Music

17 Music Something Else: Wet Leg/Inhaler at the Waterfront

by Tristan pollitt

You suspect most of the big British bands had their start in places like this. With the space too tight to fit this many people, where the lights – blue then purple – hang heavy in the air and mix with the smoke haze coating the room.

In a seven-song set, singersongwriters Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, collectively known as Wet Leg, carry the audience through a post-punk soundscape, punctuated by clever innuendos. The first two songs go down well, holding attention with a steady tempo and lyrical precision. The audience applaud and shout.

Afterwards you head to the bar to grab a drink whilst the duo retunes guitars and get us ready. From the first few notes of Wet Dream and then Chaise Longue you’re snapped from a lull and dragged straight into the world of Regina George and 2004s youth culture. With a dash a humour, Wet Legs almost single handedly stirs the punk genre into reinvention. Gone are the heavy heads and black and white photos. Here is a thoroughly new sound which, whilst maintaining what made the genre so appealing in the first place, feels fresh and exciting. There isn’t a silent corner of the venue. Wet Leg has gone off stage. The crowd has quietened down, though still alive. On an ordinary night this would be the end of the evening. But it’s far from being all over. In the next few minutes, the atmosphere in the room comes to stand still. Lights change colour, the stage darkens – then crashing drum beat guitar rift hard bass smooth indie rock vocals. Inhaler have arrived.

And It Won’t Always Be Like This picks up from where Wet Leg left. They enthral the audience with their most popular song, evoking a time in the 1990s and early 2000s where British indie rock was the place to be. In approximately four minutes Elijah Hewson, Robert Keating, Josh Jenkinson, and Ryan McMahon revive the hard-edge spirit that was lacking in a lot of British music during the past decade.

Not for a single minute do Inhaler ever lose a sense pace. Their whole performance wizzes by, playing hit after hit after hit. By the time they play Slide Out The Window front man Elijah had fully embraced the aesthetic and role of a rock star. He jumps off the stage and lunges into the crowd, they’re hanging off every word as their performance reaches its thrilling climax. By the time the shows over and Inhaler have quickly ditched off the stage, there isn’t a single person who wasn’t shook to the core.

As I sat on the steps outside of the Waterfront at 10:30pm, a few minutes after Inhaler had finished their set, I wrote this piece as a series of short bursts and scribbled notes. Since then, I haven’t been able to shake that night from my head.

Seeing either one live would be a treat. Seeing both on the same night was something else. Photo: Tristan Pollitt

Rolling Stone Magazine, Are These Really the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time?

By matthew stothard

Ranking music is a bizarre idea. Whilst it makes sense to rank your own favourite songs, to try to be representative of wider society’s views is nigh on impossible.

Rolling Stone Magazine consistently insists on trying though, and its latest effort was published last month when it revealed what it deems as the ‘500 Greatest Songs’. To be fair to them, whilst many absurd music lists which can only be read with a puzzled expression fixed on your face are made by one or two journalists, their effort was rather more scientific, asking more than 250 figures from across the music industry to list their 30 favourite songs. Did that make it any better?

No, well not to me anyway. The problem with ranking music is that reactions to songs are about as subjective as you can get. Besides the fact that the highest ABBA were ranked was 286th, which is objectively musically criminal and indicative of the list’s narrow focus on American and British artists, I would be surprised if anyone could agree on the validity, or otherwise, of the results. To take one example, The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields Forever is ranked at No.7, whilst its double A-side Penny Lane comes in at No.280. Many may see this as a consensus view, yet I would swap the two around. No one will ever agree on a ranking of music. They can be a bit of fun, mainly to disagree with, but should not be taken too seriously.

18 Music WILDPATHS 2021 REVIEW:

By Tom manning and Elizabeth woor

After Covid 19 caused it to adapt last year to an outside venue fittingly titled Wild Fields, Wild Paths is back and it’s safe to say, better than ever. The festival hosted over 200 artists in 20 venues ranging from the main stage of Waterfront to the intimate Rumsey Wells where only 30 odd people cram into probably one of the coolest pubs you will ever see. With acts such as Jose Gonzalez, Puma Blue and Gengahr performing in the past, this year saw headliners Sports Team, Biig Piig and Palace taking the reins.

While the festival began on Thursday with a host of conferences including some from Spring King’s Tarek Musa and Giles Peterson on Friday afternoon, it was Friday evening where Wild Paths erupted. Sports Team took to the main stage at the Waterfront and brought with them their boundless energy. With Sports Team being known for their indie rock bangers like Here’s The Thing and Going Soft, guitarist Rob Knaggs’ ballad Long Hot Summer gave the audience a well-deserved break from the high tempo of their performance.

Those who have seen Sports Team live will know that at any gig there is only one person that can steal the show, lead singer Alex Rice. For most of the set it seemed as though Alex was a part of the crowd as he came down level with the audience. Towards the end of the set, he had the whole crowd singing “I just wanted to be your… mid noughties MTV star” from Kutcher. As the first set of our festival weekend, it was a sign of great things to come.

