A remarkable album launch show for The Sick Man of Europe at The George Tavern on the 8th July.
Having heard all the singles and been enjoying the album since before it came out, we still weren’t prepared for how good a gig this was going to be.
Saint Izaure
A debut gig for this artist without any music released on streaming services. He’s a one guy and his laptop outfit. It was enthusiastic with a range of different beats, leaning into different genres, singing and closer to rapping in places. He bought a good crowd of friends along to cheer and dance in all the right places.
Doom Club
There is the germ of something here. This three-piece,two guitarists and a keyboard player with further FX boxes, veer between quirky indie and borderline rave. There are a couple of singles and an EP on streaming services that I quite enjoyed in the build-up to this. Both guitarists have a few moves and their chief knob twiddler delivers the beats.
The Sick Man Of Europe
There is some nice attention to detail here. The merch table had the prices described on an old-fashioned chunky TV set straight out of the early 80s. I wasn’t expecting a lot of communication with the crowd, other than through the songs. As expected, they came on, played for almost 50 minutes, and departed whilst the feedback was still ringing without a single word that wasn’t sung in a song, any acknowledgement of the audience feedback, or anything you would normally expect. It almost made Beth Gibbons seem like a chatterbox in comparison. I should have pounced before or afterwards with the thumbscrews ready. However, it seems unfair. They have set out why they want to let the music do the talking, and I can respect that.
Now, this is not to say they sat timidly on the stage and hid. The Sick Man himself (as I think their singer and chief creative force will have to be referred to from now on, the rest of the band are perhaps The Sickettes) came out into the crowd on three tracks and it created intense reactions, a full on mosh during the last occasion which caught a few older synth fans unprepared. The entire band gave a muscular, controlled performance.
This was not quite the sound of the album. Firstly, there was a drummer, which I suspect might have been a new addition for the next wave of gigs as I haven’t seen one pictured before. Next, despite a couple of small fx boxes, the majority of the sound was coming from the drummer, and the two very good guitarists. Previously The Sick Man has had to go back to keyboards and boxes of tricks. Tonight, he was free to pull robot dance moves, lean out into the audience like a conquering musical overlord and go and sing directly in the crowd, inciting near adoration at times, as his heart, or his machine replacement for a heart, desired.
This was more than a performance or a gig. It was utterly primal. Powerful. There was an intensity and electricity right from the get-go. In amongst the repetitions of notes and lyrics is a space that becomes transformative, that sucks the audience right into it.
‘Obsolete’ is deployed earlier than I expected but it sounds phenomenal, building and building. The first time the Sick Man goes wandering to commune with the flock. ‘Transactional’ is also superb. On some level I find myself asking if this is what it was like stumbling across an early gig by Joy Division? I don’t think they are quite in that league, at least not yet, but there is undeniable magic here, something stirring and growing, pushing out into the daylight from a hiding place deep within the shadows.
I really wasn’t sure about ‘Sanguine’ when I first heard it, but it gets better with every listen and is a key part of the set tonight. ‘Profane Not Profound’ is epic.
As they rapidly disappear with the instruments still generating feedback on the stage everyone present desperately wants more, wants a longer experience. It is fair enough tonight, they have exhausted all the best tunes – but given another album the audience will be demanding more of them. On the evidence of tonight they have everything they need to deliver it. This is a strange and intense experience, far more guitar driven live than you would have expected, delivered by a tight band with some real talent. At its heart is The Sick Man, all brooding intensity and rapid movement, like a high priest drawing strength from the ritual of the performance. Get to them over the Summer. Your next opportunities are at Deer Shed, Multitude and Manchester Psych Festivals before a flurry of events in October. This band is a long, long way from being made obsolete.
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