CONCERT REVIEW: Buzzcocks / Heist, Brighton England
- Tim Kennedy
Tonight's venue is a sticky upper floor of an old Victorian pub on the main A23 route running into Brighton, premier seaside resort of the South of England. We are here to see one of the original punk bands who were involved in the infamous Anarchy Tour which the Sex Pistols led around the UK in 1976 (only to be banned from nearly all venues). If you know your history...
But before all that, Heist make their entrance. Two young ladies in evening dresses grace either side of the stage, one with cornet, the other a violin, a drummer and centrestage is a rather severe cropped-headed guy in a jacket on vocals and guitar. Their songs seem to inhabit a smoky demi-monde between indie punk and Eastern European gypsy music.
The music is seductive whilst retaining the muscle of the drums and guitar. The violin is effectively the lead instrument and Celina shows great skill with her instrument and a great deal of shy but evident charisma. Alison uses her cornet on occasion to nicely embellish their songs or else joining Mike on vocals to offset his gruff yet impassioned delivery.
This band seem to be a little too individualistic for the major record companies in the current nervy climate, which is a shame because their brand of romance is sadly lacking in today's often stereotyped musical camps.
Their response has been to go independent. They have their own label Super 8 and brought out a single a while back called "Defectors" which garnered critical acclaim.
On their own they have variously worked with Nick Cave, Primal Scream, Marc Almond and Tindersticks. They've toured with the Fall and Eddi Reader as if to emphasise their eclecticism.
The mainly punky crowd rouse themselves to applaud a brave set from the eclectic Heisters as they depart.
The Buzzcocks take the stage about half an hour later to a rapturous welcome. Two of the original band are present, Pete Shelley guitar/vocalist and Steve Diggle guitarist and occasional vocalist.
The hits are rolled out, including "Ever Fallen In Love", "Paradise", "Orgasm Addict", "Promises", "Fast Cars", "Harmony In My Head" (with Steve singing as gamely as ever), the classic punk tunes keep rolling out. The mass pogoing that breaks out down at the front makes it a little risky up there. The band are beaming smiles over the mostly young hordes, though peppered with greying heads from the old days. The odd new number is thrown in and goes down as well as the golden oldies.
What was always interesting about the Buzzcocks was that for an original punk band, their subject matter rarely strayed from teenage romance. Perhaps only Ulster's Undertones of all other punk bands concentrated on this area. Of course, the Buzzcocks were far more X-rated with their lyrics.
There being no back room to exit to, the band announce a virtual encore "Right, this bit's the encore so just imagine we've gone off and come on again." A few more 70s punk classics and then the great "Boredom" and they're off, through the crowd and upstairs, leaving a heaving sweaty mob roaring with appreciation.
