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Bido Lito! December 2011 2011
As October rolls into November
and the biting winds start to chill, us
Liverpool folk are protected by the
warm blanket of reassurance that is
LIVERPOOL MUSIC WEEK. Offering a
respite from the wintry nights, LMW
has been annually warming the
cockles since since 2003, 2003, by amassing a
scintillating roster of hotter-than-hot
talent in a variety of our city’s venues,
and and this this year was was no different. Bido
Lito! had had an army of of observers on on the
ground ground taking in the multitude of
performances at this year’s festival: festival:
this is what they saw...
LMW FREE SHOWS
@ MOJO
With the news that The Horror’s
Faris Badwan’s voice had had given up on
him, it was left to THE DUKE SPIRIT to
open festival proceedings, with the
first in a run of fourteen free shows
at MOJO. Though ably supported by
the charming BEING JO FRANCIS, FRANCIS, The
Duke Spirit failed to get things off to
quite the the incendiary start we’d hoped.
Leila Moss did her best as she stalked
the stage and growled her way
through her vocals, but the Aussie/
Brit rockers’ chugging psych grooves
did little to avert attention from the
array of cocktails on offer.
Fortunately the next two nights
of entertainment saw THE YOUNG
KNIVES, and then TRIBES, successfully
ramp up the atmosphere atmosphere in MOJO, MOJO,
and gave the the festival the kick-start it
needed. Both immaculately turned turned out
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bands, yet with completely different
aesthetics (geek chic v. slacker chic),
they were each accompanied by an
equally nattily-dressed local support:
THE SONIC FAITH, the new moniker
for erstwhile doomsters Dustland,
joined The Young Knives; and THE
LIBERTY VESSELS supported ladymagnets
Tribes, though they couldn’t
quite match Tribes’ single Sappho as
a jovial crowd-pleaser.
The disarmingly charming
BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH was next
to take to the MOJO stage, which he
did on Day Four with an unassuming
grace that was overflowing with
simplicity and beauty. Wrapping us
up in a calming calming harmony, his his soft
and dreamy dreamy Cat Power-esque croon
on on set closer closer Atlas Hands Hands rounded
the the set off off perfectly, on a night night which
was complemented complemented by the infectious
rhythm and cascading harmonies of
DAN DAN CROLL’s Marion. Marion. Sublime.
After a brief respite for FOREIGN
BEGGARS, DELS and some EAT YOUR
GREENS madness, it was back to the
earnest winsomeness at MOJO MOJO as BIG
DEAL took up the reins. reins. Their debut LP
Lights Out Out is a wonderful collection
of intimate bedroom ballads that
are ultimately bound together by
the frisson of sexual tension that
exists between Alice Costelloe and
KC Underwood, most in evidence
on opening number Chair with
Costelloe’s pained adolescent refrain
of “you won’t let me sit on the end
of your bed, so I sit on a chair in the
corner instead.” The jostling acoustic/
electric guitars added an extra layer
of intrigue as you began to wonder if
they were in fact fighting each other,
or neatly fitting in to the tiny spaces
each other left behind, like only
intimately aligned partnerships can.
The following two days saw MOJO
play host to to two two of of this year’s year’s most
talked about artists, with the cream
of Liverpool’s own talent forming
the supporting cast. BAXTER BAXTER DURY
brought out the dry dry and and observational
street ballads ballads from Happy Happy Soup on
Saturday night, looking like a dapper dapper
yet slightly seedy car car salesman in his
suit.
Sunday night saw Long Island’s Island’s
TWIN SISTER roll out some of of their
trademark sultry indie-pop tales,
with their washed-out, pastel tones
in full evidence, and backed up by
our very own ALL WE ARE and THE
READYMADES. Good work, guys.
The incessant run of shows
evidently took its toll on the crowds,
as Monday’s showcase drew a slightly
diminished crowd. Californians
GARDENS & VILLA displayed some
soft beats, even softer vocals, and
an appetite for experimenting with
instrumentation (vocalist Chris Lynch
was regularly spotted plucking a flute
from his satchel), meaning that those
that stayed away missed some deft
musical magic.
The packed line-up of the following
night was another runaway victory,
with MARCUS FOSTER FOSTER and CASHIER
NO. NO. 9 sharing sharing an equal billing, and
EMILY EMILY AND THE WOODS’ WOODS’ unexpectedly
unexpectedly
brief and endearing endearing set at the
beginning setting things up expertly
(the delicate delicate Steal His Heart standing
out a mile). mile). Belfast Belfast natives natives Cashier
No. 9 were first up, showing off plenty
of variety in terms terms of instruments instruments and
sounds that threatened to run out of
control. Songs When When Jackie Shone Shone and
To Make You You Feel Better proved this a
false worry, and and provided a neat buffer
Big Deal (Marie Hazelwood)