Music > Live Reviews

The Neutrinos

Norwich Arts Centre

27/01/19

Norwich has never been much of a breeding ground for mainstream commercial music acts. Google the premise looking for exceptions, and you’ll find desperate claims made on Beth Orton, despite leaving East Dereham when she was 14 and David Gray because he has a holiday home in Hunstanton. Granted, in the early 80s, the city got dangerously close to having some sort of a scene, with the likes of Screen 3, The Farmers Boys and the Higsons, but nothing really came of it. Thank the Lord, then, for the glorious exception that is the Neutrinos, who have been plugging away with their unique band of experimental, art-rock for twenty years, something they came to the Arts Centre to celebrate.

Shamefaced, I have to confess I’ve come very late to the Neutrinos party. A few years back, I was nervously wandering around in a darkened, decommissioned veterinary hospital in Edinburgh – like you do – poked and prodded by ushers, while being assailed by musicians installed in cages bashing away cacophonously on their instruments, while an extraordinarily charismatic singer made disconcerting whooping noises. It was a mesmerising performance, and a classic Edinburgh fringe experience, and I was astonished to learn, sometime later, that the band performing Klanghouse were not from Eastern Europe, or Iceland, or outer space. Blimey - they were from Norwich.

They have since performed what has become their signature show in all manner of venues, and while the Arts Centre is a decommissioned church, not a hospital, it is nonetheless a striking and unique venue - something through familiarity is easy to forget. The Neutrinos, along with long-time collaborator Sal Pittman took full advantage of the space afforded with inventive staging that made you see the building with fresh eyes, repositioning the stage in the centre of the auditorium, so that the audience gathered all around the performers, who huddled together as they might in rehearsal. It made for a curiously intimate start as, contrary as ever, it was The Neutrinos themselves that opened the evening, with One Way Kiss, followed by half a dozen golden oldies. Surrounded by evocative projections, it made for a hugely atmosphere beginning to proceedings, which then cheekily came to an abrupt halt just as things were warming up.

Only then did we get support band Gracelands, who were given the unenviable task of following that. It was a tall order, and though I am sure  it was wholly unintentional on The Neutrinos part, a somewhat unfair one. The evening was bound to suffer from an inevitable dip when the best band in Norwich hands over the baton to a younger, less experienced one, and someone really should have thought that through. Gracelands showed they had talent, particularly in the shape of Maxi Gedges excellent drumming, but Rosie Arnold’s vocals just weren’t doing it for me. Worse, some truly unpleasant misogyny from someone in the crowd nudged Arnold into some loose tongued misandry of her own. Coupled with misjudged banter and an unfortunate accident with a pint of beer, their performance never quite recovered. It was a great pity, as they are obviously huge admirers of the Neutrinos and the evening obviously meant a lot to them, but it was frankly a relief when the headliners came back to the stage.

If anything, The Neutrinos returned more powerful and energised than before, charging through Angel, Butcher and Ugly. Karen Reilly switched effortlessly from chanteuse to banshee and back again, while John Baker’s bassline held it all together, in a set that was full of sound and fury, yet had moments of delicious tenderness and contrast. They were joined onstage by guests aplenty, most notably by performance poet Ben C Winn on percussion, who filled out the sound nicely. Sadly, we didn’t get a cover of his seminal Bag in a Tree, but we did hear a brilliant version of Gracelands’ Appalachian, showcasing just how good the support band’s music could be.

By the time we got to the particularly irresistible Pulse Addict, a fine old time was being had by all, but I did start to wonder if the evening was in danger of turning into a normal gig. I should have known better, as Mark Howe then produced a megaphone, announced it was his birthday, and launched into the closing number. Unbeknown to those of us with our noses pressed closely against the stage, the great and the good of Norwich’s musical talent (sharper eyes than mine spotted Leo and Pip of BK & Dad and Emily Winn of the Sargasso Trio) had been setting up around the perimeter of the venue. With the Neutrinos onstage - in full-blown crash, bang, wallet mode - we were treated to a fabulous and almighty racket from at least a dozen musicians dotted around the Arts Centre, as Isotope brought the evening to a close.

I’ve been reminded while writing this that Let’s Eat Grandma is a duo from Norwich doing very well at the moment, but with all due respect I don’t think that’s quite the same as being a Norwich band – certainly not the definite Norwich band. This is something which surely only The Neutrinos can claim to be - long may the sonic assault of their gloriously eccentric reign continue.