
AMAZING KAPPA
GLENN TILBROOK
18th JOHN GOLDIE & GEOGHEGAN JACKSON
18th NEIL CAMPBELL
19th GARY MURPHY’S GUITAR LEGENDS:
CLASSIC MOVIE ANTHEMS
19th MODJANGO & DAVE LLOYD
19th GERRY MURPHY
20th PHIL CHISNALL BAND
Call the box office or visit our website for details on ticket deals and discounts:
0151 666 0000 | bestguitarfest.com #GF16 internationalguitarfestival
Huge savings on
Promark, Roland,
Alesis, Yamaha
and more!
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CABLES AND ACCESSORIES
Cut out this coupon and bring it along to our Williamson Street store to claim 10% off products in our extensive
range of cables and accessories. Please note this offer does not extend to hardware.
Dawsons Liverpool I 14-16 Williamson Street Liverpool L1 1EB
0151 709 1455 I liverpool@dawsons.co.uk
@Dawsonsmusic
Dawsonsmusic

DIGGING A LITTLE DEEPER
with Liquidation
We’re always interested to hear what waxy gems are lurking in the depths of the record bags of
the city’s DJs, or the kind of music they’re indulging in away from the dancefloor. Liquidation’s
Jules Bennett (aka The Liquidator aka Motor Rik aka Blitzkrieg Bob aka one half of 2messyDJs)
talks us through the thinking behind some of the songs that regularly make it into his weekly DJ
sets at Liquidation, explaining how some of them have become bona fide Liquidation anthems.
“I’ve said in the past that Liquidation is defined by the songs it doesn’t play as much as by the
songs it does play - but some tracks do keep popping back up as they seem to resonate. We’ve
never tried to be like, ‘Eh, you’ve never heard this one before, mate’ either – it’s more like, ‘You’re
not expecting this’. I think you just embrace the fact that people might know more songs than you.”
HARRY J ALLSTARS
THE LIQUIDATOR
The record that the night is named after, as well as one of my DJ
pseudonyms. Maybe we wouldn’t still be here 23 years later if we were
named after the Tony Scott original, What Am I To Do? Still the first tune
out of my bag most weeks, and quite often the last one nine hours
later as well.
HOT CLUB DE PARIS
SHIPWRECK
There are quite a few tunes about that have lyrics regarding nights at
Liquidation, as there’s a rich and talented group of musical alumni out
there. HOT CLUB DE PARIS perfectly sum up that dancefloor euphoria of
hugging your new best friend as the strobes rattle your brain. “Grappled
by the epaulettes” is a lyric that you see in action most weekends. It’s
an honour seeing another generation of musicians passing through the doors of EBGBS at our
weekly pre-club free gigs too.
ARCADE FIRE
WAKE UP
I remember buying 10 copies of Funeral when it came out to give to
family and friends because I was in love with it and it was important for
people to have and hear. I’d done the same with The Strokes’ Modern Age
EP some years before. For the record, I also did it with a Doyle Bramhall
7”. Nobody’s perfect! A mass singalong to this with hundreds of people
on a Saturday night is a wondrous thing to be part of.
BLONDIE
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
My god. What a tough call for the fourth track. This could easily have
been something by The Clash/Ramones/Talking Heads/Cure/Smiths/
Bunnymen/Aretha/JB/Beach Boys/Daft Punk/LCD Soundsystem/Pixies/
Stooges, any one of numerous floor fillers and favourites, and that’s
before even thinking about room two where we are programming a
psychedelicious playlist we’re calling our Freaks, Geeks and Cliques mix (think Suicide/Sonic
Youth/Brian Jonestown Massacre/King Gizzard/Thee Oh Sees/NEU!). Can I come back and do it
again?
Liquidation takes place at EBGBS every Saturday night between 11pm and 4am, with a free entry
pre-club from 7pm featuring guest DJs and two live acts.
@LQDNatHeebies
THE FINAL SAY
Words: Evan Moynihan
Each month we hand over the responsibility of having the final say to a guest columnist. This issue,
Evan Moynihan muses on the quality of options he and his fellow Americans have to choose from
during this year’s Presidential election on 8th November.
GIMME SOME TRUTH
Whenever I leave New York and travel
abroad, I’m always interested to know people’s
