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Pictures from some recent gigs we've hosted:

29 March 2013 - Brixton, London

Viv Albertine, VuVuVultures, Left Leg, Mickey Gloss, Big Wave, No Cars, Arthur Gunn, Simon Love (Pictures)

8 March 2013 - Lexington, London

R.Ring, Golden Grrrls, Slushy Guts and Equinox (Pictures)

On Our iPod

Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (album)

Antony Harding - Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear (album)

Black Angels - Indigo Meadow (album)

Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin (album)

Still Corners - Strange Pleasures (album)

Savages - Silence Yourself (album)

Mikal Cronin - MC II (album)

Can’s Ege Bamyasi played by Stephen Malkmus and Friends(album)

Victoria and Jacob - Festival 7"

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (album)

Sauna Youth - False Jesii Part II 7”

Lightning Bolt - Oblivion Hunter

Robyn Hitchcock - There Goes The Ice (2x 12")

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Gig Review

Billy Bragg
De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill

Article written by Alan M - Dec 14, 2010

Billy Bragg

It was perfect timing. I’m sat on the train flicking through the discarded free newspapers to pass the time. Staring back at me is the gurning equine face of the future Queen of England. Caught up in the aftermath of the student protests, the trauma suffered by our beloved Camilla, has got everybody talking. Tonight I’m travelling to Bexhill to see a man who I suspect will also have a few words to say on the subject, somebody whose songs provided the soundtrack to my own youthful political activism – Billy Bragg.

Tonight’s venue is deserving of some comment. Unfortunately, that comment will do little to explain why the De La Warr Pavilion is described as a Modernist icon. As me and a mate stood on the outside balcony, marvelling at the architectural splendour of our surroundings, I realised that despite having been the beneficiary of a free, state-funded grammar school education, my observation of the art deco style is essentially: “It’s a bit curvy”.

We proceed to the bar area where we both feel less inept. This is more our area of expertise, our comfort zone. Ahead of us are familiar rectangular shapes covered in pristine white linen clothes, upon which are stacked plastic cups surrounded by a pitiful selection of canned beers. Underneath the tablecloth and keeping this whole drinks racket afloat is a proper old-school design classic – the trestle table. We queue for an eternity. The reward for our patience is to be greeted with an astronomical price list that is tantamount to incitement to riot. But we don’t. Those days are long behind us. Instead, we pay up, mutter something about paying art deco prices and skulk off armed with £7 pints of Guinness in a plastic cup. We take our place standing near the front, ready to hear the man’s music and thoughts for the umpteenth time.

Politics is now cool again. Last week, my fifteen-year-old stepson went on his first demo in Brighton. He returned home, adrenaline pumping, with giddy talk of “kettling” and obscene chanting. Instead of offering encouragement, I was a bit sniffy and adopted my everything-was-better-in-my-day old-timers stance. Not only was our music superior, so were our demonstrations, blah blah blah. I was tired and delusional. The most celebrated chapter in my political career – arrested for calling a Tory MP a “fucking cunt” (he was by the way) – hardly marks me down as Arthur Scargill. More like Arthur Mullard.
Bragg opens his set with “World Turned Upside Down” and “To Have Or To Have Not”. These songs instantly evoking back-in-the-day memories of when it seemed a week didn’t go by without some benefit gig to attend, a march, or a strike to support. Fast forward twenty odd years, and I suddenly get the feeling I’m attending a counselling session for lapsed political activists. The white spotlight is bearing down upon me. The whole audience are staring. Wearing badges is not enough Alan. Even at your age.

Unlike any other artist I’ve seen, it’s what Bragg says between the songs, rather than the songs themselves, that define the performance. And the very first thing he says to the audience is sorry. Sorry for tactically voting Liberal at the last election. As crimes go, it’s not like he’s confessed to playing Sun City on the quiet. But clearly he needs to get it off his chest. So we forgive him. And, with that unpleasant business resolved, Bill can now begin.

The theme for tonight’s show is cynicism. It’s the enemy within we have to overcome. Our cynicism. My cynicism. It’s taken Bragg a long time to accept we can’t defeat capitalism. And even with the best songs in the world, singer songwriters can’t change the world. But if only one member of the audience goes home tonight and reflects on how they can fight for a better world, then Bragg will have done his job.

And for the best part of two hours, what a tremendous job he does. Bill is a brilliant political raconteur. He is articulate and laudable, presenting his arguments with wit and intelligence. To re-enforce the message he plays “I Keep Faith”, “Tomorrow’s Gonna Be A Better Day” and the Woody Guthrie song “I Ain’t Got No Home”. These tracks are inspiring and poetic; the perfect accompaniment to Bragg’s spoken words.

There are a couple of low points. “The Battle Of Barking” tells the story of how activists (including Bragg) campaigned to rid Barking of the BNP from their council and succeeded. A magnificent example of people taking action and making a change. And I can completely understand why Bill is justly proud of what was achieved. But as a piece of music it doesn’t excite in the way it should and plays second fiddle to Bill actually telling the story and delivering the message. Worse still is “No Power Without Accountability”. It’s a clunky, jarring song that’s a real shocker. I’m not sure even the songwriting genius of Holland-Dozier-Holland could ever get ‘accountability’ to scan. Bill certainly didn’t.

Those two tracks aside, it’s a pleasure and privilege to spend two hours being entertained and invigorated by this man. The rest of the set is surprisingly nostalgic. “The Only One”, “A Lover Sings”, “Greetings To The New Brunette”, “The Saturday Boy” and “The Milkman Of Human Kindness” all wonderful reminders that we are in the presence of a brilliant songwriter. And in amongst all this we still have time for some Bragg banter at the expense of Madonna (“Lady Saga”), Mick Hucknell, legendary ginger swordsman and a forlorn looking lady at the front of the audience wearing a West Ham shirt.

At this point in proceedings Bill can do no wrong and is riding the wave of goodwill in the crowd. I find myself laughing out loud (you probably needed to be there) during the updated line ‘single-currency hotels’ in “Sexuality”. Then I nearly wet myself during The Clash “Death Or Glory” rip-off track “Last Flight To Abu Dhabi” when I heard the lyric ‘He’s lost his box at Chelsea, now he has to watch on Sky’. Like I said, you probably needed to be there.

For the encore we start with “Tank Park Salute”. The first time I heard Bragg play it live, I felt like I was intruding in this man’s personal grief. It was both painful and beautiful. Over time the song has become almost celebratory. It’s my favourite track of the night. We finish with “New England” – and Bill dedicates the song to Kirsty.

Tonight we’ve heard 3 tracks from his debut album that I paid no more than £2.99 for almost 30 years ago. We’ve come full circle. Singer songwriters can’t change the world – but they can fight our cynicism that we can’t make a difference. We can. We will. The baton of protest – which spent most of the time on the floor for the duration of the Labour government – has been picked up again by the generation of kids whose parents were listening to Bragg back in the early Eighties. Tonight I leave the gig with booze, but more importantly, a rekindled fire burning again in this middle-aged belly.

Links:
http://www.billybragg.co.uk/