Entertainment DN Foals
Dartz
Kendal’s Wild Beasts (see interview on page 30) are tonight’s support. They open with the popular single Devil’s Crayon, taken from their debut album. From the reaction of the crowd, it’s clear they are gathering a rather faithful following with many bouncing around, singing and clapping along.
One train journey, two aching feet and an impromptu set list later, I’d just had my first Dartz experience. Tonight’s venue was Sunderland’s White Room, a small intimate venue which allows for a gig of similar proportions. The band themselves looked at home with this set up, which was reflected in a great show.
There’s a strong feeling of all the things about a circus that are simultaneously disturbing and endearing to their music, like a slightly off-kilter merry-go-round or unnerving clowns. There’s certainly an underlying darkness to their songs, both lyrically and musically, but they are constructed in such a fashion that the subject matter and atmosphere draw the listener in, rather than dissuade. The haunting harmonies and the seamless switching between the falsetto voice of front-man Hayen Thorpe and bassist Tom Fleming’s tenor tones give them a choral, almost operatic quality which lifts the songs and the listener’s spirits.
As a native Middlesbroughian, if that’s even a word, it brought me great pleasure to learn that Henry Dartz is from Guisborough, which just happens to be the lovely picturesque market town where my college (and coincidentally his) was situated.
Carling Academy, Newcastle 7 October 2008
Headliners Foals have been exploding in popularity over the last 18-24 months, yet manage to separate the nation’s opinion like a jar of Marmite; you love them or you hate them. The venue by this time was absolutely packed, quite why is beyond your DN correspondent, but annoying, pretentious, repetitive and dull as I find these former art students, it’s very hard to argue with the 2,000+ adoring fans in the Carling Academy tonight. Latest single Olympic Airways, no matter how much it sounds like a Minus The Bear song that was left on the cutting room floor, is infectious and a welcome change when held alongside the Oxford outfit’s previous singles and it gets one of the biggest cheers of the night. Excited noise also greets the older, more interesting tracks Balloons, Matheletics and Hummer and depressingly predictable album hits like Cassius and the initially promising, but ultimately frustrating, French Open.
The White Room, Sunderland 18 October 2008
This being my first Dartz gig, it was a special night for me. Opening with The Arrival Building Alnerique, a track from their new mini-album, which is absolutely fantastic. It is likened to the musical types of Death Cab for Cutie, and the similarities shine through completely with the opening track as it makes the listener pay more attention to the lyrics, rather than the music, with acapella-esque beats this song cannot fail to please. As the night continued, we were treated to more new tracks, such as Oskar and Ofelia and The Clandestine Choir which were incredible. The album has been named Steve Lamacq’s alternative Album of the Week, which is a huge achievement for the group, alongside multiple other positive reviews.
The band finished their set with the aptly named The End, Moving On, which fell into Easy Lover – another crowd pleaser. So would I go and see Dartz again? Once, Twice, Again. Every time. LD
The Week That Was Campus, Sunderland 1 November 2008
Despite the disappointingly small crowd in a rather large venue, tonight’s gig seems very homely. A far from capacity crowd should seem lost in a location as cavernous as this, but the amicable The Week That Was provide enough charismatic crack and impeccable musicianship to make us all feel a little warm inside, aided by acoustics that appear light years ahead of the bar’s MQ days. It seems like most of Sunderland’s indie fraternity had also turned up to this homecoming show, the band’s references to departed club night 2K1 (and, indeed, Manor Quay) getting a few cheers, and the Futureheads’ Jaff providing us with a pre-gig chuckle at his lanky frame chatting to the not-very-tall-at-all Week That Was frontman, Peter Brewis. The Field Music man’s side-project comprises of many more mackem musicians than are on display tonight, a myriad of talent who turned the eponymous debut into a multi-instrumental, nostalgic joy, but most of them are in attendance. Indeed, it turns out I’ve spent the night standing next to one, a fact that only dawns on me when she shyly takes the stage to provide sumptuous backing vocals on Come Home. Playing that debut record in order works wonderfully, partly because it’s an album that flows so well to begin with (it is a concept album, after all), the music only slowing so they can talk to friends in the crowd, politely mock whoever decided to leave the cricket on that massive screen beside the stage, or flit between instruments.
The set highlight was Red Socks Pugie, one of the few songs that showcase Foals’ ability to make songs with a bit of adventure to them. It combines the toe-tapping use of the off beat, relaxing guitars and synths with catchy, chantable lyrics. Much like most of their tracks but there’s something about this one that’s more tolerable, even enjoyable. It was an odd one, both aggravating and gripping. Foals are one of those bands you love to hate and hate to love, but the likelihood is, whether you want to admit it or not, they will eventually win you over. SM
Interspersed in the set between new songs, were fan favourites St Petersburg, Fantastic Apparatus and Once, Twice, Again, which changed the atmosphere of the room completely.
Or get new drum sticks, after managing the smash them to bits inside the first song, Learn to Learn. The Week That Was may be a local band, but they’re only ‘local’ in the most literal sense of the word. They should be huge: sophisticated pop music like this deserves a bigger audience. AC
Dartz: Their frenetic live show is helping to boost their reputation.
www.sunderlandsu.co.uk
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