Gig Review: Have Hope in The Phoenix Foundation

The Phoenix Foundation, Brighton's The Hope, 9th February 2011

It was raining; raining hard. The impact formed little dents in my skull. Water fell out of the sky in a desperate rush to rejoin the sea. It hammered ferociously at everything in its path. That's Brighton rain for you. It can strip you bare.

I haven't seen the remake of Brighton Rock. I hear it's quite abysmal: influenced as much by Quadrophenia as by Graham Greene. The brilliance of the original story partly lies in its gritty portrayal of a time, an era, a generation. To undo that is to spit in Graham Greene's face and to irreparably damage the persona he invented in Pinky. Or so I imagine.

Rows of mopeds lined up outside the Duke of York's cinema. The Mods flocked to watch a film so slated that even the local residents couldn't be fucked to follow them. A six-piece band from Wellington, New Zealand, knew no better.

It would appear that The Phoenix Foundation whiled away a wet wintery day at the flicks. In Dolby Surround Sound, they learnt that people in Brighton get stabbed up. Later, they charmingly challenged an audience of ageing indie adults to do just that. "They’re gonna stab us up… We’re gonna get mightily stabbed up," they said, the Kiwi twang grafting gravitas to each statement. They took what they could from the film and turned it into surreal comedy. The audience demanded favoured tunes, threatening deep lacerations if the band didn't acquiesce. A small room of people united in gentle silliness and innocuous threats of stabbing.

If you have seen the film Eagle Vs Shark, you will have heard tracks from The Phoenix Foundation before. They will sit somewhere deep in your psyche. I encourage you to embrace them, bring them into your conscious and learn to love them with joy.

The Phoenix Foundation played a mixture of old and new material, and brilliantly showcased their latest album 'Buffalo'. Momentarily, older tunes stepped a little close to 'middle of the road' rock, but never for long. For the most part, The Phoenix Foundation could teach Mumford and Sons a thing or two. The Phoenix Foundation has been around too long to lace lyrics with glib sincerity.

Samuel Scott, Lukasz Buda, Conrad Wedde, Tom Callwood, Richie Singleton and Will Ricketts proved themselves as serious and talented musicians, offering warm and witty banter and an hour of beautiful entertainment. It's hard to imagine that this mob of cheery fellas has made music together for 14 years. They gel with a fresh and easy going outlook.

Their set ended. I stood in the stairwell, dressing for the night with an embarrassing number of layers, completed by high-vis jacket and cycle helmet adorned with antennae-like rear view mirror. Richie Singleton, the drummer, came from the concert room and stood next to me. He chatted easily. I felt honoured to hold court with a member of The Phoenix Foundation. He talked of promoters, touring and their return to Brighton. The sight of a cyclist dressed for fierce rain and dangerous roads seemingly passed him by.

I didn't catch The Phoenix Foundation at The Great Escape last month. I will always have The Hope and our cosy night in.

Fabpants Recommends:

Download MP3: The Phoenix Foundation – Buffalo (courtesy of theburningear.com)

Glastonbury Festival: Mission Imperfect

My aim to listen to every band that's been 'formally announced' to play Glastonbury continues.

The Job:
Listen to the latest album (or EP where no album has been released) for each band and grade it. This often involves multiple listens.

Progress:
70 acts rated for Friday. Top of the list are The Vaccines, Example and Cage the Elephant, all with 9/10.
33 acts rated for Saturday. Top of the List are The Phoenix Foundation, with 9/10.
Okay, no surprises there! 3 out 4 of the above have featured in this blog already. 1 is about to (see my next post).

The Moment:
I'm currently listening to P-Money. I'm on track 16 of an album I would never otherwise hear. Will I see P-Money? I hope not. I'm not sure if my brain can take the remaining 4 tunes. It's like being talked at non-stop for 1 hour and 7 minutes. Some stages at Glastonbury are sure going grime this year.

The Odds of Success:
I will fail! It's not about winning. I couldn't bring myself to listen to U2. U2 can be blamed for tipping the balance. It's more enjoyable to blame U2 than the limitations of time!

More than Music:

Fabpants Recommends:

Here's a track from a lovely EP that's garnered the band an 8/10 in my pre-Glastonbury listings.

Download MP3: Summer Camp – Why Don’t You Stay (courtesy of wearethemascotte.fr)




Here's another cracking EP track, this time from GroupLove. This song gives me delightful earworm. I am tempted to move GroupLove from 7/10 to 8/10, but the rest of the EP didn't convince me!

Download MP3: Group Love – Colours (courtesy of digitalwell.washington.edu)