03/12/12 - Venue: - Erics, Mathew St Bird Official E.P. Launch

- Words: Phil Oskoui

Support from The Fifth Movement/The Edwardian Picnic/Dave Barnicle

Christmas is coming. And the goose is definitely putting the pounds on. Mulled wine, roast chestnuts and log fires. Early nights all snuggled up with your loved one while the harsh winter beats its frostbitten heart outside…

Forget about the shops and the newest gadget presents (although they are good), about the shameless Christmas parties we’re all going to embarrass ourselves at (already done), or the moment when you have a look at the state of your bank account and realise you shouldn’t really have bought the whole bar a round on Christmas Eve (I never learn). Instead, think about a time gone by. When there was no television to watch the same old re runs of the worst Christmas films ever made. No internet so you could wish all your facebook ‘’friends’’ the best Christmas they ever had. Not even cars to run around the whole family on a whirlwind tour of ‘give pressies, take pressies, thanks very much and we’ll see ya next year for a new pair of socks. Think of that time, and then think about Erics last Saturday night.

Acoustic Demo’s Summer 2011 by David Barnicle

First of all, apologies to a Mr. Dave Barnicle. I didn’t get to see your good self due to the lack of taxis in the city at my desired time for one. I will get to see you at some point I’m sure but unfortunately it would not be tonight. I arrived at Erics with The Edwardian Picnic already in full swing on stage. Gutted that I had missed even one second of this amazing band. I haven’t heard of these guys before and someone told me that this was their first gig, which I find quite hard to believe. The Edwardian Picnic are an eight piece acoustic driven, folk outfit. Beautiful, harmonious music that flows over you. Phil Collier leads the way with positive, upbeat lyrics and is backed by a six piece harmony section that would warm the coldest of days. There was times were he was about three feet away from the mic and still belting it out. Throw in a ukulele, banjolele, flute, harmonica and acoustic guitar, driven by bass and drums and you still aren’t even close to imagining what was witnessed on the night. This is a band who I could imagine playing the local village hall at the summer fete, or the village church fundraiser. But they’re not. They are playing Erics on a Saturday night in December, and the crowd love them.

(The Edwardian Picnic)

The crowd, by the way, is a much bigger beast than last time I was at Erics. A mixed bag of young and old, trendy kids and possible original Erics veterans out to feel a bit of nostalgia from the club they made famous, or maybe it was the performers mums, dads, aunts and uncles. Who knows? A nice mixture though and the swell of people continued as the next band, The Fifth Movement took to the stage. A multi talented mixture of folksters, still in the same vein as the aforementioned Edwardian Picnic but with enough subtle differences (mainly a string section) to set a new tone on this night of discovery for myself. I’m trying to give this band a comparison and there isn’t one that springs to mind. I can hear the slight nod to Elbow here and there, possibly some of

the Decemberists pushing through. Its moody and atmospheric stuff and I’m suddenly very interested in this band. Their use of Cajon drums (which seem to be popping up all over the place lately) give a sort of ethnic, world music-ey atmosphere to it all. Dynamic and clearly written by musicians of the classical discipline. The Fifth Movements music sways and Kevin Critchleys vocals directs and leads us on a dramatic film score set that keeps us interested and entertained. I loved his fast, rhythmic acoustic guitar technique, I loved the intense, moodiness the strings added, I loved the synth player (Luke Moore) suddenly becoming the cellist. I loved this set.

So far so good, and I was looking forward to hearing Bird, having heard shed loads of good stuff about them on the musical grapevine that snakes its way around town. Bird put themselves in the genre of ‘atmospheric folk’ and I would have to say they have got it spot on. A five piece acoustic based set up. Bird will take you on a journey into surrealism with their haunting, melodic lyrics. Underrated, or understated, but by no means in the background, the bands accompaniment to Adele Emmas almost Kate Bush-esque vocal style adds to the mysteriousness of it all. At times, the tempo drops to almost a stop and you find yourself holding your breath as if you are waiting for it to start again. Then it begins again and suddenly the room is filled with dark emotion, only to turn into a thunderous coda which ploughs along with no sympathy, and then comes to an abrupt end. It feels like I’ve just been conquered, and quite possibly I have. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of their new E.P. and from the reaction off the rest of the crowd, neither can they.

Erics is shaping up nicely as a credible venue in Liverpool. With bands like this coming through, hopefully there is still a viable future for live music in the city. With the sad news of so many of our favourite musical hunting grounds closing, it is refreshing to see something like this, as it is with the fabled Lomax opening its doors once more. Now, more than ever before in my lifetime has it become important for us to support new music and the unsigned bands scene that exists in the underbelly of our city, because its without them, that scumbag shows like the X Factor start to take full control of what is listened to and let’s face it, they already have a big slice of the pie. So get out and see a gig over this festive period, you might stumble across something that blows your mind.

Links:

Dave Barnicle - http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Barnicle-Music/285775288108403?ref=ts&sk=app_178091127385

The Edwardian Picnic - http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Edwardian-Picnic/280932068597653

The Fifth Movement - http://www.facebook.com/TheFifthMovement http://www.thefifthmovement.com/

Bird - http://birdofficial.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bird/181713978511636

http://soundcloud.com/birdofficial

Words: Phil Oskoui

Photography: Bird - Jennifer Pellegini

Edwardian Picnic - Alex Forsey

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