Music > Live Reviews

The Velveteers

Voodoo Daddy's Showroom

02/11/18

Some gigs that I go to have been in the diary for six months or more. During that time the weight of expectation grows like a sapling under hydroponic lamps. But there are occasions when, for whatever reason, a lacklustre show follows, the leaves wither and curl, and I come away slightly deflated. It happens. It is the law of averages and I accept it. It's rather like supporting the local football team. You are in it for the highs as well as the lows. Conversely, there are nights when I venture out at short notice, or my plans change, and I end up discovering an act that was completely off my radar, and being completely blown away. Nights like Thursday.
 

 
Anyway, the next night I find myself supping on a tin of Red Stripe in the room above Bermuda Bob's that was, for a while, home to The Owl. I am listening to Hugo Z (pronounced Hugo 'Zee'), a four piece Norwich band led by Hugo Douglas-Deane, and I am really getting into their summery sound – a blend of jangly guitars played over mid-paced grunge surf-punk. I close my eyes and imagine myself in a bar in Newquay, watching the sun go down, and realise that, if I was, this is exactly what I would want to be listening to. Music that brings together the excitement and the edginess of Fistral or Watergate with the grittiness of an evening spent extracting sand from the inside of your pants. Check out tracks like Here's The Swell, and scope out Hugo Z in future gig listings.
 
Fever Machine are using the night to launch their Fever Man EP and, like Hugo Z, have a lot of local support in the room. They describe themselves as playing 'moody' rock, but they seem to be exploring some interesting ideas with retro psych keyboards dancing over a blues-rock bassline. Not as complex or dark as The Doors, but think of Spencer Davis or The Yardbirds having a groove with early members of Pink Floyd or Traffic, and you kind of get the idea. I last saw them here back in March, and was impressed then. Now, I love them.
 
The Velveteers are back in this country for only their second UK tour, and managed to fit Norwich in as their penultimate gig before heading back for Denver, Colorado. They began as a sibling two-piece with Demi Demitro on guitar, and brother John on drums. Whilst the world has seen a succession of drum-guitar duos come and go since Meg and Jack started doing their thing, The Velveteers managed to exploit a loophole that allows them to explore their obvious love of 70's prog and glam, as well as indulging later punk influences.

 
More recently they have added a second drummer in the form of Adrian Pottersmith, and in so doing have created something completely unique, not least through the way in which their two kits have been partly morphed together. The two sticks men now not only conjoin to create the rhythms but are also forced to share cymbals. The result is an aggressive primal sound, a thundering syncopation that spars against Demi's vocals and distorted guitar for attention, and produces a listening experience like being slammed by a ten ton truck. And whilst John and Adrian are alternately synchronising and deviating on the skins Demi is growling and writhing like a dervish on acid, her Plant-like corkscrews strangely reminiscent of those creatures from Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy album cover. She belts out the vocals with a 70's Devil Gate Drive attitude and take-no-prisoners determination, and in between tracks like Anastasia Sings, Just Like The Weather and Atlantic City (all from their eponymous debut release) new tracks are thrown in, together with an awesome cover of Bolan's Lean Woman Blues. When these guys next come back to the UK you MUST go and see them. Hearing is believing. Seeing is even better.
 
So, here is the moral to this tale. As Ferris Bueller famously put it, 'Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it'. So, next time the quiet night in seems  a tempting option, stop and double check what is happening out in the city. A night like this, put on by Odd Box Promotions, cost only a fiver yet enabled me to hear three awesome bands, support a local venue, catch up with some friends, and come away buzzing. Would Eastenders and i-Player have delivered the same? I think not.