120: Back at The Dublin Castle, London

Saturday 29^th July 2017: Gig 4: The Dublin Castle, London
with JD Kelleher | Head of Light Entertainment | The Lunar Effect

A new day in London dawns and we headed to Café du Coin on Earl’s Court Road for coffees and breakfast.
We journeyed over to Camden for lunch, stopping at the fantastic Mildred’s on Jamestown Road. Superb menu full of various cuisines, all veggie / vegan and with super quick service. We then headed over to Kentish Town to meet our good friends Bob and Lisa Duncan who were coming up from Hemel Hempstead specially to see the show tonight. We met with Bob and Lisa at The Abbey Tavern where we had played in 2016 – a great bar with lots of different rooms and areas outside.

Some things are meant to be…
Exactly 4 years ago we played at The Dublin Castle for the first time; tonight we return to support the fantastic JD Kelleher (who shares his birthday with Alexis)… this final tour is full of synchronicity!

“The Dublin Castle is a legendary pub and music venue located 2 minutes away from Camden Town tube station. It has been ran by the same family for over 28 years and features 4 live bands every night as well as a great selection of beers, ciders and wines.
But what is it that makes the Dublin Castle the long-standing centre of the indie rock universe? Is it because it’s Madness’ birthplace? Because its stage has been graced by everyone from Blur, through Coldplay, Supergrass, The Killers, The Arctic Monkeys, Billy Bragg, etc? Is it because it was no surprise to see Amy Winehouse behind the bar serving costumers? Or Suggs? (who, mind you, tended to ignore costumers and serve himself)
Or is it because far from being just another Camden venue it has established itself as an indie rock institution?”

For us The Dublin Castle is an amazing ‘fair play’ venue with friendly locals, uber-cool staff and one of the best sound engineers in the city. We owe a huge ‘thank you’ to Tony at BugBear for supporting us and stepping in to help when one of our other London dates was cancelled due to the venue losing it’s licence (noise complaints from neighbours – boo).

Back in 2013 we played a great show at The Dublin Castle alongside the mighty dressmaker and The Oceans Above and on arrival we were pleased to see that little had changed in this classic venue. Bugbear promotions always put together a great line-up and so we were pleased to kick things off with our set mixing acoustic numbers with tracks featuring bass and beat loops from the KP3+. Once again it was great to have good friends in the audience to cheer us on and the rest of the viewing public enjoyed our sounds too.

Second on the bill were The Lunar Effect who drew inspiration from the 70s sounds of Led Zeppelin and the 13^th Floor Elevators – excellent vibes and kudos to their singer for wearing a leather jacket throughout on what is one of the hottest stages in London.

Next up were Head of Light Entertainment – a quirky group featuring male and female vocals plus guitar, keys, bass and electronic drums. They had come down from Teesside for this show and demonstrated their individual sound extremely well.

Headliners for the evening were JD Kelleher and band – an amazing frontman and vocalist, JD has put together a great band around him and has some great original numbers. His cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart was his first release, and went down a storm within the set.

Homeward bound and loving life!

COMING UP
3rd AUGUST Sacre Noir live at Paris Lit Up Open Mic / Culture Rapide
6th AUGUST Unite & Take Over @ Le Bistrot des Artistes
8th AUGUST Follow That Muse @ Le Cave Cafe
9th AUGUST Open Secret @ Le Bistrot des Artistes

117 – Rebels and Loners video launch

Sacre Noir Rebels & Loners Tour Summer Tour 2017
Saturday 22nd July 2017
Rebels & Loners launch Party, Bannerman’s Bar, Edinburgh
+ Very special guests CaveYear & Heart of Orion

Back in May 2017 we filmed what is set to be the final official Sacre Noir music video for Rebels & Loners (taken from the LP Nothing Falls Apart: Savage Recordings 2016) over a couple of weekends in Dunfermline & Edinburgh.
On Saturday night we held a party at Bannerman’s Bar in Edinburgh to celebrate our final release.

First up on the evening was local electronica act CaveYear. Clinical delivery of clean sounds his set is often ethereal sounding and incredibly ‘cool’. I last saw Arno live last year at our last launch night (A Rhythm Between Work & Sleep @ The Safari Lounge) and his set has developed more of an avant-pop edge, moving away from the shoegaze sounds and indie stylings.