A change of sound and scenery took us to the beautiful church venue at Norwich Arts Centre where Steam Down were performing. Fusing hip hop, r&b, soul, and jazz the group had the whole crowd dancing from the moment they took to the stage. Founded by Ahnansé the group’s chemistry was infectious and the frequent saxophone solos from him left the crowd speechless on a number of occasions. One of the highlights of the whole weekend though, was the last song from Steam Down’s set where Afronaut Zu performed his track Oh My God with purple lights surrounding him. Zu’s vocal performance was mesmerising, and it felt as though the venue was picked purely for this song to be played. The cherry on the top came as we bumped into TINYMAN who we simply had to ask for a picture.

There was also plenty of local talent at Wild Paths too and on Friday the late-night set from DJ group Mighty Thirsty at the Rumsey Wells was proof of this. In a tiny cramped room with paintings of 16th century monarchs and historical figures wearing a mask or holding a pint, each DJ ensured the crowd were fully pumped, not that much encouragement was needed. Mighty Thirsty were a great way to see off the night and leave us itching to see more acts on Saturday.

The Saturday certainly didn’t disappoint. We began the day at the Shoe Factory Social Club, a former shoe factory that now uses its space to host music, theatre, dance and poetry events. It was here we saw the rising Birmingham rapper, Kofi Stone fresh from his first ever sold-out tour. Although Kofi’s trade mark is his introspective, reflecting lyrics over laid back soft production, do not be tricked into thinking Kofi won’t be an incredible performer. During his track Its Okay To Cry, he had the crowd singing along to the chorus and even came down into the crowd as he effortlessly showed his rapping ability. When it came to Busker Flow, Kofi sprang into a performance that had the crowd going wild. Afterwards, we had an opportunity to meet him which, after his incredible performance, felt surreal to say the least.

While we only managed to catch the end of Biig Piig’s set at the Waterfront, we were able to see her again later at the Shoe Factory as she performed with fellow creative Lava La Rue in the NiNE 8 collective. Another act fusing genres with some killer raps from La Rue, Nasty Nige and Bone Slim with the neo soul, r&b sounds of La Rue and Biig Piig made for an

Photo: Elizabeth Woor

A FESTIVAL LIKE NO OTHER

incredible set full of energy – getting the late evening party started. 30 years more experience than herself. Grooving along

The night ended with DJs Bunk x Fwrdmtn at Space with her band on their final tour destination, Dean Studios. With a relatively concealed entrance, you united a crowd when performing her hits, The Hardest could easily spend your three years here in Norwich Part and Ok Love you Bye. With a voice filled with soul, completely unware that the venue even existed. But it’s easy to see why she is one of the biggest rising stars you know what they say, good things come in small of the UK music scene right now. packages. With a packed dance floor and luxurious roof Last but not least, we headed over to the majestic top setting, Space Studios was the perfect place to end setting of The Halls to see the closing headliner of the Saturday night. The DJs made sure to supply plenty festival, Palace. Their laid back yet warm vibes provided of tunes that let the audience take their hair down. the necessary ambience to fill the vastness of the space We even got to dance with some of the artists we had and by the end the London dwellers had everybody watched perform earlier on in that day, much to the wanting the festival to last for another three days. Their crowd’s delight. most loved songs Live Well and Bitter were welcomed

By Sunday ourselves and many others were thrilled by the audience with roars of praise, while their lesser by the prospect of being able to relax to some calmer known tracks slotted well in between to create a set rhythms. A personal highlight from the day has to be that any indie fan would have cherished. Perfectly from St Lawrence Church, where The All Day Breakfast melancholic while still upbeat, there didn’t appear to be Club filled the church with some melodious disco one unmoved person in the venue. Palace was certainly sounds. Songs from their new EP such as Sugartown a real treat to end a fantastic weekend. Parade and Old School Struggling raised already high With live music back in full swing again, to have spirits through the roof. Formed of six insanely talented a festival on your doorstep where you can explore the women, the band made a powerful impact within the city is something not to miss. Wild Paths will certainly walls of St Lawrence, getting the whole crowd involved be back next year, be sure to check it out to see some as they offered out pancakes to the best dancer. Sadly, incredible local and national/international talent. although perhaps unsurprisingly, we went home empty handed. They call themselves ‘South London’s favourtie disco band’, but after Wildpaths I think it’s safe to say that All Day Breakfast Club might now hold the top spot for Norwich’s best-loved supplier of disco (or at least Venues!).

Once again, we returned to The Shoe Factory to continue the final evening of music, this time to see the likes of Marlowe and Olivia Dean. Marlowe bought energy back to the slightly weary festival goers with an electric set in the site. Always honest and raw in how he presents his past struggles, he put on an emotional performance, repeatedly reminding the crowd that despite the tumultuous times we’re in we can still always spread love. Even if It does sound a little soppy, there’s no denying that Wildpaths bought people back Photo: Elizabeth Woor together again by sharing their love for music.

Olivia Dean was the final act on the Shoe factory stage for the weekend, and there’s no denying that she deserved this coveted spot within the weekend line up. Bouncing onto the stage in a cowboy hat and platform Ugg slips-on shoes (yes, you read that right), Dean looked just as comfortable as any performer with EDITOR: Tom manning