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The Mae Shi
Brighton, Freebutt
Article written by
Max K - Aug 6, 2008
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The Mae Shi
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Bit of a trip down memory lane this one, the gig taking place in the venerable old anarchist squat that spawned the Levellers and Stomp back in the day and which, judging by the manky décor, hasn’t been troubled by a paintbrush since. All the better then to enjoy a night of raucous abandon in the company of LA’s Mae Shi, ably supported by Glasgow’s Dananananaykroyd, fine exponents both of what we’ll affectionately call spazzcore.
The ‘Dans’ employ two drummers, part of a proud legacy including Adam & The Ants and Showaddywaddy, with whom they must have been inspired moniker-wise? However, ‘Under The Moon Of Love’ they ain’t. Instead, we were treated to a barrage of crunching guitars, short sharp melodies, a rather fetching bass player and a finale that included a lucky(?) member of the audience being invited to have a go on the sticks before, out of his depth, being cast back into the fledgling moshpit. Being a pressure cooker venue the chaps in the band also ended the gig sans t-shirts – a bit too Johnny Borrell for these surroundings and I’m sure the poor guitarist only joined in because his mates made him do it.
Still, an encouraging opening salvo and, having sidled into better positions during the fag exodus, on came what I thought was the soundcheck crew for the Mae Shi boys – turned out to be the band, all wild-eyed mania, the bearded Manson brothers frontmen barking their way through 120mph intros, then onto dreamy Polyphonic Spree-type middle-eights whilst the chisel-jawed college boy on bass eyed up the girls. At one point out came a parachute (the Mae Sheet?) and we played that kiddies game in the crowd while the singer sang his song.
Amusing also was the singer leaping off the stage to go nose to nose with a chap in the front row, yelping his machine gun lyrics whilst the bemused victim didn’t know whether to dance or run – all in good fun I should add.
Most of recent album ‘HLLLYH’ got an airing, with ‘Lamb & The Lion’ and ‘Run To Your Grave’ justifiable highlights, the latter much beefier in a live setting, perfect for the mix of ‘apparent-spontaneity-but-tight-at-the-same-time’ that this band pull off effortlessly.
If I’d drunk less beer I might’ve been as organised as the bloke next to me, looking for all the world the spitting image of Keith from the Prodigy, red devil-horns hair and all, with his pencil and notebook, rather than trying to retrieve the data from my fuzzy head the next day, but that would’ve spoilt the fun.
They’re off now for a Scandinavian adventure with the likes of MBV & Sonic Youth - and I’m sure they’ll go down a storm – before returning to these shores this weekend. Do yourselves a favour, throw off all those cares and check out the self-proclaimed party kings of LA – you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
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