Brighton's best... |
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club...
review The last time I saw BRMC was at The Dome almost two years ago. Then they seemed destined for great things, arriving as they had on a wave of Punk Rock nostalgia generated by The Strokes and The Hives. Their take on Stooges/Jesus and Mary Chain darkside Rock N Roll put them a cut above the other bands following in The Strokes wake. They’d had a string of great singles (“Whatever Happened to My Rock & Roll" is still one of my favourite songs of recent years) and a hit album and then...Then it all went wrong. The second album bombed (dunno why, I liked it!) and tensions within the band came to a head at V2004 over the signing an inflatable penis for a fan (really!), which caused a massive ruck and the band to split up. So, now it’s 2005 and BRMC (now friends again and expanded to a 4 piece by the addition of a second guitarist) are without a record deal and down a peg on the gig circuit to the Concorde2. Misfortune still dogs them though, traffic delays caused by the London to Brighton bike race mean that at 8.30pm the sound check is unfinished, the doors are not yet open and a big queue is waiting outside. But the fact that the gig sold out some time ago shows that their fans are still there. Finally we are allowed in and the support band The Brian Jonestown Massacre are on stage almost straightaway. There’s a great documentary film out recently concerning the rivalry between this lot and fellow Seattle band The Dandy Warhols, whose song We Used to be Friends concerns their feud. Sadly though, the film is much more fun than seeing the band live. Their take on late 60’s Psychedelic blues has been done so many times before and one song unfortunately sounds little different from the next. By 10pm the venue is packed and it’s the hottest evening of the year so far. Your correspondent is sweatier than Michael Jackson awaiting the jury’s verdict but at last a blast of dry ice and an intro tape narrating an execution-by-hanging announces the arrival onstage of BRMC! Last time round the band were identically clad in black clothes, sunglasses and explosion-in-a-mattress-factory hairstyles, just like Jesus and Mary Chain with music to match. This time the clothes are still black, but the hair is lank and greasy. The music has changed too, following the Nick Cave style monologue intro they launch into a succession of swampy blues that put me in mind of Jon Spencer initially but then reminded me much more of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s Florida based 80’s contemporaries The Gun Club. The extra guitar was put to good use on these new songs before the band dusted off crowd pleasers like “Spread Your Love" and “Love Burns" to confirm that this was going to be a great gig despite the earlier hassle. The smaller venue was much more suited to the band, at The Dome they seemed like shadowy shop dummies lost on a vast stage swirling with dry ice, but the Concorde 2 was a much more fitting venue for their scuzzy wall of sound. All in all the best gig I’ve seen at the Concorde 2 in some time. If you’re going to Reading or Leeds Festivals this summer make sure you catch them and let’s hope they can get album #3 released sometime soon.
about Concorde 2
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