The
Petrol
Money album
party for THE
BREAKFAST CLUB was
most certainly a party! With great local music, a comedic slant and
good company, it was a fab way to spend a Saturday night. I grabbed
my pint of the evening (make mine a cider) and sat with the first act
herself, and got myself ready to be entertained.
What
better way to kick off a party than with the lovely ANWYN
WILLIAMS,
who after getting compared to a tub of Ben & Jerry's ice cream by
the compering local comedian Tom Stevenson, easily managed to sweep
away the 'sweet' stereotype and packed a punch with opening number
Drinking
in Bars.
Her vocals are strong with an excellent delivery, and the strummed
guitar emanates classic country music. Following this number with
Silver
Linings,
she realises she has no capo, to which Josh Wheatley (just there to
watch!) comes to the rescue. Silver
Linings has
some gorgeous fingerpicked guitar and powerful melodies. The vocals
are impressive, with lovely dips in and out of her head voice, which
is beautiful. Walking Now follows, with is darker, with lines such
as; “Troubles
came like stormy weather, I'm walking out but please don't ask me
why”.
It's fast paced, and has a drive and passion behind it which brings
out the pain in the melodies. The Rambler follows, which is another
intense number. The fingerpicked guitar explores the vocal melodies,
and echoes them which is lovely and makes the song really quite
beautiful. Next up, she plays a new track which she had only just
played all the way through that afternoon; Old
Bones
has a really lovely, varied melody, and the chorus is gorgeous. There
are a few small hiccups, as you might expect from a never performed
before song, but Anywyn recovers well, and shows great musicianship
on stage. It's low key, vulnerable and lovely. An elongated version of Driftwood
follows, which is angsty and emotional, with deeper guitar flaunting
her unique vocals. Her final song of the evening ends her set with a
bang, with the lively and fast paced, Going
Gone Away.
With an excited rising melody in the chorus, and a traditional
country feel, she rouses the audience ready for the next act.
RIC
BIRTILL follows, an act from Lincoln. He provides excellent
comedy numbers, using the music to mould his jokes and using song
structures to comic effect. He writes songs about loving alcohol,
with lines like “I don't mind being sick to spend more time with
you” which he then follows with making heaving/vomit noises,
which although is cringy, it's also very funny. With another song he
uses comedy and politics to mould From England With Love, a
number regarding the situation in Russia and Vladamir Putin's laws;
“My name is Vladamir Putin, I've got a secret that I am
refuting. But meet me tonight, alone in Sochi, and I will come out of
the closet”. Other numbers
include The Christmas Song (We
Are the Scum of the Earth),
about being a part time Christmas temp, and a song about being on the
doley, where he asks; “what's come of my piece of shit
degree?”. He's charismatic,
funny, clever and is musically interesting. He sings out of tune on
purpose to comic effect, and he has some really good melodies and
song structures. He's a very talented chap, and pulls off the
comedy/music combo very well indeed.
After
some more compering from Tom Stevenson, BUD
approach the stage. She's joined by her band, an electric double bass
player and a acoustic guitarist/backing vocalist. BUD sings sweet,
subtle pop with some incredible vocals in both the high and low
registers. She's soulful and passionate, but also very lighthearted
and lovely. She opens with Beautiful,
which has lovely melodies, and a chord structure which is reminiscent
of old style pop and even reggae. Her vocals are so smooth, and she
sings in an accent which suits the style well. Goodbye
For Now
follows, with gorgeous rising melodies in the guitar, which are sweet
and run gently underneath vocal melodies which follow a similar tune.
The melodies can get fairly repetitive in the chorus, which works for
a while and is fairly typical in the pop genre, however they were a
little too repetitive for me, I'd have liked a bit more variation. It
was a lovely song though, and was well received by the audience. Next
she plays a cover of
Bridge Over Troubled Water,
and has put a new, fun, summer-pop spin on a classic, and it works
really well. It's upbeat and has reggae type tones in the guitar.
Vocally BUD puts her own stamp on it and takes it somewhere it's
never been before. It's a great showcase of her creativity. During
the set she sings a cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy,
which is fairly close to the original, but still manages to be
interesting and the arrangement for the ensemble is particularly
good. She brings the mood back up with Happy,
a sweet original with an upbeat bouncy melody. The melodies switch
between the guitar and the bass too, which is a really nice technique
and gives the song some added depth. She follows this with a really
nice cover of Mercy
by
Duffy, which is a good change and development from the original,
there are some particularly lovely vocals in this one, with lovely
harmonies and backing vocals. An original song called 1953
follows, then her set ends with a really nice cover of Aviici's Wake
Me Up
which puts a unique spin on a recent pop hit, with scrumptious vocals
and harmonies, and good arrangements.
After
some more banter from the compere, ADAM CLARKSON from CAPTAIN
DANGEROUS
takes to the stage. Opening with Executing
Elliot,
it's obvious that he's a charismatic performer, with personality and
a presence that makes you warm to him. He moves around a lot on
stage, dancing with his guitar and going with it. It's really
interesting hearing Captain Dangerous tracks without the rest of the
band, sometimes they feel rather bare, but at the same time, the
absence of the other instruments gives the vocals and guitar more
limelight, and more weight. Forgive
Us We're British
was a particular favourite in the crowd, with it prompting a fair bit
of audience participation, and Adam really going for it in the
chorus. He follows this with another Captain Dangerous track from the
album; Merrow
Song,
which is also very well received, as is a new track that hasn't been
played before called King
Richard IV.
