Posted on August 31, 2019
I quite often notice that local music gigs are full of men. Both in the audience and on stage. It was so relaxing to be in a crowd like tonight’s.
K.M.B
K.M.B is a one woman band singing over her own minimalist electro backing tracks. The lyrics were raw with emotion and a bit heavy for 8pm on a Tuesday night. One song was about how she felt after her brother died and that was too much for me to engage with. An experience I can’t empathise with. I don’t want to think about how I would feel in her place.
The highlight for me was melt me. It was sad and dreamy and matched the boiling temperature. Her voice overlaping with her prerecorded wails. I also liked how strange some of the instrumentals were. Just made it a bit different.
This is probably the only time I will see K.M.B as she is leaving town for university. She’ll thrive.
Lemondaze
Lemondaze was another new one for me, a punky shoegaze band from Cambridge. Hearing that and how they had supported the cracking Bloody Knees had me very interested.
They sounded a bit heavier live compared to recordings. Insistent drums and warm distorted guitar.
There were a few people sway dancing near the front and after a few tracks they had the attention of most of the audience.
“That was called Peach Fuzz and we dedicate that to Peach Club”
The room was filling up a bit more. The heat from the bodies and lights meant their singer had to take her shirt off near the end of their set. It was nice to be in a space where nobody was gross about it.
They ended on a more chill number with mumbled spoken word for lyrics. Again some strange instrumentation and I like that. I’d certainly like to hear them again next time they are in town.
Peach Club
I’ve seen Peach Club before and really enjoyed them for their energy, fun, and feminism. I was very much looking forward to hearing Bad Bitch and Not Ur Girl again
Tonight is the final night of their Post Modern Siren tour, celebrating their EP of the same name with the biggest home crowd they have performed for.
Starting as they mean to go on they are loud and proud. I can’t call the lyricism of Go Away complex but it certainly gets the message across.
“So hi we’re Peach Club! Your friendly local Riot Grrrls. And one of the main points of Riot Grrrl is taking up space that usually doesn’t belong to you. So we have a question to ask”
Over the drum beat of their next song they shout:
“WHAT DO WE WANT?
GIRLS TO THE FRONT!
WHEN DO WE WANT IT?
NOW!”
Not much of the audience got the message the first round but they ask again. “Can we have all girls and non binary people to the front please.”
I join the throng of not-blokes at the front and it is fantastic. Space to dance. No 6 foot dude blocking my view. Just the righteous anger of Boy in a Band and an uninhibited crowd.
I’m not constantly worried about gross men but as a… top heavy woman there is a lot of jiggling if I dance freely. It’s offputting. Here I could jump around without a care. Their lead singer, Katie, got a stitch she was dancing so much.
They had the audience clapping along for the intro to ‘Bad Bitch’ and shouting along to the chorus. The rest of the gig was a blur. They covered a Babes in Toyland track, Sweet ’69, and ended on Not Ur Girl which was as good as ever.
There was no encore after the long set. The band rejoined the crowd to greet their friends. A girl called me cool in the bathroom so that was also great. Deffo did not re-dye my hair in time for this show.
The bike ride home was a lovely and cool after the heat of the waterfront. A fantastic night.
If you are part of the crowd they bring to the front: go see them.
Other Art
I have all the merch now. Music, zine, patch. I am not really sure if I want the Bad Bitch middle fingers patch on my jacket but the zine has me thinking.
The zine is for their previous EP, Cherry Baby, and produced by the same artist who made their tour diary: Poppy Marriott. A few pages of that were posted on Instagram and wow I am so happy I can read it on Poppy’s website.
I think when I catch up to August in my scrapbook I’ll have to take inspiration for their work. They made me feel free. Guess I’m not the only one who feels that way.