The Petrol Money album party for THE BREAKFAST CLUB was most certainly a party! With great local music, a comedic slant and good company, it was a fab way to spend a Saturday night. I grabbed my pint of the evening (make mine a cider) and sat with the first act herself, and got myself ready to be entertained.
What better way to kick off a party than with the lovely ANWYN WILLIAMS, who after getting compared to a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream by the compering local comedian Tom Stevenson, easily managed to sweep away the ‘sweet’ stereotype and packed a punch with opening number Drinking in Bars. Her vocals are strong with an excellent delivery, and the strummed guitar emanates classic country music. Following this number with Silver Linings, she realises she has no capo, to which Josh Wheatley (just there to watch!) comes to the rescue. Silver Linings has some gorgeous fingerpicked guitar and powerful melodies. The vocals are impressive, with lovely dips in and out of her head voice, which is beautiful. Walking Now follows, with is darker, with lines such as; “Troubles came like stormy weather, I’m walking out but please don’t ask me why”. It’s fast paced, and has a drive and passion behind it which brings out the pain in the melodies. The Rambler is next and is another intense number. The fingerpicked guitar explores the vocal melodies, and echoes them which is lovely and makes the song really quite beautiful. Next up, she plays a new track which she had only just played all the way through that afternoon; Old Bones has a really lovely, varied melody, and the chorus is gorgeous. There are a few small hiccups, as you might expect from a never performed before song, but Anywyn recovers well, and shows great musicianship on stage. It’s low key, vulnerable and lovely. Driftwood follows, which is angsty and emotional, with deeper guitar flaunting her unique vocals. Her final song of the evening ends her set with a bang, with the lively and fast paced, Going Gone Away. With an excited rising melody in the chorus, and a traditional country feel, she rouses the audience ready for the next act.
Anwyn Williams
RIC BIRTELL follows, an act from Lincoln. He provides excellent comedy numbers, using the music to mould his jokes and using song structures to comic effect. He writes songs about loving alcohol, with lines like “I don’t mind being sick to spend more time with you” which he then follows with making heaving/vomit noises, which although cringeworthy, is also very funny. With another song he uses comedy and politics to mould From England With Love, a number regarding the situation in Russia and Vladamir Putin’s laws; “My name is Vladamir Putin, I’ve got a secret that I am refuting. But meet me tonight, alone in Sochi, and I will come out of the closet”. Other numbers include The Christmas Song (We Are the Scum of the Earth), about being a part time Christmas temp, and a song about being on the dole, where he asks; “what’s come of my piece of shit degree?” He’s charismatic, funny, clever and is musically interesting. He sings out of tune on purpose to comic effect, and he has some really good melodies and song structures. He’s a very talented chap, and pulls off the comedy/music combo very well indeed.
BUD
After some more compering from Tom Stevenson, BUD approach the stage. She’s joined by her band, an electric double bass player and an acoustic guitarist/backing vocalist. BUD sings sweet, subtle pop with some incredible vocals in both the high and low registers. She’s soulful and passionate, but also very lighthearted and lovely. She opens with Beautiful, which has lovely melodies, and a chord structure which is reminiscent of old style pop and even reggae. Her vocals are so smooth, and she sings in an accent which suits the style well. Goodbye For Now follows, with gorgeous rising melodies in the guitar, which are sweet and run gently underneath vocal melodies which follow a similar tune. The melodies can get fairly repetitive in the chorus, which works for a while and is fairly typical in the pop genre, however they were a little too repetitive for me, I’d have liked a bit more variation. It was a lovely song though, and was well received by the audience. Next she plays a cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water, and has put a new, fun, summer-pop spin on a classic, and it works really well. It’s upbeat and has reggae type tones in the guitar. Vocally BUD puts her own stamp on it and takes it somewhere it’s never been before. It’s a great showcase of her creativity. During the set she sings a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy, which is fairly close to the original, but still manages to be interesting and the arrangement for the ensemble is particularly good. She brings the mood back up with Happy, a sweet original with an upbeat bouncy melody. The melodies switch between the guitar and the bass too, which is a really nice technique and gives the song some added depth. She follows this with a really nice cover of Mercy by Duffy, which is a good change and development from the original, there are some particularly lovely vocals in this one, with lovely harmonies and backing vocals. An original song called 1953 follows, and then her set ends with a really nice cover of Aviici’s Wake Me Up which puts a unique spin on a recent pop hit, with scrumptious vocals and harmonies, and good arrangements.