To be kept up-to-date and receive a FREE track you can sign up to the CaveYear mailing list here.

Next up was American electro-pop duo Heart of Orion. European synth sounds and crispy disco style beats backed up Danielle’s powerful vocal delivery and poignant lyrics. They are only in the UK for a few shows and I was so glad that we were able to have them support us in Edinburgh.
They are playing at The Fiddler’s Elbow on July 31^st so if you’re in London looking for a fun Monday night gig – check them out!

After that we played all 6 videos finishing up with the launch of Rebels and Loners, before our headline set for the evening.

It was an emotional night; many tears, lots of hugs and memories and a fair amount of booze and much dancing / singing was the order of the evening.
Bringing the talents of stylist Erin Culley into the team for one last shoot, we also recruited models / actresses Lyndsey B (who has featured in each of our 6 official video releases) and Emma T (who allowed us to feature her beautiful daughter in this video too) as well as young actress Aimie M (whose mum Lorraine was our assistant stylist for this shoot) and the wonderfully talented dancer Lisa Richie.
We also worked with a fantastic young dance troupe who are based at The Alhambra Stage And Dance School and their choreographer Lauren Brown.

Musically delicate with lyrics that focus on dealing with personal difficulties; loss, depression and anxiety, this minimalist slice of down-tempo electronica is a fitting goodbye from Sacre Noir. There is a background focus within the lyrics which looks at the fear of memory loss and the difficulties of thinking, problem-solving or communication that come with Alzheimer’s disease.

Inspired by stories from those directly affected by these issues, the accompanying video leans on visual metaphors to ask, “what if there are no more goodbyes”? We were keen to drive forward our final visual work using ideas of unconsciousness and dream interpretations as is common with David Lynch’s work. The dark and mysterious films we create communicate draw upon these concepts with a modern clinical approach to discussing psychological issues, especially those around psychosis.  As Alzheimer’s progresses, problems with memory loss, communication, reasoning and orientation become more severe. Some people start to believe things that are untrue (delusions) and can see or hear things which are not actually there (hallucinations), similar to those who suffer with schizophrenia and psychosis.

People are like balloons – sometimes they pop.
Balloons pop because the air on the inside is at a higher pressure than the air on the outside; it’s skin is pulling inwards like and elastic tension.
I think sometimes we can all feel like were about to burst – the world around us brings stress and fear and uncertainty to all and the pressure can often feel like it’s too much.
In many circles balloons symbolize letting go of your worries & fears; the balloon is a focused mental state. White balloons can indicate a time of spiritual enlightenment while the black balloon is a suggestion that through hardship and depression will come a better resolution.

With the recent suicidal deaths from within our industry (Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington) there is an increased call for all areas to increase awareness surrounding mental health issues and a hope that those who feel they have nowhere else to turn will find very clear signs pointing to those who are able to offer support & comfort, if nothing else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wi3DjmsTko

Sunday 23^rd July 2017
Brunch @ Art and Vintage, Edinburgh
Last full day in Edinburgh before heading off on tour was spent as always finishing off the merchandise preparation and tour promotion, however we did find time to pop into our favourite brunch spot in Edinburgh for a coffee and a little quiet time to gather our thoughts (and finalise the kitty-sitting rota for summer).
Welcomed by the patrons Paul and Toni (who are good friends) we settled into the comfy seats with coffees in hand and remembered to breathe; filled in some bullet journal boxes, avoided buying any of the art (a new exhibition has just started and it included some interesting pieces) and started to reflect on the previous evening’s show / look forward to tomorrow’s journey south.

Monday 24^th July 2017
London part 1
This time last year we were arriving back in Edinburgh having just finished our 2016 tour – a year later we’ve only just begun.

We were pleased to have arranged an afternoon departing train to London this year as usually we end up getting cheap tickets which involves the early trains / planes but today we had loads of time to get ready and spend some extra time with the kitty before heading off for 3 weeks of gigs and promotional activities.

As our set-up is vastly reduced this year (acoustic guitar, KP3+ and VE-20 loop pedal plus mics only this year) we seem to be travelling light and getting around London feels much easier than previous years.

We had no problems with transport at all – Waverley to Euston, then across the city to our hotel in Earl’s Court (an area we fell in love with last year) before heading out for something to eat and an early night, ready to take London by storm the next day.

We decided on Franco Manca for our first meal in London this year; organic pizza and fancy juices… just what the travel doctor ordered.

COMING UP
27^TH JULY NXI presents Red Tape Riot live at The New Cross Inn
29^TH JULY BugBear Promotions presents JD Kelleher live at The Dublin Castle
 

079 – Sacre Noir Summer Tour 2014

Sunday 27th July – Day Off, Paris
After the success of the Paris leg of this year’s summer tour and some much needed sleep, we went into the 10th Arr. & had brunch in a lovely bar called ‘Swinging Londress’. It was great value (quiche, salad, eggs, rice & olives, bread, juice, coffee & dessert for €12), with great service and in a really nice location too.

Sunday Brunch in Paris

Later in the day we went back to Au Chat Noir as I left my hat & mask the previous night after our show, before heading out into the suburbs for a BBQ with friends and in the evening we ate at an American style café.

Paris street art & AlexisSs

Having had a pretty lazy day, we went back to the apartment to discover that a local music fan had filmed our show from Friday night at AbracadaBar and uploaded the full set to YouTube. Although we always record our rehearsals and live shows to watch back and evaluate, the angle is usually from the side of the stage and it’s often more like watching again from your own viewpoint rather than that of the audience. As this was all from the audience’s view it provided us with a little insight into the delivery and performance aspect of a Sacre Noir show, which was really nice.

We were really pleased with our set after the show and having watched it back we were pleased to see that everything did indeed sound & look just as great out front. The Tour de France finished today & apart from all the fans in polka dot tops, we managed to miss the whole thing. We were in Paris at the same time 4 years ago (honeymoon) and saw the final sprint down the Champs Elyssee, which was really cool, but I do remember having to walk the long way round the city as many of the streets and roads were closed off, so we were keen to avoid that this time.

http://youtu.be/rCozLK61GdY?list=UUkeb5h_6JwymPehgQ-Cn1-Q

Monday 28th July – Day Off, Paris (Alexis’s birthday)
As with all birthdays, I was more excited than Alexis today, but after a quick call from his mum & dad, we went out for the day.

Paris Metro

Starting with a trip to the Albert Khan gardens and photography exhibition, which involved 3 changes on the Metro. When we got there we discovered that it was closed on Mondays, but as we found ourselves in an unfamiliar and a nice part of town, we decided to stay for a coffee, and after a trip to the supermarket we ate our picnic there too. Keen to spend some time in a ‘green space’ today, we went over to the park Andre Citroen (on the site of his old car factory).

Paris park

It was really lovely & peaceful in the park, so we stayed there for a while then went back into town for a spot of shopping near Montmartre.

“I love you”

In the evening we ate at a local Indian restaurant, which was really lovely. It can be very difficult going out for food in Paris as a vegetarian, but thankfully some national cuisines can always be relied upon to provide lots of options.
Back in the apartment for our last night in Paris before midnight (this has been rare on this trip), we caught up with some emails and watched TV and had some birthday cake.

Birthday cake

It really has been a great trip and we’ll have to make a special post for all the “thank-yous” at the end of the tour.

Tuesday 29th July – Travel Day (Paris – London)
Got up early and headed out for coffee before packing the bags and heading into for lunch near GDN. We also managed to find time for some cake before leaving Paris.
Our train back to London was just after 3pm, getting into St Pancras before 5pm. It was raining when we left Paris, but the sun was shining when we arrived in London. We made it back to Ealing in time for a quick cuppa and a change of clothes before going out to The Village for a small acoustic show with Andy Docherty and friends. We met Andy last year when we played at Power’s Bar in Kilburn (sadly gone now).
Andy (a fellow Scot) is running the open mic at this nice pub on Pitshanger Lane, bringing some of his very talented friends into the leafy suburbs of Ealing. Tonight, as well as Andy and ourselves, one of the other acts who performed was a fantastically talented young lady called Jai Blue – she has a stunning voice and managed to bring the crowd to silence with her beautiful voice and lovely lyrics. Her first song was about her relationship with her mum (who “didn’t raise no quitter”) and told a story of strength and trust – just beautiful. There were a few first timers to the open mic scene but everyone had a great night and the crowd was very supportive.

