I'm so glad Karina persuaded me to go to this gig because it was so worth it. We got there early so we could sit on the chairs close to the stage which was great, but it made Thomas Truax all the more terrifying at the same time. I hadn't seen him before and those who had were incredibly excited about it. On the stage stood a chrome bicycle-wheel modified into a drum machine, and an old-style brass record player horn with various strings, children's sound effects boxes and a microphone attached.
He arrived onstage with a beautiful chrome dobro guitar that sounded fantastic. Whatever effects he was putting it through made it sound much fuller than a dobro's normal tinny, brashy sound. He sang some songs fairly straightforwardly to start with, then gradually introduced the drum machine, and then the modified gramophone horn, and then an instrument he'd made from a drying machine concertina outlet pipe. By the end he was layering sounds with a loopmaster, by way of standing on a table and singing, and running out of one door and back in the other, singing. The best bit was when he played the strings on the gramophone horn, which made a deep, resonant sound that was rather beautiful.
Once when I was very little, I went to a party in our village. Overcome with excitement, I stood on a chair to sing, or to announce something: to generally show off. McMum soon intercepted, her furious Protestantism kicking in. 'Sit down at once', she hissed. I was ashamed.
I wonder if Thomas Truax was told to 'sit down at once' when he was a little boy? All of his ideas come tumbling out on stage in a burst of energy, but he has trained himself to make them coherent and efficient; he is a showman, a magician for rock audiences who revert to childhood wonder when they watch him. I'm not sure why I found him terrifying, but I did; perhaps I thought he had a bucket of green paint behind the glittery curtain at the back of the Moth Club stage, and he would finish his act by throwing that out over the audience to see if they minded!
On to The Nightingales, who now have a new member on viola, Natalie Mason. This also means an extra singing voice in the group, and she is just as energetic as the rest of them. Rather than starting a gig, they have lift off like a huge, sonic rocket: they launched straight into the songs, threaded together into one long song that lasted for more than an hour.
You are totally with them on this journey: suddenly Northern Soul rears its beautiful head, and then morphs into Sea Shanties. Prog rock shakes the stage and batters the eardrums, and then country music sidles into the set. The harmonies are gorgeous, as is the interplay between the viola and Jim's guitar and sometimes the vocals too. Robert Lloyd was in fine, strong voice, his exaggerated vibrato baa-ing like a ferocious sheep in some places, then mellowing to a lovely tenor in others. I didn't know before the gig that making phone calls in Cuba was free, but I do now!
Every member of the band shines in their own unique way.
Fliss's sticks whack the kit then skedaddle across the snare to the cymbals which beg for mercy, but there is none. Fliss will win, as she always does; the drum kit knows this, but the fight is part of the fun. Andy on bass holds the lower end of the sound down most of the time, but has his moments in the spotlight too. Jim must be able to play thousands of different chords and riffs, finding new ones that haven't even been invented yet. Natalie's viola lines are perfect and she appears to be completely unfazed by what can only be described as Nightingales Normal: madness and beauty tangled up in an extraordinary sonic experience.
As for Robert...
Even if you were determined not to like the band, the sudden appearance of the bright green kazoo out of his suit pocket will win you over, and you will become a fan. I. have known them for ages, and seen them a lot. This was their best ever gig. How silly to have my heart bursting with pride for them, but I couldn't help it.
Off they go for more dates. You might miss them until next time, but meanwhile here is their new record which you can listen to until you get a chance to be in the same room as them: https://nightingales.lnk.to/TheAwfulTruth
No comments:
Post a Comment