Newcastle; Cluny - 1/4/23
Wowsers!!! That clears the wax out the ears.... 2nd time around for His Lordship, and this time they got the big room to play in, Actually, it's their 2nd time in there as they are the same band that backed "her ladyship" Chrissie Hynde on the recent Pretender's Independent venues tour - just twice as fast and twice as loud...
Anyway, starting the evening were a band with the unwieldly handle of Bruno & the Outrageous Method of Presentation. Fronted by the eponymous Bruno who projected a mix, part Wilko Johnson, part Joey Ramone, part Jilted John, all topped off with Lou reed's curly hair & sunglasses: just a shame they weren't the right parts. It was one of those sets that seemed to be getting better the closer it got to the end, but damn, you forget how many 2 minute songs you can squeeze into a 35 min set, especially when you don't take time between to tune, engage with your audience, other than the obligatory "1,2,3,4" (at double time), I can't say that the backing band were bad, they were really competent, and to be fair, there were a few songs getting there, but the highlight for me was about 20 minutes in when Bruno's sunglasses slide down his face and tried to gag him, before giving up and diving floorward to escape.
Now, if you are going to cut some shapes with guitar and project serious attitude, James Walbourne is the guy to watch. This band is like watching a rebirth of Link Wray and Gene Vincent via The MC5, with the guitar flashes of old Dave Edmunds, Kristoffer Sonne, "partner-in-cheap suit" on the drums is a tribal animal and this time round they've turned up the bass guy. If there is a fault, you could say it's the shortness of the set, but hey, you see the energy these guys put into that 60 minutes; you ain't getting slow ballads here; but there was the scorching new single, Buzzkill.
You really need to catch these guys while they're the coolest, hot ticket.
When life gives you lemons; don't make lemonade.
Give back the lemons. Why were the lemons free? What's wrong with the lemons?
Do Not trust the lemons...