Rhoda Dakar - The Boileroom, Guildford - 25th October 2024

At the height of the Two-Tone Ska craze, I had gone to see The Selecter, along with the Bodysnatchers (and, oddly, Holly and the Italians, who were definitely not ska) and had come away much impressed with the fun and energy of the all female Bodysnatchters

Sadly, they were a very short lived band, never recording an album, but many of them went onto form the Belle Stars, who did have some success.

Rhoda Dakar, their lead singer, though, sang with the Specials and then had a solo career.

A few years ago, I'd seen her do an appearance at Banquet Records and liked her manner, so decided to see her live with a band if the chance arose.

It finally did, as a practical proposition, this year and so I went along to the Boileroom to see her and her band perform tracks from The Bodysnatchers and her more recent 'Version Girl' album.

There were two support acts, the first, Skye, was a young woman who sang R&B over backing tracks. Not really my thing, but she wasn't awful.

The second act, a 4 piece led by a woman called Cora, were definitely not my usual style, but I really enjoyed them.

Performing jazz, the singer had an excellent voice and the 3 musicians with her seemed pretty good as well - I thought their set was worth going to hear alone.

They, though, had come on around 8:30, so I knew I'd be waiting a while for Rhoda.

As expected, she didn't come on until around 9:40, which, if I'm honest, felt a bit late.

The venue was pretty full by then, though as I was at the front, I couldn't see just how full it was.

The band consisted of a guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboard player and a saxophonist.

Rhoda appeared, looking trim, in a black and white dress (very Two-Tone) which she commented she hadn't worn in 12 years and so was a little tight (it looked fine to me)and also apologised if she didn't hit all the high notes as she had a cold.

The setlist was a mix of old and newer tracks, from the Bodysnatchers era (The tour accompanied a new release of her 'sings the Bodysnatchers' album, which is as close to a Bodysnatchers' album as exists, unless you count the Peel Session recordings) and her more recent 'Version Girl' album which features covers of non-Ska records in a ska style (a very good album it is too).

The setlist began with a track called Mule Jerk, which I didn't recognise, and then 'Walking After Midnight', 'Easy Life' and 'Ghost of the Vox Continental' (the latter a particular favourite of mine) from the Bodysnatchers era.

As the set progressed, she chatted easily (as she had at Banquet Records) and the songs progressed into some from the Version Girl album, notably 'Every Day is Like Sunday', 'Peace, Love and Understanding' and 'Man Who Sold the World', while Bodysnatchers songs 'Private Eye', 'Ruder Than You' and the encore finale, 'Rocksteady' also featured (full setlist at the end).

Rhoda sounded good to me and the band were both energetic and skillfull and the set buzzed along well, with the audience joining in as things went.

The saxophonist, especially, was very good, although the band all played well and definitely captured the Two-Tone sound well.

For a moment, I was (almost) back at a Bournemouth nightclub in 1980!

I left happily humming the songs in my head, which is what you want from a nostalgic gig - I'd enjoyed myself.

Setlist:

Bastille - Pryzm, Kingston - 20th October 2024

I'd seen Bastille live before and been a bit disappointed, but when the chance to see them launch the '&' album at Pryzm, courtesy of Banquet Records, I decided the opportunity was too good as I like their recorded material.

They had put on two sessions at Pryzm and I'd booked for the later one, which stated a door time of 7PM.

I arrived in time, but I could see people queuing, so I did what I often do at Pryzm, popped into the Wetherspoons across the road and waited for the queue to start moving while I enjoyed a well priced, quality half.

7 came and went and there was no sign of the queue moving, but when I finished my beer, I headed over and joined a very long queue, extending past a row of reclining phone boxes, at around 7:30.

Luckily, the queue moved pretty quickly when it did and it probably took less than 15 minutes to get in.

I made my way down to the floor, but this was probably a poor decision on the day.

Two large screens displayed a new 'stage time' of 8:15 around 8:05 and the band appeared, led by a small string section and then Dan Smith and Charlie Barnes, who I recognised from the time I'd seen them live before, plus a woman on a guitar who was introduced, but whose name I've forgotten.

The '&' album is a bit of a side project for Dan (who is really Bastille), with some of the musicians on stage and is a collection of songs about people from history (real and literary - Leonard Cohen, Oscar Wilde and Adam and Eve, amongst them) who he finds interesting.

With a mostly acoustic lineup (there was an electronic keyboard and some electric guitars), the sound of the songs was both familiar and different to those I'd heard live and on albums before.

Not having heard any of the songs before (the gig comes with a CD or vinyl album for a very reasonable price, but the album isn't released until 25th and I'd not sought out any of the tracks online), I can't say how the live renditions match up to the recordings, but Dan told us that the album has a very raw sound, with scratches, breathing and the sound of chairs moving on it, so I'll expect something different.

Dan's slightly spoken vocal style was present on many of the songs, although in one (The Dutchess and the Drawbridge) he sang incredibly high and I was impressed at how he sustained the notes at that level.