Jai Blue at The Village Inn (Ealing)

The Village Inn is a lovely bar with really great staff (super friendly and full of fun) and I’m sure their ‘acoustic night’ will go from strength to strength. Andy finished the evening with a cover of ‘Hey Laura’ by Gregory Porter, which was a very classy way to end the evening.

Wednesday 30th July – Day off in London
“So I went and sat in Crystal Palace, by the plastic dinosaurs”… and all because of some lyrics in a Brett Anderson song. The park was beautiful & the dinosaurs (which aren’t plastic) were really cool. They pre-date Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Species’ and are really quite different from the more contemporary versions. The song “To The Winter” makes the park sound bleak and dark and lonely, but on a beautiful sunny day, with kids running and playing everywhere and families in small boats in the pond, it was anything but bleak.

Crystal Palace Park

In the afternoon we went to Camden and had coffee by the lock. I love Camden! It really is one of the most vibrant areas of London with a great mix of bars and cafés and strange sights like the DJ Granddad (who entertained the crowds by playing dance track while his friends did a strange dance routine (if you can call it a routine)… it was very funny.

“People are strange, when you’re a stranger”

We also discovered the ‘Edinburgh’ area of Camden (near Parkway) which is home to a pub called the ‘Edinboro Castle’ and streets called Holyrood Court and Northbridge schools…. Very funny for us natives.

The Edinboro Castle, Camden

In the evening we went back to Ealing for a BBQ in the garden to make the most of the beautiful weather.

Thursday 31st July – Day off in London
We went out early in the morning to Holland Park which is really stunning.
Just before you get to the park there is a statue of St Volodymyr of Ukraine with a tribute to those who have recently lost their lives in the recent conflict. It was very emotional reading the stories of how these young men were found or killed, and some are still missing (since March this year).

St Volodymyr of Ukraine

Inside Holland Park there are a few peacocks that live there and they were really cool to see up close – very calm and quite friendly with the public and squirrels. The park has a beautiful Japanese garden and loads of natural play areas for kids. It is a really relaxing space in the city, I think because there is no cycling, skating allowed and dogs have to stay on a lead, and as a consequence everything seems very controlled.

AlexisSs in Holland Park

After a picnic in the park we headed over to Hackney to catch up with friends, Barry & Ray. We started off in their local pub, The Cock Tavern then heading out for food at the Hackney Bureau. Both the craft beer and cider at the pub were lovely and in the bistro the food was simple and fresh. It was great to get together and have a good chat before they gig tomorrow evening when I’m sure Alexis & I will be in ‘show mode’ and not really able to spend as much time with them as we’d like to.

at Barry & Ray’s in Hackney

NEXT SHOW
Summer Tour 2014: Gig 8 Friday 1st August @ Power Lunches (London)
dressmaker presents: Sacre Noir (Dark Female Lo-Fi from Scotland), Introverts,
Tinderdust, Grand Bassam
https://www.facebook.com/events/301947156645961/

065 – Sacre Noir Summer Tour 2013 (gig 14)

Gig 14 – Sunday 1st September 2013 @ Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh
The end is neigh and the final show of this year’s summer tour looms large!
A last minute line-up change is called for after Lewis Gibson goes on a last minute holiday… to the rescue are a drum student, a local guitar legend and a couple of festival performers all brought together by the one and only Ewan Gibson. Naming themselves after a poetry meet The Soul Cypher featuring Mekkah & Twenty20 had a practice in the afternoon before the show and delivered a pretty convincing set (I’d love to have seen them if they were a full-time collective). Along with their sense of adventure the two American MCs also brought a touch of musical magic to the start of this event as everything was so relaxed and in the spirit of making good music and enjoying sharing the results.

The Soul Cypher live at Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh

We get ourselves set-up on the familiar stage of Henry’s and launch into our forty-minute set of dark electronica. The sound is tight and loud and we are pleased to hear that we’ve ‘awakened the goth’ in one enthusiastic fan in particular. It’s a good crowd that includes some familiar faces who are here to support our last show of the tour and check out The Penny Black Remedy. We’re really pleased with the response and happy to have played 14 great gigs stretching back to the first night of the tour back in July.

Sacre Noir live at Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh – Photo by Flare Photography

By the time The Penny Black Remedy took to the stage everyone in the venue was ready for their unique brand of musical mayhem, and once again the group didn’t disappoint. As with their show in Glasgow they mixed tracks from their debut LP with tracks from their latest release ‘Inhale… Exhale… Ok, Now You Can Panic!’ to great effect and had the crowd dancing and whooping for Keith’s guitar solos.