Adam Clarkson
After some more banter from the compere, ADAM CLARKSON from CAPTAIN DANGEROUS takes to the stage. Opening with Executing Elliot, it’s obvious that he’s a charismatic performer, with personality and a presence that makes you warm to him. He moves around a lot on stage, dancing with his guitar and going with it. It’s really interesting hearing Captain Dangerous tracks without the rest of the band, sometimes they feel rather bare, but at the same time, the absence of the other instruments gives the vocals and guitar more limelight, and more weight. Forgive Us We’re British was a particular favourite in the crowd, prompting a fair bit of audience participation, and Adam really going for it in the chorus. He follows this with another Captain Dangerous track from the album; Merrow Song, which is also very well received, as a new track that hasn’t been played before called King Richard IV. The solo rendition of Boozehounds was also particularly good, with a passionate vocal delivery, and a really fantastic power and sadness felt during the chorus during the climactic “we’ll drink ourselves to oblivion, cause that’s what broken men do time and time again my dear, by the way you broke my good friends heart, how could you”. It’s not a particularly sad song, in fact it’s lively and upbeat, but the solo electric guitar makes it feel sadder, and the bittersweet juxtaposition between happy music/sad lyrics is quite enchanting. After Boozehounds, he follows with a new song which I really enjoyed called Hang Your Head In Shame Darlin, which has a really catchy chorus, and has a lot of passion in the performance. A Captain Dangerous classic, Everything Beautiful Reminds Me of You follows, which is well known in Nottingham, and even if you don’t know it, just listen and you will feel like you do! It’s a great pop number, which also deals with the bittersweet break up lyrics with happy music, although Adam looks stark and lonely on stage singing the song on his own, making the classic melody in the chorus really hit home. He isn’t really alone in singing it, as the audience is singing along with him too. The last song of his set, another new number called Down and Out in Kenilworth and Nottingham, has some really good progressive sections, describing how “this isn’t the rock and roll dream we imagined”. It’s a poignant end to a great set, and sets us up perfectly for the final act of the evening.
The headline act that the gig is all about, THE BREAKFAST CLUB, then take to the stage. They don’t take themselves too seriously, and they are having fun on stage, joking with each other and the audience, which promotes a really friendly vibe in the audience. Opening with Maggie, the gig starts with a down to earth bang, with a lively approach but slightly more sinister lyrics which fit well with the band’s style. Squeeze is the next track on the bill, which is the single of their new album. The song is fast paced and lively, but they managed not to get ahead of themselves, despite their enthusiasm. The vocals are strong and the communication between the band members is great to see on stage. For the next number they all swap instruments, having an awkward shuffle about, and Sam takes centre stage. It is announced that this was his attempt at a happy song, and it has therefore ended up titled She’s So Depressed. Again it tends to follow their other song styles, with a fun bass driven melody, and bittersweet lyrics, it has a wonderful, honest juxtaposition. The bridge brings this to light, it’s darker with a moody key change, however the lyrics still have that lack of poetry flounce which makes them really punchy; “she says she doesn’t like me in that way, we still have sex though, sometimes we talk into the night, while I have essay deadlines”. This is one of my favourite songs from The Breakfast Club, purely because I love how it doesn’t dress itself up.
The Breakfast Club
Following this is Pushing Up The Daisies, which follows the same track listing as the album. It is described as a “happy song about love and stuff”. It has some fantastic cheery guitar riffs, which become more prominent in the fills. The melodies follow a more typical pop style format, and again, the lyrics are sweet and definitely about love, however the blunt honesty of them adds edge to the song. Bodies follows this, which is maybe the natural progression as a break-up song. Although the mood stays light, it’s more painful than the others, with the repeated melodies focused around one note, make it quite desperate. The mood picks up again, with the hilarious, fast paced Ciaran’s Hair, the second track off the new album ‘Petrol Money’. Singing about Ciaran’s pursuits of a dancer, and it’s just simply hilarious with lyrics such as “Ciaran, put that stranger down”. I was giggling throughout the whole track; the music lends itself to pointing fun, which is exactly what this song does. It’s lively and upbeat, and very cheeky pop. This song is another short one. The Breakfast Club tends to write short and snappy songs, which are pretty catchy, and it works well for their comedy lyrics.
I Miss You More Than Woolworths is the next track in the set, and has some lovely harmonies, and is probably one of the sadder songs, but is followed by Emma Taylor, a lively number which they all obviously enjoy, as they just seem to be having loads of fun on stage. They speed up the song, and play with it, which makes for a very entertaining performance. Following this, the entertainment continues with a cover of Billie Jean by Michael Jackson, which is fun and playful with the band inviting people to moonwalk on the dance floor. Original number Cocktails from the album follows, and the song plays around with time signatures, and generally has a more funk influence, which is really interesting, and fits well with the style of the song. It’s a bit darker, with lyrics such as “these cocktails will only bring you more pain”, which are funny but also sinister too with their references to alcoholism. Playfully, the next track is called Sing Baby Sing, which was written in an attempt to get the word “Baby” in a song as many times as possible. It’s an ode to the 50’s, and has that kind of style. This is why the band is so easy to warm to, their songs are amusing and lighthearted but they’re all examples of good pop, and are really catchy. Strawberries is another great number, which is sweet but funny too, and it gets dedicated to a couple in the audience who travelled from Milton Keynes to see them play. Prick follows which is a rowdy number about men who try to grope women without permission, and is performed enthusiastically, and passionately, with a particularly well shouted chorus.
The Breakfast Club
They end their set with Topshop, another humorous number in which fun is poked at the fashion industry, and the people who shop at top shop obviously. The chorus is light, catchy and funny; “Do you like my top? Got it from Top Shop, the same place as you got yours. Dress like my mates, but in different colours”. It’s a great end to their set, prompting an enthusiastic audience response, however of course this wasn’t the real end to their set. After a slightly clumsy exit and entrance back to the stage, they followed with two encores, I’m A Believer and Hey Jude, which ended the set on a lighthearted note, and made you leave with a smile on your face. They performed an excellent, fun, varied and exciting set, and I look forward to seeing them perform again in the near future. You can purchase Petrol Money on The Breakfast Club’s bandcamp here.
Review by Cassia Helme
