Riot.
Twelve months on from the release of last record ‘Dark Comedy Performance Piece of My Life’, Dustin Hayes’ Walter Etc. are back. p.8
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“IT WAS KIND OF A NO-BRAINE A live album from a period where there’s been no live shows? Black Peaks, explain please... Words: Linsey Teggert. Photos: Sam Lees.
B
y the time this issue of Upset goes to print, Black Peaks’ livestream event, Live At The Brighton Centre has already taken place, and no doubt been rapturously received. It’s also been released via digital platforms, though fans desperate for the vinyl release will have to hold tight until autumn. “Why cover old news?” you may be shouting. Well, because this cinematic performance will be an important staple in the Brighton band’s history, and because it has once again cemented the fact that Black Peaks are one of the most vital alternative acts in the UK right now. Even before the pandemic hit, Black Peaks had suffered unforeseeable setbacks, with vocalist Will Gardner suffering a life-threatening illness, thus Live At The Brighton Centre marked 16 months since the band had last played together. In fact, even their
4 Upset
“IT’S BEEN SUCH A WEIRD COUPLE OF YEARS” JOE GOSNEY
last notable show in August 2019 at ArcTanGent festival didn’t feature Will, with Jamie Lenman stepping up to the plate to perform vocal duties. “It’s been such a weird couple of years,” muses guitarist Joe Gosney. “Obviously, before the pandemic, we weren’t able to play shows for some time. As musicians, so much of the pay-off of actually writing music and spending all the time on putting the
whole package together is getting out and playing to people, so having this livestream event has been a good point of focus to throw all of our creative energy into.” Admittedly, the ‘lockdown livestream’ concept has come a long way since the pandemic first shut everything down. Those poor-quality bedroom acoustic sessions have been usurped by live sets with way more impressive production values, albeit played to empty venues. “At first, we were very much in the camp of ‘we don’t want to do this, they suck!’” laughs Joe. “We thought we would just wait until live gigs come back and then get out and play a real show. But then we started watching a few of the shows with better production that were really good, notably Nick Cave, Biffy Clyro and Architects, and the longer all of this went on, we realised that if we could do something that had the production value we’re happy
