Billy Nomates
A slickly delivered show, and a long-overdue return to Norwich for Billy Nomates
It is now almost three years since Victoria 'Tor' Maries, aka Melton Mowbray singer songwriter Billy Nomates, last performed in Norwich. It was November 26th 2022, and Nomates' sophamore album Cacti was about to be released. She remembers the location as the Norwich Arts place, although those who were at Norwich Arts Centre on that night could well have been there too, just one week later, when another rising star, CMAT, headlined the same venue.
This time, Billy Nomates is touring the country in support of her new album Metalhorse, which was released in May of this year to critical acclaim. The Adrian Flux Waterfront is stop number four of a twelve date tour, and she is joined on stage by Scottish bassist Mandy Clarke and drummer Liam Chapman, both of whom feature on the new album.
The generous setlist centres mainly around the Metalhorse album, beginning with the short manifesto-statement, Life's Unfair, before hitting into a stride with the title track, and delivering further fairground analogy within Nothin’ Worth Winning. Of all the album’s eleven tracks Strange Gift is the only non-runner. Liam Hemsworth takes joint vocals on Dark Horse Friend, taking the place of The Stranglers' Hugh Cornwell, who guested on the album version.
In keeping with the overall fairground theme of the evening, the stage is dressed with props that include parts from an old merry-go-round, and a sign that declares the promise of 'A balloon or toy if you lose'. Metalhorse is an album that deals directly with grief and loss, although this is gently countered with a distant light of hope that burns within the track, Plans.
Amidst the new material there is still room for a few older tracks – three songs from Cacti make the cut, as does No, the anthem of resolve that featured on Nomates’ eponymous debut album. She also throws in a couple of songs from her on-line Tor’s Top Tape releases.
Billy Nomates is yet another name from a growing list of bands and artists who now reject the entire pointless charade of returning to the stage to perform encores, and leaving us instead to show our appreciation and thanks by applauding wildly, and appreciatively, after the final song (which also happens to be The Test, the latest single to be released from the new album, Metalhorse).
Those arriving earlier at the Adrian Flux Waterfront will have also had a chance to watch opening support act Emily Sadler. A tumbler and aerialist from Bristol, Sadler's stage act was an intriguing start to a live music gig, an elegant amuse-bouche you might say, her grace and dexterity combining with strength and precision as she balanced on bricks and bottles before proceeding to the aerial hoop. Not your everyday start to a music gig, but if anyone reading this is booking slots for next year's Norfolk and Norwich Festival outdoor performances; the city centre's Summer Sessions programme; or the Lord Mayor's Celebrations, this could well be an act worth considering.
A slickly delivered show, and a long-overdue return to Norwich for Billy Nomates , and another sobering reminder of just how much musical talent is picked up on early by Norwich's smaller venues (and that includes the Waterfront's very own upstairs Studio).
Support live music. Support new talent. And be there when the big names return, so that you, too, can overheard smugly declaring, “I remember when they played at the Norwich Arts place three years ago”.
