071 – Sacre Noir Summer Tour 2014 (gig 3)

Thursday 17th July @ Bannerman’s Bar, Edinburgh
We’ve all be really excited about this show for a few months now. Alexis and I played a show with Dressmaker last summer at The Dublin Castle in Camden and we were both utterly blown away by them. It just happened that this gig was their very first and as you can see from my blog after that gig, I was sure they’d be a force to be reckoned with.
BLOG POST 054 – Summer Tour 2013

I hate to say “I told you so” but … One year later they have mastered their live show (less crazy but somehow more chaotic), they have a fantastic EP under their belt (Glass) and every blogger in London seems to be cooing over their very being (Vice are big fans). This month they have taken to the road with the Terminal Gods for a bunch of UK shows and after a successful show in Glasgow’s fantastic 13th Note last night, Dressmaker are now in Edinburgh.

We (Alexis) booked Bannerman’s as the venue for a number of reasons; location, value for money, quality of sound engineer and perhaps the point that clinched the deal, they have recently re-decorated the band flat and with 8 touring musicians to house, this seemed like an amazing opportunity to offer them all a decent space to stay.

Bannerman’s Bar, Edinburgh

Load-in and sound check was between 5pm and 7pm and by 8pm the first act of the evening took to the stage.
The Omega Corridor, one of our favourite Edinburgh bands, had agreed to open the show for us, playing a mixture of tracks from their new EP ‘Local Anaesthetic’ and their up-coming album.
I really love Andrew’s guitar sound, always epic but somehow understated at the same time. Stephen’s lyrics are dark and self-deprecating and with the addition of Euan (2nd guitar) and Frazer (drums) their sound continues to grow. I always feel that their brand of post-rock deserves more attention and urge you all to go check out their music on SoundCloud.

The Omega Corridor – live at Bannerman’s Bar, Edinburgh

Sacre Noir were up next and after having had such a problem-free sound check we were really looking forward to playing. The make-up artist who we’ve been working with for the Sacre Noir music videos had come along, and not only is she a dab-hand with a brush and some fake lashes, but she has done a great job at promoting us to her friends and has even brought some with her to the gig. Erin Culley make-up artist and promoter extraordinaire… we love you!
The bass sounds fired out of the sub-woofers with the most impressive low-end growl I’ve heard for a long time. The crowd danced, the drinks flowed and everyone seemed to have a good time – job done!

Live picture by Gabby Stone Photography

Next up was the mighty Dressmaker who delivered a blistering set and made a whole bunch of new fans. Their stage show is frantic and new drummer Ben (the Frenchman who played topless in a kilt) is so good, he’d give Thor Harris a headache. Dressmaker have a definite Swans influence but they play with no specific agenda and everything they produce seems to sound original. They played an arrangement of the classic Ronettes track ‘Be My Baby’ which was really cool – nothing like the original however Charles vocals sounded amazing and during the verse sections the audience were given a rare moment of less intense noise. I really love this band and can’t wait to play with them again (perhaps at our show in London at Power Launches on August 1st). A special mention goes out to the Dressmaker fan, who is making the effort to see them at every show they play during this tour. Music fans like this are a very rare breed indeed and every musician I know is thankful to every one of you who take it upon yourself to support the artists you love. THANK YOU!

Dressmaker – live at Bannerman’s Bar, Edinburgh

The final act of the evening was the fantastic Terminal Gods: 4 young lads with fantastic poses and a kick ass sampler. They are a solid rock ‘n’ roll band based in London, who played a mixture of original tracks and some well chosen covers and had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. The strange sight of Edinburgh folk at a gig enjoying themselves reminded me that when you have the right combination of venue, people and music, a little bit of magic happens.

Terminal Gods – live at Bannerman’s Bar, Edinburgh

Thanks so much the Terminal Gods, Dressmaker and The Omega Corridor for sharing this night with us.
Also thanks to Christian at Bannerman’s for having us, Hev for the great job at the sound desk and to Gabby Stone Photography for the pictures.

NEXT SHOW
Summer Tour 2014: Gig 4 Sunday 20th July @ The Duke’s Head, Putney (London)
Special guitar / vocal set featuring a selection of originals & covers.