The solo rendition of Boozehounds
was also particularly good, with a passionate vocal delivery, and a
really fantastic power and sadness felt during the chorus during the
climactic “we'll
drink ourselves to oblivion, cause that's what broken men do time and
time again my dear, by the way you broke my good friends heart, how
could you”.
It's not a particularly sad song, in fact it's lively and upbeat, but
the solo electric guitar makes it feel sadder, and the bittersweet
juxtaposition between happy music//sad lyrics is quite enchanting.
After Boozehounds,
he follows with a new song which I really enjoyed called Hang
Your Head In Shame Darlin,
which has a really catchy chorus, and has a lot of passion in the
performance. A Captain Dangerous classic, Everything
Beautiful Reminds Me Of You follows,
which is well known in Nottingham, and even if you don't know it,
just listen and you will feel like you do! It's a great pop number,
which also deals with the bittersweet break up lyrics with happy
music, although Adam looks stark and lonely on stage singing the song
on his own, making the classic melody in the chorus really hit home.
He isn't really alone in singing it, as the audience is singing along
with him too. The last song of his set, another new number called
Down
and Out in Kenilworth and Nottingham,
has some really good progressive sections, describing how “this
isn't the rock and roll dream we imagined”.
It's a poignant end to a great set, and sets us up perfectly for the
final act of the evening.
The
headline act that the gig is all about, THE BREAKFAST CLUB, then take
to the stage. They don't take themselves too seriously, and they are
having fun on stage, joking with each other and the audience, which
promotes a really friendly vibe in the audience. Opening with Maggie, the gig starts with a down to earth bang,
with a lively approach but slightly more sinister lyrics which fit
well with the band's style. Squeeze is the next track on the
bill, which is the single of their new album. The song is fast paced
and lively, but they managed not to get ahead of themselves, despite
their enthusiasm. The vocals are strong and the communication between
the band members is great to see on stage. The next number, they all
swap instruments, having an awkward shuffle about, and sam takes
centre stage. It is announced that this was his attempt at a happy
song, and it has therefore ended up titled She's So Depressed.
Again it tends to follow their other song styles, with a fun bass
driven melody, and bittersweet lyrics, it has a wonderful, honest
juxtaposition. The bridge brings this to light, it's darker with a
moody key change, however the lyrics still have that lack of poetry
flounce which makes them really punchy; “she says she doesn't
like me in that way, we still have sex though, sometimes we talk into
the night, while I have essay deadlines”. This is one of my
favourite songs from The Breakfast Club, purely because I love how it
doesn't dress itself up.
Following
this is Pushing Up The Daisies, which follows the same track
listing as the album. It is described as a “happy song about love
and stuff”. It has some fantastic cheery guitar riffs, which become
more prominent in the fills. The melodies follow a more typical pop
style format, and again, the lyrics are sweet and definitely about
love, however the blunt honesty of them adds edge to the song. Bodies
follows this, which is maybe the natural progression as a break-up
song. Although the mood stays light, it's more painful than the
others, with the repeated melodies focused around one note, make it
quite desperate. The mood picks up again, with the hilarious, fast
paced Ciaran's Hair, the second track off the new album Petrol
Money. Singing about Ciaran's persuits of a dancer, and it's just
simply hilarious with lyrics such as “Ciaran, put that stranger
down”. I was giggling throughout the whole track, the music
lends itself to pointing fun, which is exactly what this song does.
It's lively and upbeat, and very cheeky pop. This song is another
short one. The Breakfast Club tends to write short and snappy songs,
which are pretty catchy, and it works well for their comedy lyrics.
I
Miss You More Than Woolworths is the next track in the set, and
has some lovely harmonies, and is probably one of the sadder songs,
but is followed by Emma Taylor, a lively number which they all
obviously enjoy, as they just seem to be having loads of fun on
stage. They speed up the song, and play with it, which makes for a
very entertaining performance. Following this, the entertainment
continues with a cover of Billie Jean by Michael Jackson,
which is fun and playful with the band inviting people to moonwalk on
the dancefloor. Original number Cocktails from the album
follows, and the song plays around with time signatures, and
generally has a more funk influence, which is really interesting, and
fits well with the style of the song. It's a bit darker, with lyrics
such as “these cocktails will only bring you more pain”,
which are funny but also sinister too with their references to
alcoholism. Playfully, the next track is called Sing Baby Sing,
which was written in an attempt to get the word “Baby” in
a song as many times as possible. It's an ode to the 50's, and has
that kind of style. This is why the band is so easy to warm to, as
their songs are amusing and lighthearted but they're all examples of
good pop, and are really catchy. Strawberries is another great
number, which is sweet but funny too, and it gets dedicated to a
couple in the audience who travelled from Milton Keynes to see them
play. Prick follows which is a rowdy number about men who try
to grope women without permission, and is performed enthusiastically,
and passionately, with a particularly well shouted chorus.
They
end their set with Topshop,
another humorous number in which fun is poked at the fashion
industry, and the people who shop at top shop obviously. The chorus
is light, catchy and funny; “Do
you like my top? Got it from Top Shop, the same place as you got
yours. Dress like my mates, but in different colours”.
It's a great end to their set, prompting an enthusiastic audience
response, however of course this wasn't the real end to their set.
After a slightly clumsy exit and entrance back to the stage, they
followed with two encores, I'm
A Believer and
Hey
Jude,
which ended the set on a lighthearted note, and made you leave with a
smile on your face. They performed an excellent, fun, varied and
exciting set, and I look forward to seeing them perform again in the
near future. You can purchase Petrol Money on The Breakfast Club's
bandcamp here.
By Cassia Helme
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