I first heard The March Violets 41 one years ago in my mate Matt's bedroom. This was a time when we were both discovering music away from the mainstream. To the extent that finances allowed you would go and see who ever it was that was playing locally (locally in our case was Brighton). For Matt, whose finances were in better shape that mine, that meant that one week it could be the Subhumans at the Richmond, and The Sisters of Mercy at the Top Rank the next. One band that he latched on to was Leeds's March Violets... for a time he was seeing them in London too. I suspect that at that time the then singer Cleo was part of the draw. Thus it was that I was listening to the likes of 'Grooving In Green' and 'Snake Dance' on a mid week evening when I probably should have been studying for my mock 'O' levels or something.
The thing was that despite his enthusiam for the band and the fact that musically I liked them too, I never went along with him to see them back then. It has only been in the last 12 months or so that I went back and started listening to that old material again and better still there was an album of new material to get to grips with too, the excellent 'Crocodile Promises'. My plans to see them for the first time in London last year were derailed by an unexpected stint in hospital, so when further dates were were announced for this summer I got in quick and vowed to stay healthy!
Saturday was the start of a heatwave across the UK that culminated in yet more record breaking temperatures, but whilst the close knit streets of Hackney were generating steam heat, the dark confines of the venue space at Oslo were delightfully air-conditioned. Our arrival was delayed by the need to find a parking space (always a challenge in Hackney), so there was just time to purchase a shirt from Rosie, and watch the final two tracks from the support before the March Violets took to the stage. Opening with 'Made Glorious' and 'Long Pig', these two tracks being the only ones in the set that I was not familiar with was a great start. 'Crow Baby' brought me back into familair territory and from then on it was joyous. The old was quickly followed by a venture into the new with the brilliant 'Hammer the Last Nail', a highlight from the all round excellent 'Crocodile Promises' album. There is a distinct difference between the old and new material, whilst being unmistakably the work of The March Violets, the new material is more melodic than before. Tom Ashton's guitar shimmers over all and provides a strong counterpoint to Rosie Garland's great vocals.
The good news is that the Violets are still an angry band. Rosie mentioned that 28th June (the night of the gig) was the 56th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York when the gay community started to fight back, but it is a fight that continues into the present day. It is enough to say that Rosie Garland is not a supporter of the new US administration! Let's not forget that as a Leeds band, The March Violets came into being against a backdrop of industrial decline (felt most keenly in our northern towns and cities) and let's not forget that the streets of Leeds and Bradford had until recently been stalked by a derranged serial killer who took the lives of 13 women. Gritty times... that spawned Goth bands all around the city!
Tonight though, anger was turned into a celebration of their songs, each played loud and played purple!
The 'new' 'Kraken Awakes' separated old favourites 'Grooving In Green', 'Steam' and 'Walk Into The Sun'. The latter track really did transport me back to evenings whiled away in Matt's third floor bedroom playing snooker and listening to the band on his crappy old record player!
In what seemed to be next to no time, the words 'Goodnight' came from the stage the main set was done. The encore offered up 'Fodder' (well received by an audience with an appetite for more!) and of course 'Snake Dance'.... and then they were gone and we were turned out into the fading light (it was not quite 10pm) and high humidity of Mare Street.
So that was it, 41 years later than I would have liked I got to see The March Violets. I loved it and I think even Gunta was quite impressed.
