Hands Off Gretel
Barnsley-based alt grunge rock quartet Hands Off Gretel continued their We Are Angry Tour with a date that had originally been arranged to promote their 'The Angry EP', released in March 2020. We all know what happened next.
Ironically, back in March 2020 the band had played three dates supporting the Elvis-fronted Nirvana tribute band, Elvana, and the first of these had been at Norwich Waterfront. On Thursday they were finally back in Norwich, and got to play their full set to a lively, enthusiastic audience upstairs at the Waterfront Studio. Eighteen months may have passed but Hands Off Gretel are back. And yes, they are still angry!
Led by the talented and charismatic Lauren Tate, and with Cobain lookalike Sean Bon on guitar, Becky Baldwin on bass, and Sam Hobbins on drums, Hands Off Gretel harness powerful melodies with anthemic choruses, and use fiercely feminist lyrics to tackle their subject matter head-on. Created with a style that borrows heavily from grunge masters Nirvana, but mixing it with pop sensibilities and just a hint of sweetness, Tate's vocals can switch from purr to power in a split-second, and with a scream that could wake residents in nearby flats.
The band begin with the blistering 'In The Eyes', whipping their audience into an appreciative frenzy before ploughing through a raft of tracks from second album 'I Want The World'. One middle-aged drunken idiot is ejected early on for making inappropriate comments towards the stage, totally reinforcing why bands like this are so crucial in highlighting and challenging all forms of mysogyny, ignorance and prejudice. Hence the need for songs like 'SASS' and 'It's My Fault'. 'War' is a powerful new song that needs no explanation, but acts as the perfect introduction for the EP tracks 'Don;t Touch', 'She Thinks She's Punk Rock N Roll', and 'Bigger Than Me'. No wonder they called it 'The Angry EP'.
'Kiss Me Girl' is the final track, a call-out to girls of all persuasion, and a parting salvo from these justice-championing torchbearers before being called back for their encore.
What else could it be but a Nirvana cover, and a magnificent and inspired version of 'Territorial Pissings' (from 'Nevermind') to end the evening. Yes, they are angry. And rightly so. But their message is loud and clear – As Kurt Cobain recognised, “Gotta find a way, find a way, when I'm there, Gotta find a way, a better way”.
Support came from effervescent local pop-punk trio Pink Lemonade, and Flint Moore, an alt-rock grunge band from Downham Market with impressive Reef-like vocals from frontman Francis Pennington.