perceptions of the United States. Many know
the romanticised version portrayed in American
films, while others have stereotypical notions
of Americans being rude or ignorant towards
other cultures. Regardless, it’s one of those
things that just about everyone seems to have
an opinion on.
Over the past year, non-stop coverage of the
US Presidential election has dominated the
news and provided a level of entertainment
on par with reality TV. This election feels unlike
any other; maybe it’s because of the 24-hour
news cycle, maybe it’s because the stakes
have ostensibly never been higher, or maybe
it’s because of the way social media has
tightened its grip on our lives. It’s probably a
toxic combination of all three.
It’s natural for us to want to feel like we are
part of something important, especially if that
something will ultimately impact our lives.
Social media has given us that ability to feel
part of the debate, but it has become a doubleedged
sword. It has given people a platform to
voice their opinion along with added pressure
to always have an opinion to voice. It reminds
me of a joke comedian Bill Burr tells about the
ways statistics are often used. He says, “You
already have your mind made up and then you
go to ‘I’mright.com’, and you start memorising
a bunch of shit, and then just throw it up at
people.” It’s funny because it’s true.
Campaigns are more willing than ever to
spread rumours, conspiracy theories, and flatout
lies about their opponents. News agencies
looking to break a story will hastily report
on this misinformation, which only makes it
appear more credible. With the way stories
snowball out of control, it feels impossible to
know what’s true and what isn’t. The end result
is a bunch of talking heads on a split screen
yelling at each other.
Due to the divisive nature of a two-party
system, everything becomes Democrats vs
Republicans, us vs them, Clinton vs Trump
– pick a side. And, despite the increasing
disillusionment with our politicians, people feel
obligated to because we live in a democracy
and it’s important to exercise our right to vote.
But what if we didn’t just have to settle for the
lesser of two evils? What if campaign finance
reform levelled the playing field for would-be
candidates who can’t afford a billion-dollar
megaphone?
Politics can reveal a side of people that
otherwise isn’t shown, and it almost feels like
this whole election has been boiled down to
‘revelations’. Watching Clinton and Trump’s
mudslinging speeches in the battle of ‘who
can appear more relatable’ is cringeworthy. The
truth is, they’ve each had too much money and
too much power for too long to be remotely
relatable to 99 percent of Americans. I wish I
could say I’m torn between them, but I’m not.
It’s discouraging to think that our electoral
process is structured in such a way that these
are our two remaining options.
I arrived in Liverpool on the heels of the
Brexit referendum. The lingering sense
of uncertainty in the UK was immediately
apparent, even to an outsider. That’s because
it feels a lot like the uncertainty in America
right now, which will likely remain long after
8th November. At the root of it all, people are
worried about the direction their country is
headed in. I assumed people over here would
have their own opinions about our election,
but I didn’t realise just how strongly they
would feel about it. Maybe that’s because of
what they’ve just witnessed. Something that
many people thought would never happen, just
happened.

The UK’s museum of popular
music moves to Liverpool
Opening
11th February
2017
Cunard Building,
Liverpool
Opening Tickets
on Sale now
britishmusicexperience.com

# 0 2
kinetic energy
—21 October 2016
I n v i s i b l e
Wind
Factory
Tickets Online:
ticketarena.co.uk,
residentadvisor.net,
skiddle.com,
theticketsellers.co.uk,
Dice.fm.
the Black
Madonna
Peggy Gou
Blehrin
Ticket Stores: 3B Records
(Slater Street) 0151 353 7027,
The Merchant (Slater Street),
Font Bar (Mount Pleseant).
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PRESENTS
SATURDAY 3RD DECEMBER
ARTS CLUB - LIVERPOOL