Benefits start a new tour in Reading and drag Dan Le Sac out of live retirement in the process.
What on Earth is going on? One really good gig in Reading is something to celebrate, but two on the same night is a rare, rare thing. We have an awful coin flip between the youthful, but well crafted, indie-pop of Pentire and the depresso-dance-noise-punk of Benefits. We are close to going with Pentire, but we absolutely wanted to catch a full Benefits set following their triumphal forty-five minutes at Are You Listening? Festival back in May. Having been to London many times more than we intended this year The Facebar feels preferable to seeing them at The Lower Third.
Dan Le Sac
One half of hip hop electronica duo Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip that were well regarded between about 2008 and 2014. No one is really sure what is to expect from Dan Le Sac tonight and that probably includes Dan. He is almost apologetic at the start. “I haven’t done this for 9 years.” Regardless, he quickly gets back in the zone with his brand of beat driven electronica. He promises us ten tracks and proceeds to announce each one by number. No track names, just, “Number two,” “That was number seven!”
It is a fun half hour with a few enthusiastic dancers giving it large. I haven’t a clue what tracks he played; however he has been very busy since his live music hiatus began with a range of soundtracks for video games and a few EPs.
Benefits
The smaller of the two rooms at the Facebar is busy and buzzing by the time Benefits come on. On social media they have promised more tracks from Nails than they have been playing recently, and Kingsley Hall has said “This won’t be a joyous celebration of life affirming good time music, you won’t come away with a fun little spring in your step, this is going to be brutal. “
It is an atmospheric set complemented by their own back-lit lighting set up, though is an absolute bitch for taking decent photos. Kingsley starts off the spoken word introduction for ‘Constant Noise’ and once again we are being sucked into s**t-Britain and the righteous, furious anger of this very special band. It goes straight into ‘Marlboro Hundreds’ showing that Nails will indeed be more prominent this time.
There is some very clever putting together of tracks here that complement and enhance each other. None more so than ‘Lies and Fear’ leading into ‘Missiles.’ Now, as the tracks follow each other on the album it might not seem that much of a stretch… except that Kingsley has rewritten the end of ‘Lies and Fear’ to reduce us all to guilty wrecks. The “What would you do?” section becomes an extended “What did you do?” “What did you do as Gaza was reduced to rubble?” Not enough Kingsley, that’s what we all did, not enough. Followed by ‘Missiles’ this is powerful, haunting stuff.
‘Blame’ and ‘Divide’ are employed to pick up the tempo and get people moving again. Having already enjoyed Warhorse earlier we are treated to ‘Flag’ and ‘Traitors.’ Continuing the line in amusing Benefits merchandise they are currently offering the lyrics of ‘Flag’ printed on a tea towel. You find yourself fearing for Kingsley’s voice, this being the first night of the tour, with the amount of passion he pours into these tracks… screaming and roaring his way through, will it hold up to the pressure after a few nights?
There is not a lot of chat. Kingsley eventually takes a minute to talk about hometown Middlesbrough and the value that immigration has bought to the region. He is humble about the audience that has turned up on a Wednesday night, not taking it for granted. Robbie Major also briefly speaks near the end, generally a quiet and thoughtful presence on stage. He finishes his tale of sat-naving through Watlington (definitely not the most optimal route between Newcastle and Reading) with a heartfelt “Free Palestine and f**k Hull!” I am not sure what Hull did to deserve this one, possibly something football related.
They finish as last time with their Suicide cover “Dream Baby Dream.” For the second time in six months Kingsley is dripping with sweat at the end of a Facebar set, once again having given the audience everything. It will be an absolute joy (or perhaps masochistic misery) seeing where the Benefits project heads to next. Whatever form it takes we will be there for it, as it is essential music for our times.
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