069 – Sacre Noir Summer Tour 2014 (gig 2)

Gig 2 – Saturday 12th July @ The Corbridge Festival
The sun was shining, the weather was sweet and Sacre Noir were packed and ready to hit the street. We were really excited to be playing our first show in the North East of England and stoked that are headlining the Alternative Stage (hosted by The Academy of Music & Sound, Gateshead) at The Corbridge Festival. We’ve got to say a massive thank you to their out-going manager Kathryn for inviting us to play and also to Sarah and Michael for looking after us on the day. The stage was set up to show off some of the young musicians who have been studying with AMS this year plus the addition of Lesley Roley, Jen Stevens & The Hiccups and Sacre Noir who joined the line up as ‘working musicians’.

We set off early, as it’s approximately a 2-hour drive from our house to the festival site. The bands on the Alternative Stage were due to start at 12noon and we wanted to show our support for everyone.
The drive down from Scotland was lovely and the good weather seemed to be increasing the closer we got to our destination. We arrived with plenty of time to spare as everything was running a little late, so we sought out a pre-gig cup of tea and opted for Tick-a-Tea-Boo’s – a pop up vintage tea room. The tea was great, served in a proper pot with matching cups and saucers… oh yes we are very rock ‘n’ roll in this band. Not Alexis – he had a black coffee!

Tick a tea boo at Corbridge Festival

We headed back to the Alternative Stage in time to see the first act starting. The student acts from AMS, Gateshead were all really good and both Lesley & JS&TH delivered great sets, before we took to the stage at 6pm. When is was time for Sacre Noir to take to the stage, we pretty much just plugged-in, checked things were making sounds and started playing. This was not a good idea and as a result the on stage sound for the first few songs in our set was, well lets just say, not right. We had numerous problems during our 40 minute set, including the kick drum pedal falling apart, the wrong settings lined up for the live loops tracks and random acts of feedback, however the reaction from the crowd was great and the feedback from people we spoke to afterwards was very favourable. We received comparisons to Siouxsie And The Banshees (who I love) and Space Tribe (who I’ll check out) alongside some future gig offers and a free can of cider, so I guess the front of house sound was much better than the monitor mix we were getting on stage. So apart from a few sound problems on the day, almost everything ran as expected at the Alternative Stage – a resounding success.
As we packed up our gear we chatted with the people signing up for our mailing list, only to discover that two different sets of friends came along to check us out after hearing us when leaving the nearby clubhouse. A similar thing happened at our first show of this years tour, we managed to coax a few students into the live room at The Roxy when they overhead us on their way to the toilet and were intrigued. One of the things I love about Sacre Noir is that there is no assumptions or expectations about how we should sound, and I guess that’s why people find it difficult to put us into a genre box or really put their finger on what it is they like about our sound. We received a lovely comment from one of the students from The Academy of Music & Sound, Gateshead who said,
“really unique sound you have”.
There is nothing wrong with unique!

After packing up the musical equipment and setting up the tents, we headed over to the food stalls to grab something to eat (noodles all round), spent some time playing with bubbles and Michael’s lovely kids (George & Grace) before it was time to head over to the main stage for Rozalla’s set.

Phil and his new friend George

Rozalla’s set was pretty much the highlight of my weekend. She delivered a blistering performance and even got in a really cool cover version of R.E.M’s ‘Losing My Religion’ before giving her adoring crowd what they really wanted… ‘Everybody’s Free (to feel good)’ – the crowd went mad and for me, dancing in front of the stage with my hands in the air, was like stepping back into my youth for those 3 and a half minutes. I loved every minute of her set and am so pleased to have seen her live.

Rozalla – Live at Corbridge Festival

The two remaining acts on the main stage had to contend with the weather as the rain began to show its head. There also seemed to be a lot of chat about the ‘worlds fastest waltzers’, which looked like a lot of fun if not a little crazy. I gave them a wide berth and we hung out in the marquee listening to Ball-Zee and Big Country. As the night drew on the rain grew heavier so we called it a night.

Sunday 13th July
The next morning was not so sunny. The weather had turned sour and we woke up in a little puddle – the tent had leaked! Tired and a little damp, with the rain still pouring and the debris from last nights party all around, we packed up the remainder of our things, grabbed a cup of tea then started the journey home.

Corbridge – the morning after the night before

By the time we arrived back in Edinburgh both Alexis & I had been sick (travel / motion and lack off sleep I think) but the sun was once again shining and our arrival home was shortly followed by showers and a very lazy day, before watching the world cup final in the evening. I’m sure our friends in Berlin will be celebrating for many a night to come.

NEXT SHOW
Summer Tour 2014: Gig 3 Thursday 17th July @ Bannerman’s Bar, Edinburgh
Terminal Gods / dressmaker / Sacre Noir / The Omega Corridor

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Terminal Gods / dressmaker / Sacre Noir / The Omega Corridor