So after a week of almost constant sunshine Saturday decides
to be wet, windy and miserable. Wakefield is damp and grey when we arrive but
beginning to brighten up both weather-wise and event wise.
Long Division Festival started in 2011, is an annual event
(although organisers took a break from duties in 2017) and over the years has
played host to The Cribs, British Sea Power, The Fall, Gang of Four, Ash and a
whole load of others. Spread over five days the festival features a diverse
range of music, spoken word and exhibitions with the main events being Friday,
Saturday, Sunday. The heart of the festival is Saturday which saw almost 100
performances and events taking place across the city many of which were free to
see.
My focus was bands. Starting off in Warehouse 23 openers Cape Cub deliver an acoustic set of
heartfelt, laid back songs full of powerful lyrics. Brilliant guitar picking
and subtle keyboards produce a chilled out vibe, tunes for romantic summer
evenings. Stand out songs included ‘Flowers’, ‘Keep Me In Mind’, ‘Closer’. Melodies that tug at your emotions with Chad
Male’s deeply personal vocals driving home the importance of being there for
those you love.
Mush provide a
complete contrast. Artrock, post punk. Call them what you like. With influences
such as The Fall, Sonic Youth, Pixies and Television the volume in Warehouse 23
shoots up. Mush bang out a superb,
repetitive thumping beat. Verlaine influenced guitars and vocals that are not
so much sung as spoken/yelped. They’re young, they’ve got attitude, they
deserve to be going places. I’m hooked in from the word go and it’s a close
call between staying for their whole set or a walk across town to see The Membranes. In the end the thought
of seeing The Membranes, with a
choir, in the cathedral drags us away.
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| Mush |
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| Mush |
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| Mush |
Located right in the city centre people have been offering
their prayers and praise in this holy place for 1000 years. The cathedral is a
stunning building. Bright, beautifully lit, stained glass windows and superb
acoustics. Whoever decided to bring The
Membranes along with the BIMM
choir to this venue deserves an award. What follows is nothing short of
perfect. As always frontman John Robb darts around the stage, bass held high, staring
at the audience, stopping to hold arms aloft but this time it’s in a perfect
mirror image of the statue depicting the crucifixion of Christ high up behind
him. The setting seems to add extra energy to what is already a powerful band
as they deliver a set focused on 2015’s magnificent ‘Dark Matter / Dark Energy’.
The slow, menacing bass and eerie guitar of ‘In The Graveyard’, the pounding,
manic onslaught of ‘Do The Supernova’, the howling vocals of ‘21st
Century Man’. All are taken to another level by the presence of the choir whose
ethereal, angelic and trained voices back up the incendiary noise being pushed
out by The Membranes themselves. This was a special gig. Exhilarating. One that
no one present will ever forget.
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| The Membranes |
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| The Membranes |
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| The Membranes |
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| The Membranes |
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| The Membranes |
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| The Membranes |
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| The Membranes |
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| The Membranes |
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| The Membranes |
Back at Warehouse 23 we catch the last two songs from
Wakefield/Leeds trio Drahla. Luciel
Brown, Rob Riggs and Mike Ainsley spit out minimal, dark, post punk, with a
heavy bass sound. ‘Fictional Decision’ shows a distinct nod to The Breeders /
Pixies whilst ‘Circuit’ builds from quiet(ish) beginnings into an unrelenting
wall of noise of thrashing guitars. Just two songs seen but wow they impressed.
I’m just thankful The Membranes were as good as they were or I’d be having
serious regrets about not seeing more of Drahla.
The dramatic, complex, alternative rock of Glass Mountain takes us through the
next hour or so. Usually backed up with captivating projected visual displays
the band today rely solely on their soaring guitars, subtle keyboards and
sorrowful lyrics to hold the crowds attention. And hold it they do with those
present clearly enjoying what Glass Mountain produce. But every band can’t please everybody and
Glass Mountain just don’t do it for me.
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| Glass Mountain |
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| Glass Mountain |
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| Glass Mountain |
Handing out plastic rings with LED bulbs to most of the
audience we are introduced to Galaxians.
With uplifting, disco, funky tunes Galaxians started life in 2012 as duo Jed
Skinner (synths) and Matt Woodward (drums) and recorded a number of boogie
dance instrumentals heavily influenced by the New York disco scene. Joined in
2016 by Emma Mason on vocals tonight they deliver a set that turns Warehouse 23
into a room full of dancing club goers. Plenty of programming goes into their
music which means they deliver a lot from a minimal set up. Mason’s vocals are
powerful and with some gentle swaying and a beaming smile she has the audience
on her side within minutes.
