First of this is not a review as such. Since the band are about 1/3 of the way through the ElectrAcoustic 3 tour there will be no spoilers here, just some general impressions and comments.
This was a pretty local gig for me, just a short hop by train from work in Harlow to Tottenham Hale and then two stops on the northbound Victoria line... the venue was close to Walthamstow Central tube station to boot. It has been many years since I have been to Walthamstow so I was unfamiliar with the area. However, the Trades Hall was easy to spot. Looking at the exterior of the venue you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a location for an episode of The Sweeney, but outward appearances can be very misleading. Having located the venue, I continued along the road to The Bell and settled in for an early evening pint with my kindle (for those interested current reading is 'Hurrah for the Blackshirts...Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars by Martin Pugh. Not a light read with too many scary parallels with the present situation in the UK).
It has become a habit when seeing Ruts DC to meet with Leigh for a pre-gig pint, so after a while a message came though along the lines of 'Get down to the venue, it's great'. I duly retraced my steps, and entered the venue. In contrast to the dated exterior, the interior was bright and almost cozy. Ruffy was at the bar and Leigh was seemingly closing a deal on the phone. At the bar I ordered a pint of Red Stripe (had to be done... it was absolutely in keeping with the advertised 'DJ playlist curated by Ruts DC'... a fine selection of early ska and Blue Beat tunes). The price (even at a non-members rate (I was honest when asked by the barman whether I was a member or not!) was far preferable to the price down the road!).
As advertised, the gig is split into two sets separated by a 30 minute interval. Since this is the third album in the 'ElectrAcoustic' series of albums, the band have been forced to venture into some uncharted water as far as older material is concerned. No 'Fanatical Fascists' but there are certainly some surprises in the set. I think that it is reasonable to state that there is one new song in the set, 'Bound By Blood' if I recall correctly and rather good it is too.
So that is all that I will say about the content of the sets. I would say that once again the intimate and relaxed atmosphere that accompanies these acoustic shows gives the band's chirpy South London rhythm section free rein to offer some great anecdotes when it comes to the early days of The Ruts... an opportunity that is rather lost when they play a fully electric set.
For those that shudder at the idea of an acoustic gig, as the 'ElectrAcoustic' label would suggest there is throughout electicity and amplification involved to the extent that I was singing/bellowing along in my tuneless way in the second set in much the same way that I would with any electric Ruts DC gig.
A fantastic night out all round... can't wait for the 100 Club.
No comments:
Post a Comment