EVOL PRESENTS MICRO-FESTEVOL PART IV: A NEW HOPE FOR JANUARY 29TH 2022

 

 

WORDS AND IMAGES BY DESH KAPUR

 

Tonight, I was off to New Brighton for “Festevol Presents Brighton A New Hope” at The Hope Anti Supermarket Headlined by the amazing Zuzu …. intrigued? I sure was, and when I arrived at the venue and walked in, I was blown away. Not only is it the best use of a supermarket I have ever seen, but the way Festevol organiser, Revo and his team had gone about turning it into a live music venue for the evening was beyond impressive.

As I entered the venue, local lads from the Wirral, The Merchants were up on stage. Made up of Harry Bowness on Vox/Guitar, Ernesto Sanoval on Guitar, Joe Abraham, Bass, Harry Strachan on Drums, the band play their own brand of indie; a hint of gritty Kelly Jones-esque vocals, swirling guitars and melodic bass. This is a band definitely to keep an eye on. For what I managed to catch of the set, I was impressed.

 

 

Psycho Comedy were up next. Lead singer Shaun Powell was resplendent in black suit and white shirt, which set off his pink hair quite nicely, thank you very much. Here is a band that pop like a champagne cork; fast and indie, jangling metallic guitars and a driving rhythm section with spoken word thrown in for good measure. Very reminiscent of New York Dolls and that whole scene, bits of The Cramps and Velvet Underground. Shaun Powell the lead singer did remind me a little of Eddie Izzard and if Eddie Izzard did form a band, he could only wish it was as good as Psycho Comedy.

 

 

Next up on the stage were Razzmatazz, and you would think with a band name like that it would be all sequins and sparkles, playing some sort of disco-funk hybrid, but quite the opposite is what it turned out to be. T-shirts, jeans and dreadlocks and a band that played an excellent kind of stoner rock. Well, they sang about being stoned in an indie rock way…. throw in a little Happy Mondays and I think you get the idea. They played a set of high energy tunes, with frontman Will, dancing and swirling across the stage with the freedom of a man who doesn’t seem to have a care in the world, and that’s a beautiful thing.

 

 

Pagans SOH were next up. A 3 piece from West Brom and I had already heard quite a bit about them, so was ready to be impressed. As they took the stage, you knew you were going to get something special. Lead singer Marcus Lesycsyznski-Hall walked onto the stage draped in a black cloak, hood up, the cowell almost covering his face, but you get could get glimpses of his white-painted face underneath, eyes peering out at you in a such an unnerving way, and he prowled and stalked the stage, spitting lines at the transfixed crowd with venom and anger. Pagans play a hard and fast hybrid of hip hop / rap and funk / rock, a la Rage Against the Machine and Chilli Peppers with a bit of grime thrown in for good measure. And their live show is off the charts. This is a must-see-live type of band, and even though they seemed to be the odd one out a bill that was very much indie and rock they more than held their own…the crowd was going off!

 

 

In the immortal words of Monty Python “and now for something completely different” The Dream Machine walked on to the stage, and the first thing that struck me was how young these lads were or looked, the second was how old that made me feel and the third was they looked like they had just walked out of Hogwarts, as they were bedecked in colourful wizardy capes. But then, they started playing. And launched into what could only be described as 70’s Indie-inspired blues / rock, with tinges of psychedelia. Yep, they must have been dipping into their grandad’s record collection. Very new on the live circuit, and, if I am informed correctly, they have only played a handful of gigs, which made their performance even more impressive. Tight with great vocals and big soaring songs and blistering guitar solos.

 

 

Then it was time for the main attraction Zuzu. I have had the pleasure of seeing this Scouse lass, maybe 3 or 4 times now and each time she is better (and she was amazing the first time I saw her). But tonight was different. Yes, she was as good as the other times, if not better, but there was more of a confident air about her tonight. Maybe because she has dropped her debut album, to great reviews. Maybe because when you turned around everyone was singing along word for word, and that was the first time I had seen that to such an extent in one of her gigs. Whatever it was, Zuzu looked relaxed and happy, even engaging in a game of band hand slaps before taking the stage.

Zuzu proceeded to treat the now full-to-the-rafters old supermarket to a set full of crisp pop gems, her own unique blend of Liverpool guitar pop, mixed with the pop sensibilities of Taylor Swift, delivered with a soft scouse twang, and it amazes me that this young lady hasn’t got the whole of the country talking. She seems to have it all, the look, the voice and most importantly the songwriting and songs to back it up, so with that said, 2022 is your year Zuzu. Bring it on.

 

 

 

ZUZU SET LIST

1/ BEAUTY QUEEN

2/ MY OLD LIFE

3/ SKIN & BONE

4/ THE VAN IS EVIL

5/ LIE TO MYSELF

6/ WHAT YOU WANT

7/ GET OFF

8/ BEVY HEAD

9/ NEVER AGAIN

10/ ALL GOOD

11/ HOW IT FEELS

12/ QUEENSWAY TUNNEL

 

 

 

FOLLOW ZUZU

 

FOLLOW THE DREAM MACHINE

 

FOLLOW THE PAGANS SOH

 

FOLLOW RAZAMATAZZ

 

FOLLOW PSYCHO COMEDY

 

FOLLOW THE MERCHANTS

 

 

 

 

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA