Lucys Drowning
Friday 25th January 2002
The Varsity, Wolverhampton, UK
This wasn't merely a gig. I'll say that right at the start of this piece so that the rest of the review doesn't seem like mere sycophantic ranting. This was a flashpoint - a point where history books in the future will be marked that will boast the legend 'Here's where the musical revolution began'.
I've been following Lucys Drowning's progress for about a year now. I was lucky enough to witness their debut gig at the same venue, and at the time considered that to be the best gig I'd seen in years, as performed by the most promising band this country has ever produced.
What I saw on that Friday night stunned me. The band has undergone a line-up change since I last saw them (the excellently-dreadlocked guitarist Stoo replaced with the equally-excellently-tattooed Baz), and their material has been honed to perfection.
It's hard to label the band, which in my opinion is never a bad thing. If you put a gun to my head though, I'd say they sound like Pop Will Eat Itself being involved in a shoot-out with Slipknot, with Trent Reznor producing the whole event. Live, they're crushingly heavy while still retaining an accessability that the Des Moines massive lack. They're industrial without the insufferable elitism that entails, and extreme without being tuneless.
Purity handles samples, keyboards and turntables adding a cutting-edge industrial/drum 'n' bass dynamic to the mix. Baz provides the tortured feedback and razor sharp riffage, Kurt doles out the sometimes sinister, sometimes groovy basslines as well as taking backing vocal duty, while Rich skin-bashes away. Then there's Liam, who delivers Lucys Drowning's vocals with a passion and intensity (not to mention volume) unmatched in any band I've seen previously.
From the first seconds of opening track 'Alone', I ceased to be a jobbing music journalist and became part of the experience, head-banging like a demon and causing damage to myself, others and the surroundings in the sporadic mosh-pits. By the time LD's masterful reworking of PWEI's 'Ich Bin Ein Auschlander' was aired, I was a breathless, sweaty, exhausted wreck - but I was still gagging for more.
The only downside to this gig was the venue itself. After having originally advertised the gig as an over 16s event, The Varsity's management decided 24 hours before the show to change it to an over-18s only event. This resulting in a lot of disappointed fans being turned away, and a sadly under-populated audience. Further to this, the band originally booked to support LD (Undefined) had been cancelled and replaced by two other bands of the venue's own choosing. This change was not made known to the band until the night before the gig.
But in the end, perhaps that helped the end result. The band's obvious anger at their treatment may have contributed to turn their performance into the most incendiary, exhilerating and important gig I have ever witnessed. The band are touring further over the next few weeks - details are available from the website. If you go to see one gig this year, or indeed for the rest of your life, make it a Lucys Drowning gig.
By Philip Whitehouse.
Lucys Drowning's Official Website