As a nice bonus, we got a slow-ish rendition of classic hit, Pompeii, probably their best known track, which the audience appreciated.

I was impressed that the set ran a full hour, albeit with a fair bit of chatting between songs, as previous gigs have topped out at 45 minutes, which probably explained the late start for our session.

I enjoyed the gig and, although the songs didn't strike me as immediately memorable as tracks from earlier albums, I suspect some will be 'growers'.

Edit: Writing almost a week later, 'Eve & Paradise Lost' and 'Emily & Her Penthouse in the Sky' stick in my mind.

I look forward, to hearing the album versions to see how closely they relate to what I heard live.

One negative, though, was that most of the set was performed sitting down and I couldn't see the performers on the low stage most of the time from my place on the floor. Luckily the two screens provided a view throughout, so I didn't just get a view of other punters.

Setlist:
Intros & Narrators
Seasons & Narcissus
Eve & Paradise Lost
Drawbridge & The Baroness
Leonard & Marianne
Pompeii
Telegraph Road 1977 & 2024
Red Wine & Wilde
Emily & Her Penthouse in the Sky
Blue Sky & the Painter

My Life Story - Boileroom, Guildford - 11th October 2024

I must admit, I'd never heard of My Life Story until I saw they were playing at the Boileroom

As I often do, I watched a few YouTube videos and, in this case, liked what I heard and it had been a while since I'd been to a live music event, so I bought a ticket.

It turned out that they were a contemporary of the Britpop era bands, but not 'premier league', barely troubling the UK Top 30, despite Jake at one point mentioning "the time we started having hit records" in a between songs anecdote.

So, there I was on a Friday evening, a little tired after a day's scuba diving, back at the Boileroom, a tiny venue, which I enjoy visiting very much, often taking a punt on bands because it's close.

The support act was a threesome (apparently usually a foursome, but one was ill) called the Velveteen Orchestra.

The 3 were a male singer with a guitar and two women, one with a violin and the other a double bass.

The singer joked his way between songs and they certainly made an interesting sound (and I don't mean that in a sarcastic way).

Jolly, they weren't, but they sounded different in a good way, the sound balance was good and they were a good support act to warm the audience up and appreciated.

They hadn't come on until almost 8:30, so it was no surprise that the main act weren't on stage until well past 9:00PM.

By then, the place was pretty full and it was obvious that a lot of the audience were more familiar with the band's history than I was, although I'd done some listening to their back catalogue after buying my ticket.

Reading about the band (and from some of Jake's anecdotes between songs), it seems that they were known for their 'orchestral' music in period and, indeed, there were comments about 'taking an orchestra around Europe' on tour, but these days, the band is Jake Shillingford, the front man and a group of young musicians.

I have included a setlist at the end of this post which is from gigs in April of 2024, but if it's not 100% accurate to the Boileroom event, it's very close.

They definitely started with "Tits and Attitude" from their most recent album (unlike a lot of these older bands, they are still putting out, good, new material, rather than relying entirely on nostalgia).

It's a strong, upbeat track in stark contrast to the support act and definitely got the audience in the mood.

Next was 'Motorcade', which I vaguely recognised, followed by 'Broken', which I didn't.

The next 3 on the list ('If You Can't Live Without Me Then Why Aren't You Dead Yet?','Running Out of Hearbeats' and 'Numb Numb Numb') were definitely in the set and a mix of new and 'classic' songs. All sounded pretty good and were energetically performed.

The rest of the gig continued in the same vein, with a mix of tracks from the latest albums and older ones. I was equally familiar (or unfamiliar) with all of them and found the songs pretty good and certainly the band performed them with gusto, although I could only imagine what they'd have sounded like with an orchestra backing them.

The main set ended around 10:30 with 'NoFilter', a ballad, but the lights didn't come up and, despite Jake saying he had a sore throat, they were back to perform the same Encore as at those April gigs.

It started with just the keyboard player and Jake on stage for two songs, where Jake's voice sounded pretty good (and the keyboard, like all the band, seemed like a very competent musician).

They rounded out the set with the slightly manic 'Naked' (inspired by East German naturism, we were told!) and then finished with their best known song '12 Reasons Why I Love Her', which is a strong 'shout along' song to finish any gig on.

I came with few preconceptions, but My Life Story put on an entertaining and energetic performance and definitely left the Friday night crowd happy.

I may never have heard of them in their heyday, but that's probably my loss as they still put on a great show - If you get the chance, they're worth seeing!

Setlist:

Tits And Attitude
Motorcade
Broken
If You Can't Live Without Me Then Why Aren't You Dead Yet?
Running Out of Heartbeats
Numb Numb Numb
Taking on the World
Walk/Don't Walk
It's a Girl Thing
Strumpet
Sparkle
#NoFilter

Encore:
Bubblewrap (stripped back, piano only)
You Can't Uneat the Apple (stripped back, piano only)
Naked
12 Reasons Why I Love Her