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| Galaxians |
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| Galaxians |
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| Galaxians |
The first stage invasion of the day, albeit a mini one
lasting only a few seconds consisting of just 3 or 4 punters trying to clamber
up for a bit of a dance and being rapidly removed by security, comes part way
through the charming indie pop of Cud.
Darlings of any indie disco of the late 80’s and early 90’s and much loved by
the late John Peel, Cud’s guitar drenched, bass heavy sounds come with a
distinct element of funk. Todays Cud consists of original members Carl Puttnam
on vocals, guitarist Mike Dunphy and bassist William Potter. Joined in 2012 by
drummer Gogs Byrn they deliver crowd pleasing classics that don’t just focus on
singles. ‘Purple Love Balloon’, ‘Only (A Prawn in Whitby)’, ‘Hey! Wire’,
‘’Robinson Crusoe’ and ‘I’ve Had It With Blondes’ feature amongst a set that
has the dedicated in the crowd lapping up every note and word and that I’m sure
convinces a few more that Cud were, and still are, a band worth listening to
and venturing out to see.
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| Cud |
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| Cud |
Evil Blizzard
walk on stage to what is now customary boos and chants telling them how shit
they are. As a live band they’ve built something of a legendary reputation.
Four bass players and a drummer who sings. And a machete wielding pig. And a
giant with head and face covered with a sack who gleefully wipes your own head
and face with a mop before handing you a card telling you to seek medical
attention. Except tonight it isn’t like this. Tonight there’s no pig. And no
Mopman. But there are now five bass players which only serves to intensify the
pounding introduction to ‘Sacrifice’. With a new album out this week we’re
‘treated’ to the minacious ‘Unleash The Misery’ – body pounding, rumbling,
repetitive deep bass overlaid with some seriously high pitched noises and the
sight of five bass wielding, horror masked characters from a nightmare you just
want to forget clobbering around the stage with no regard for whether or not
they slam into each other. New single ‘Hello’ is over 4 minutes of slashing
guitar and wailing vocals but, as proved by it’s appearance this week on
6Music, with much more commercial appeal than some of their earlier material.
The seriously sinister ‘Fast Forward Rewind’ builds from a perfectly danceable
albeit malevolent beat to a cataclysmic climax. Add in ‘Slimy Creatures’, the
always brilliant ‘Are You Evil?’ and finally the chaos of ‘Red Box’ during
which bassist number five – Embrace’s Steve Firth – is loaded up with all five
instruments. His masked face says it all, “WTF?” I know I’m supposed to say the
last hour was utter shite, complete drivel. But I can’t. Because it wasn’t.
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| Evil Blizzard |
The Lovely Eggs
also have a new album out. ‘This Is Eggland’ delivers over half of tonight’s
set and that’s no bad thing. Opening with ‘I’m With You’, a perfect blend of
punk rock guitar, rhythmic drums from David Blackwell and Holly Ross’s
wonderfully sweet vocals. The chugging guitar of ‘Witchcraft’, the chants,
banging drums and full on guitar racket of lead single ‘I Shouldn’t Have Said
That’. It’s hard to believe this is a duo from the sonic noise they produce. A
duo celebrating their 11th wedding anniversary tonight. A duo who,
when singer Holly isn’t shaking her head, pulling off some leg movements most
ballet dancers would be proud of or leaping round the stage, share some knowing
looks, looks that emphasise that if all else fails in the world they’ve got
each other. It’s not all new album promotion though. ‘Magic Onion’, ‘Goofin
Around In Lancashire’ give us a taste of past tunes and, while much of their
set sticks to that perfect combination of sonic guitar riffs over a repetitive
beat topped with singalong lyrics, things slow down with crowd pleasers ‘People
Are Twats’ and the genius that is ‘Fuck It’. There’s a lot of people here who
clearly adore The Lovely Eggs and a decent mosh pit develops leading to a few becoming
clearly agitated with the pushing, bouncing, joyous mass behind them. Rather
than asking people to calm down Holly announces that she “fuckin’ loves them”
and then ever so nicely invites those who feel uncomfortable to sit and watch
from the photo pit. What a perfect solution and a perfect end to a great day.
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| The Lovely Eggs |
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| The Lovely Eggs |
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| The Lovely Eggs |
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| The Lovely Eggs |
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| The Lovely Eggs |
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| The Lovely Eggs |
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| The Lovely Eggs |
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| The Lovely Eggs |
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| The Lovely Eggs |
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