Imagine if Ronaldo and Messi turned up for a Sunday League kickabout. That's what it feels like watching His Lordship in a small venue.
Well, maybe not Ronaldo and Messi, but James Walborne and Kirstoffer Sonne are the equivalent of well-established internationals and more used to playing with the likes of The Pretenders and Chrissie Hynde so to see them in as intimate a venue as Cabaret Voltaire is an absolute privilege (well done Colin and underthewires team again for arranging yet another fantastic Edinburgh gig!).
Their set is electric. Pure rock and roll at a frantic pace from the off, starting with In The City and All Cranked Up and it didn’t stop upping the energy with every song. There was a good mix of well-established tunes from their self-titled album and a few new ones, in particular the standout Farewell Paddy – a tribute to James’s good friend Shane MacGowan. Beautiful. No disagreement from the crowd on James’s comments to go with Jackie Works For The NHS and I’m sure it was an adventure for him going to A&E in Glasgow where he shared that he’d ended up last year while on tour. Great to hear other absolute crackers (which already feel like classics), like Buzzkill, I Am In Amsterdam and the anthem that is The Repenter. Amazing songs.
Unexpected amusing interlude when Kristoffer left the stage quickly in between songs and coming back on to the Steptoe & Son theme tune being played to him by his bandmates, but then took front of stage for his showpiece My Brother Is An Only Child. It’s difficult to describe exactly how astounding it is to watch as he leads this song - you really have to see this for yourself to see how good it actually is. From preaching and screeching to the crowd and then perching on top of his drums, swinging his mic around over his bandmates heads and flapping his arms, leaping off and about. DJ Gez and me have seen this before when they played The Caves last year – and it’s no less impressive second time – but Gig-Antics Stu and the Penigoths; Chris and Bill, who there too were pretty blown away. Top quality drumming throughout - at one point he stood to play the drums and threw up a stick, caught it again and continued playing without skipping a beat. Legend.
By the time they finished their set (of fifteen or sixteen songs), they were playing 200mph, drenched in sweat and the place was bouncing. The boys are playing more dates to the end of this week and hopefully not too long before they get back on the road and come back again soon, but in the meantime they've a live album of a show at The Lexington in 2022, on sale on their website to tide you over.
We also caught some of Mariachi Death Squads support set – an Edinburgh trio who revel in (mostly instrumental) surf rock, going down well with the crowds and a good taste of the night ahead. Cool tunes and worth a listen.
Post-gig return to Bannerman’s and a seat under the booming speaker turned into a bit of rock and metal Name That Tune with Penigoth Bill (again) taking the undisputed title of king of the jukebox, getting the likes of AC/DC and Nine Inch Nails song titles well before any of the rest of us. As per usual it descended to high brow conversation about musicians in videos arguing with viewers, king Charles spaniels karate fighting each other and the appropriateness (or not) of Carlito’s Way being shown on pub TV’s.
Just another gigging Friday In The City where I live (In the city, In The City….). Go see His Lordship when they tour next. Outstanding stuff.
Setlist (most of): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Np9jB56jcS45PDhrDJeo8?si=32c367f265d846e5
Great review as always.