Brighton were very well represented at Drill:Brighton, and one of the leading lights of the underground scene are The Physics House Band, a powerhouse trio made up of drums, bass and guitar, with the occasional keyboard to add some light and texture. For a band still in their early 20s they are remarkably tight and accomplished bunch of musicians, alternating light and dark, and quiet and loud, in an astounding display of King Crimsonesque prog rock, psychedelic rock, metal fusion, and contemporary math-rock. And when it's loud, it's LOUD. Teratology is a signature tune, lulling you into a false sense of ease with some jangly guitar, and jazz-fusion bass, before they crank it up, go mental and yet retain the basic song structure within the maelstrom. Their no-vocal policy may be the factor that stops them reaching the heights, but a blood injury to the drummer momentarily provides some 'relief' as bass player Adam took to the mic to attempt to bridge the sticky-plaster transition. The snare was totally blood splattered. That's rock'n'roll!
Next stop, Savages, at Concorde 2, the post-punk revivalists who have only released the one album so far, Silence Yourself, but are serving us a reminder of the glory days of the late 70s and early 80s, here in the UK; a purple patch of unrivalled experimentation, unearthly power, distinct soundscapes and plenty of truly great songs from the likes of PiL, Killing Joke, The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus et al. Savages already have some of that, their carefully nurtured image working hand-in-hand with the semi-goth music. Resplendent in black – of course – French vocalist Jehnny Beth stalks the stage while the band kick up a groove for every song, the sinuous bass providing the backdrop against which the intense tones of guitarist Gemma Thompson gets to work. It's a glorious ride, where Siouxie Sioux meets Bauhaus via the story-poetics of Patti Smith and Nick Cave. Beth also pays tribute to the recently deceased Nick Talbot aka Gravenhurst.
Blood Red Shoes were a very late addition to the Drill bill, which might partly explain the surprisingly sparse audience at Bleach, despite this being the smallest venue they've played in their hometown for many a year. Still, they gave it their all, powering through a set of almost exclusively short sharp and punchy numbers that features nothing more than drums and Laura- Mary Carter's guitar, helped of course by a large array of effects pedals. After ten years of intense touring, their love of punk, power pop and hardcore remains intact.
Closing the festival were the musically intimidating Swans. It's been 25 years since I exposed my eardrums to their sound, a gig experience that remains indelibly etched in my psyche, such was the sheer primal, grinding and chest vibrating power of Michael Gira and band. And even now, more than 30 years after they first made their mark on the world of music with the Filth album, Swans' rider stipulates a certain level of volume, Gira's reasoning being that it is 'soul-uplifting and body-destroying'. With very long songs that largely revolve around hypnotising repetition and a wall of sound aesthetic, interspersed with Gir'a 'singing' – a mix of caterwauling and droning – and his semi trance-like stage presence (which at one point included self-administering some hearty slaps to his chops… in time, of course), it was too much for some of the audience, a few drifting off during the course of the gig. But most stayed, bewitched by the violent outpourings, that somehow didn't seem so violent after Gira thanks us rather pleasantly after each song… Their sound, combined with an extraordinary stage presence, akin to a bunch of Twin Peaks extras – especially the shirtless and hirsute multi-instrumentalist Thor Harris (yes, he really is called Thor), a musician whom the aforementioned Savages deem to be of high phwaor factor, and the tall and lean guitarist Norman Westberg, an almost constant of the band since the early days.Finishing the set – and the festival – in what is now a feature of Drill, wherever it may be, Wire join the main act on the last day, for a performance of Wire's Drill song. Admitting to have had a practice, but also unsure if Swans are particularly keen on such a set up, it nevertheless becomes apparent that the two bands have much in common (indeed Michael Gira had earlier cited Wire as an influence when he was a teenager), musically and otherwise, as they produce a tremendous performance, a beautiful, krautrocking type groove, interspersed by Colin Newman's vocal; a neat conjoining of the artful and the primal.
Jeff Hemmings
I arrived at the Sallis Benney Theatre in time to catch the very end of the comedy set by Graham Duff which sounded good and he had the crowd laughing along right to the end. This was followed by the event organisers, Wire. In the program it said coming on straight after, though there was quite a delay before they got started. When they did, I'm not sure if they got the sound they wanted there. The bass was very dominant and the vocals hard to hear which made the whole thing very dirty and little disappointing. While the performance was slick and the music enjoyable enough the out front sound started to get to me and the songs started to sound the same so after only a few songs I realised this was not going to get any better and moved on. Which is a shame as I really wanted to enjoy the Wire gig.
The Wytches sounds filled the venue as I arrived there, I had missed the beginning of their set due to waiting for Wire to start. The venue was full of smoke and prime colours lighting the stage. The sound was heavier than the album, there was wailing effects and modulated sounds throughout the whole performance.
The Wytches are not exactly big on audience participation. With continuous background sounds even between songs that drown out any applause and a venue heavily laden with smoke, you have to wonder or even realise there is a crowd there! Maybe that's why they seem to spend over half the time with the three of them in a tight circle around the drummer, with both the guitarist and bass player having their backs to the crowd.
The crowd did not seem to mind though as they stood there taking in the music. It was a shame they were not playing later in the festival, I think the turnout was low on the Thursday at both the Wire and Wytches gig. The Wytches finished a good 15 minutes before they were scheduled to and meeting someone hoping to catch the end of the set as I was leaving made me realise that at an event like this timing is everything. You don't want to leave a gig early to catch a band only to have to wait around 20 minutes for them to come on or to find out they have already left the stage.
There definitely seemed more of a buzz around the festival on the Friday. I kicked off the night at The Green Door Store with Exe. A classic thrash/metal band with plenty of distortion. I was mightily impressed with the quality of the sound and their songs. The Green Door Store can sometimes become a wall of noise if you turn up the distortion but these guys kept it under control. With good diversity in the music and the Guitarist taking over the vocal duties for a few songs I ended up staying longer than I had intended, almost seeing their whole set.
Next up was a quick dash to the Concorde2 for which being quite a trek involved grabbing a taxi especially as I also wanted to get over to Hove and see British Sea Power later. Although as it was quite a wait for them to come on stage I probably could have walked it and still not missed a beat. Tonight it was Savages headlining at the Concorde2. They have coined quite a unique sound with their strange mix of goth & punk. One minute sounding like Hazel O'Connor while other times closer to Shakespeare’s Sisters. Frontwoman Jehnny Beth's performance was mesmerising with just the right amount of smoke and lighting to perfectly match the music.
The set move through heaver sections and gentler parts without breaking the spell Savages had on the audience. There was a good size crowd at the Condcorde 2 and it was very tempting to stay and catch the end of their set but the chance of seeing British Sea power performing in one of Hove's large churches was a chance not to be missed. I'll have to catch Savages next time they come back.
So I catch another taxi and head out to The Drive's All Saints Church, a building I know very well from the outside but have never been inside before. It's a wonderful location and as I had anticipated, the perfect place to see British Sea Power with a full brass band, violin and the core band. All in front of the most amazing backdrop. They were set up in front of the pulpit with the sea of carved wood and stone nicely lit by red, purple and blue lighting.
The high celling church and the audience sitting in the pews made it feel like a special occasion. It concentrated the mind on the music and there was a lot going on sound wise. With the guitars, violin, brass and keyboards coming in and out. It really brought their music to life. I can't claim to be the worlds biggest British Sea Power fan but I left their show humming the last tune they played all the way home. No other band at Drill had me doing that.
Because of other commitments I could not see much on the Saturday but while in town during the day I popped into The Green Door Store and caught a bit of Man Forever. Billed as an experimental percussion project so no surprise to see four drummers on stage with a variety of drums. The rhythms were good with a very tribal feel to their sound. It was easy to get into the groove and the four of them worked in perfect harmony. Unfortunately they would also break into what I can only describe as primal moaning where they would all hold a long groning note together. Unfortunately this was not as tight or unified as their drumming and after a short while it became annoying. Consequently they did not hold my attention as long as should have, if they had stuck to the awesome drumming.
For me there was only one show I wanted to see on Sunday and that was the Swans at The Old Market. I doubt it's a place they will ever play again and bound to be an experience. I got there a bit late and there was a queue to get in. The people at the front claimed they had been waiting for an hour but as I had not queued for any other gigs at the festival I decided to wait and see. It was a bit chilly and a drawback to holding this sort of festival in winter. but after quarter of an hour or so people started to leave and within 20 minutes I was in.
I had been warned beforehand it would be loud and even waiting outside there were moments the sound would bleed through the walls, something that does not usually happen at The Old Market. So after grabbing a quick beer and a large swig… I headed in. Now I'm no stranger to loud music. I've seen Motorhead, before the maximum sound levels came in and been to enough heavy metal festivals to know what loud it.
The Swans are a different kind of loud to heavy metal though. It's more like Phil Specta at full volume with tons of effects than the grinding rhythmic metal volumes. Real loudness comes from using all frequencies and Swans do this exceptionally well. In fact I would say this was probably the loudest audio experience I've ever had. I did not find it uncomfortably loud but the sound did overpower everything in the room. The whole of the crowd was captivated by the performance. None of the usual people chatting at the back or bored staff looking around. Everyone's eyeballs were glued to the stage, this was beyond just seeing a gig… This was a unique audio experience!
As the band said before launching into their final piece. "We don't consider these as songs but pieces of audio". Indeed it did feel more like a sound scape performance than anything else. With bits that would jump out and test the eardrums. I could not tell you how long I was in there as time seemed to fly by. There was one guy near me with both hands permanently raised in the air as if in worship, which was not surprising as it did feel like a religions experience. Especially in The Old Market with it's church like roof.
As the Swans finished their set I ventured forward to get closer to the stage ready for Wire to join them. It looked very much like both Swans and Wire there mutually delighted to be sharing the stage with each other. After a short while they were ready to let rip into the track 'Drill'. Now this was a very different sounding Wire performance to when I saw them at the Sallis Benney at the start of the festival. This P.A. suited them much better and I think if I had seen them do a set there with that system then I would have been blown away. This was the perfect way to end the festival.
All in all it was an enjoyable enough festival but considering the time of year a 3 day festival may have been better. It also was a reminder of how good a job The Great Escape and The Alternative festival do at scheduling. The Drill festival often had acts starting late and finishing early. Disappointing people who were trying to catch a few bands. The quality of the music and entertainment was top notch and hopefully we may be lucky enough to have this roving festival grace this lovely city again one day. Till then I'll be keeping an eye on where the next one will be hosted…
Jonski Mason