FLORAL IMAGE, SHE’S IN PARTIES & BEN AULD
Chances are that those at Glasto won’t see anything better than tonight’s headliners.
And lo, Glastonbury has returned and is all over the radio and television. For some of us though, local(ish) acts playing in a small(ish) venue is the preferable option and so I am at the Arts Centre.
First up is singer-songwriter BEN AULD. Auld plays guitar and sings and is backed up by a four piece including Duncan of Hex Friends on drums and the bass player from tonight’s headliners. There’s a couple or three songs where Auld is unaccompanied by the band. When accompanied, there’s a mix of genres: the hedonistic rock of The Only Ones, the Britpop of Shed Seven, country-folk and some Teenage Fanclub. Whilst the different styles don’t always gel, the songs are strong, Auld has a good voice and this is all very promising.
Despite the name, for better or worse, SHE’S IN PARTIES do not sound anything like Bauhaus. What they deliver is driving US style indie meets shoegaze and the pop end of goth, with the mellower end of Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky thrown in for good measure. Either they played a short set or they completely grabbed my attention because I didn’t check my watch once, which is almost unheard of. This is most definitely a band I want to see again.
In the late 80s, Hawkwind headlines a number of Acid Daze all-nighters, with the hoary old psych rockers being supported by (among others) various performers from the then nascent rave scene. FLORAL IMAGE may just be the natural outcome of the chemistry that occurred on those nights. The image crosses early 70s Rolling Stones with Stone Roses and Primal Scream circa 1990. The sound mixes late 60s West Coast psych with Hawkwind and a touch of Neil Young & Crazy Horse circa Weld then gives it all a rave sensibility. Dial In adds a bit of Happy Mondays Madchester to the mix. The playing is superb, with some glorious wah-wah guitar, and the band jam out with the best of them. Maybe it is the vintage (looking) gear - Vox AC30, Fender Bassman combos, Rickenbacker 6001 guitar – and UFO Club style visuals but I can’t help thinking it is all groooovy and tripppppy, maaaan. And that is a good thing, brothers and sisters, that is a good, good thing.
David A of this august organ said that there will be few if any performances at Glastonbury that will match Floral Image tonight and I have to wholeheartedly agree.
