It was another day on which temperature records toppled in South East England and with the prospect of spending the evening in one of the most famed basements in London, try as I might I could not remember how good or how bad the A/C in the 100 Club is. This is despite the fact that I was only last there about three weeks ago. In the event it wasn't an issue at all as on arrival at the venue we discovered that the air con is indeed up to the job and the temperature noticeably dropped with each descending step into the venue.
We were late arriving due rail signal failure on the way into London so we entered part way through the support act's set. They were called Moth Slut. A new name on me, but Mo assured us that they, a Manchester band, have built up quite a following in the city. Visually, very striking to say the lest, musically they were quite good. They certainly made an impressive noise for a duo.
Moth Slut
100 Club London
26th June 2026
If I was ignorant of the band, the audience certainly weren't. They were very well received both on and off the stage as quite a gothic gaggle crowded their merch stand as the band completed their set.
This summer, as part of the annual Record Store Day event, The March Violets' 'Natural History' early singles compilation was reissued in remastered form. To mark this, the band were playing under a 'Natural History', or rather an 'Unnatural History' banner, playing the album in its entirety. The only downside to this is that when bands play album themed shows, additional room needs to be created in the set and songs must drop out. Material from the current album, 'Crocodile Promises' (the album that brought me back to the band) was cut down to one track, 'Hammer The Last Nail'. But that was OK because a 'Natural History' set would be faster and punkier than much of what followed.
So, the March Violets took to the stage and a metallic clatter announced the start of 'Long Pig' before the drum machine and Tom Ashton's guitar kicked in. Next came two tracks that bookend the band's career to date, the brilliant 'Religious As Hell' (1982) and 'Hammer The Last Nail' (2024). Then a leap back to the start with 'Children On Stun' and 'Fodder', two excellent work outs for drum (machine) and bass. Not sure what the thing was about Leeds and drummers... whatever it was, at the start of the 1980's they seemed to be very thin on the ground as a clutch of local post-punk bands (The Violets, The Sisters Of Mercy, Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry...) opted for a drum machine. In these early songs, Tom Ashton's guitar work really comes to the fore, angular and shimmery. Looking at on-line discussions on the band's back catalogue there are more than one comparison to the style of the late, great John McGeogh, which is in there, but I too can hear something along the lines of John McKay's playing on the early Banshees material.
Grooving in green!
Rosie explained that 'Radiant Boys' was the first song that the band wrote and it was dedicated to all in the audience... radiant irrespective of gender. And that is an important point. I have not been to see many bands that are so closely associated with the goth scene.... The Damned and The Banshees don't really count on that score. But I have to say that it's very refreshing to see people out for a gig night out being completely comfortable in that scene, amongst like minded people, with no fear of being singled out for being different. It's really healthy. As we become more polarised in the UK, I often think about Sophie Lancaster who was murdered for going her own thing (whilst doing no harm) by morons without the wit to understand a different outlook on life. Good for the people in the 100 Club last night for following their own path and ignoring the shit. That said, I am not about to turn goth, I have neither the cheekbones or hairline to carry it off these days and the eyeliner pencil was set aside some time back in the early '90s. I'm sticking to a black wardrobe though!
She's behind you!
The crowd took some time to really warm up (in actual fact, so efficient were the air conditioning units in the place that it was bordering on being cold!), but all were up for it when Rosie announced two more songs. First came 'Made Glorious', a great song from the debut album of the same name. It is a debut despite being released in 2013... the 'Natural History' album being a compilation of earlier released material. That was followed by a spirited 'Snake Dance'. But of course there would be another encore as no one was going to leave before hearing 'Walk Into The Sun' which closed a highly enjoyable set.
It was a great gig once again... I just wish that I had got to see them on one of the occasions that they played Brighton back in the day.
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