The Penny Black Remedy live at Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh

Looking back it’s been an amazing month and a half of gigs and travelling, playing to the new audiences and hanging out in some great cities. Big thanks are due to all the venues and promoters who have helped along the way; The Banshee Labyrinth, Box, The Vibe Bar, The Arc, Power’s Bar, The Dublin Castle, Belushi’s Gare du Nord and Canal Paris, Le Vieux Leon, Soupanova, Little Stage, Pfefferbett Hostel, Pivo Pivo, Henry’s Cellar Bar, Craig McGee, Plugged In Switched On, Bearsuit Promotions, Ben & Lio @ Belushi’s, Selina @ Soupanova, Alex @ Little Stage, Charlotte @ Pfefferbett, It’s a XXXX Blog Thing and Claire @ Henry’s. Big thanks are also due to all the fine bands we played with along the way; Llennett, Hot Jupiter, Little Love and the Friendly Vibes, Tom Coyne, Sir Spence, The Joy, George Frakes, Andy Docherty and The Caped Crusaders, Dressmaker, The Ocean’s Above, Mickey 9s, The Soul Cypher featuring Mekkah and Twenty20 and The Penny Black Remedy.
You can check out a video below which features footage from the gigs, interviews during the tour and more – a great snapshot into the touring life with Sacre Noir.

054 – Sacre Noir Summer Tour 2013 (gig 6)

Monday 29th July 2013
Gig 6 – The Dublin Castle, London

A pretty relaxing start to the day despite Alexis having to do more work. We had lunch at a little Mexican place on Bond Street (Ealing) and a wee wander round the shops before sorting out the gear for tonight’s show at The Dublin Castle.
“If I was an MP, the Dublin Castle would be registered as my second home.”
– 6Music DJ Steve Lamacq
This is the gig I’ve been most excited about (although it’ll need to go some to better Power’s Bar) as the venue has an amazing history of showcasing live music and loads of bands that we count as an influence have played there at some point including, The Tindersticks, Madness, Billy Bragg.
“The Dublin Castle is one of London’s most famous pubs and venue. Any aspiring band should, or has, passed through the doors in to the backroom to play.”
– someone on the internet

Alexis @ The Dublin Castle

On the way to sound-check we picked up tickets to see Luke Haines @ The Borderline for tomorrow night (our last night in London before we head over to Paris). Got set up and found out that there are only 3 bands playing tonight & that we’d actually been booked as the headliners (boom). The other two bands on the bill were The Oceans Above (Nuneaton/Milton Keynes based melodic rock) & Dressmaker (London based noise makers) – we enjoyed both acts very much even though they were very different from each other and ourselves.
Dressmaker played first and delivered a full on brutal assault to the ears. Visually arresting and sonically ruthless this was quite a way to start the evening’s entertainment. It wasn’t till we were chatting after their set that we discovered this was their first ever gig, which I think impressed me even more… watch this space, if these guys don’t break everything in their way I’m sure we’ll all be hearing more about them soon.

Dressmaker @ The Dublin Castle

Next up were The Oceans Above, a much more melodic band with lovely harmonies and a very catchy forthcoming single ‘I’m Gone’ which they recently recorded in London at Fortress Studios with the excellent Justin Hill (former front-man of SikTh) – it really is a superb track and I can’t wait to hear the production.

The Oceans Above @ The Dublin Castle

We had a lovely surprise guest at the show in the form of CAT member Phil Morphett. CAT is a collective we joined ages ago and have had some very satisfying collaborations so far – check out the Pixelpusher videos for the Savage Sound System.
http://www.youtube.com/savagesoundsystem
Phil is a producer and seemed to enjoy our set – I have a feeling that there may be a new remix or two on the way in the not so distant future.

CAT meeting in London

So that’s us finished with London gigs for this tour – it really has been a blast & we’d like to say a huge “Thank-you” to everyone who has been there to support us on this leg – promoters, fellow artists, friends and family… next stop France.

Next gig: Thursday 1st August @ Belushi’s GDN, Paris
If you haven’t seen their new bar yet, check it out: http://www.belushis.com/bars/paris/gare-du-nord