AIRCOOLED + WINTER GARDENS + THE EVENING SONS – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 17.2.24 (2pm show)
Aircooled are a supergroup that consists of Justin Welch (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Elastica, Piroshka) on drums; Katharine Wallinger (The Wedding Present) on bass; Oliver Cherer (of Bexhill’s ‘Music’s Not Dead’ record shop) on vocals and guitar; and Riz Maslen on vocals, keyboards and flute. Yesterday, Friday 16th February they dropped their second album, which is titled ‘Eat The Gold’ and this was officially launched via storming in-store performance at Music’s Not Dead at The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Wednesday. We wanted to catch the unveiling ahead of this afternoon matinee show at The Prince Albert and so we headed east on Valentine’s Day to check them out – Read our review HERE.
So here we are a mere three days on from their Bexhill performance and we have purchased our beers and headed on up to the first floor performance room of this iconic Brighton public house. There are two support bands plying their wares this afternoon, but we will come to those shortly. This afternoon’s concert was a sold out affair and we are packed in like sardines as the Aircooled quartet grace the stage at 4:11pm. We will be in their company for the next 63 minutes, until 5:14pm, and during this time we will be served eight varying length compositions.
The equipment being utilised for the performance are drums, drum pads and effects, Reverend Jetstream guitar with eight foot pedals, Squier Jaguar bass, Korg MS2000 keys, another Korg keys, Boss unit, flute and tambourine.
They kick off with ‘Airports’ which is the opening number from ‘Eat The Gold’. Oliver kicks off the song on his keyboard and immediately the sound reminds me of Monsoon’s ‘Ever So Lonely’ classic, and then Riz hits the right notes on her Korg synth and oh my word, the hairs on my arms stand to attention with excitement. Meanwhile bassist Katharine already had her eyes closed and was floating away with the music. Song two was ‘Aircooled’ from their debut long-player ‘St Leopards’, a track which they had not performed for us a few days ago. On the record the tune lasts sixteen and a half minutes, I wasn’t counting the length of this drumming led live version, but it can’t have been far shy of that timing. The quartet seriously psyched out and reminded me of when I was lucky enough to have witnessed Moon Duo in action. In essence, Aircooled f*cking nailed it! This was the best tune I was to hear all day!
The jaunty ‘No Reason To Lie’ is a rockier number with a twangy guitar delivery and rhythmic drums and was the first track to feature joint vocals from Oliver and Riz. The slower chugging beats of ‘Japanese Brute’ were now upon us and I must say I was rather impressed with Justin’s drumming as well as Riz’s vocal delivery. Oliver informed us that they were now going to play his favourite, this being their latest single ‘Star Rider’, which features Riz on Clangers sounding flute. The keyboard work also reminded me of Neu! Justin was building up steam on the epic dual vocaled ‘Transmission Transmission’, it’s here that he reminded me of Stephen Morris (Joy Division/New Order). They closed the main set with my choice cut off the new LP, this being the wonderfully Krautrock styled ‘Sing Pilgrim, Sing!’ where Katharine’s bass was sounding just like Paul Gardner’s used to on Tubeway Army’s ‘My Shadow In Vain’, and then she proceeded to have a go on the drum pad. Riz’s vocals were absolutely superb and there’s even elements of Stereolab in there, it’s like the Talking Heads ‘Psycho Killer’ on steroids! It was for me the outfit’s second best track of the afternoon. Without vacating the stage, they simply got on with it and played a killer version of ‘Supamotodisco’ and then they were done! Well not quite….as they are all doing it again this evening at the same venue for another full capacity crowd. Sadly, we had a date at the nearby Hope & Ruin to catch New York City’s Lathe Of Heaven. However reviewer Richie Nice will be back here this evening to give us all his account of proceedings!
Aircooled:
Oliver Cherer – vocals, guitar, synth
Riz Maslen – vocals, synth, flute, drum pad
Katharine Wallinger – bass
Justin Welch – drums
Aircooled setlist:
‘Airports’ (from 2024 ‘Eat The Gold’ album)
‘Aircooled’ (from 2023 ‘St Leopards’ album)
‘No Reason To Lie’ (from 2024 ‘Eat The Gold’ album)
‘Japanese Brute’ (from 2024 ‘Eat The Gold’ album)
‘Star Rider’ (from 2024 ‘Eat The Gold’ album)
‘Transmission Transmission’ (from 2024 ‘Eat The Gold’ album)
‘Sing Pilgrim, Sing!’ (from 2024 ‘Eat The Gold’ album)
(encore)
‘Supamotodisco’ (from 2023 ‘St Leopards’ album)
Main support duties for this afternoon’s matinee concert (as well as tonight’s bash) fell into the capable hands of East Sussex’s Winter Gardens who these days feature founder members Ananda Howard (vocals) and Jamie Windless (alternating Squier Telecaster Deluxe and Fender guitars), as well as being bolstered by Jasmine Ardley (vocals, Korg synth, Tambourine, shakers), Will Luchford (Fender bass) and Connor McCorkindale (drums). Over the past few years we have followed this outfit with keen interest, and no matter who is in the lineup, they have never once failed to deliver!
All clad in black, the quintet take to the stage at 3:17pm and over the next 33 minutes entertain the packed crowd with eight self-penned tracks. They kicked off with the recent ‘Moonjockey’ single, which previously broadcaster Melita Dennett has informed me was a very good tune indeed. It starts with epic drums and then all of sudden it gets really funky in a Haircut 100 guitar riff kinda way, and sees Ananda’s vocal delivery reminding me of Blondie’s ‘Rapture’. Their 2022 ‘Crystallise’ single was selection two which witnessed animated movements from Ananda as well as some decent rumbly bass chords courtesy of Will. We’re only on song three, 2019’s ‘Coral Bells’, and yet manic guitarist Jamie has already built up quite a sweat.
Two cuts from their ‘Tapestry’ EP are up next, these being set highlight ‘Zigzanny’, with it’s cross between Stereolab and Status Quo of all people, followed by the slower more reflective bass and drums of ‘Wonders Bleak’. We are next treated to their forthcoming single in the form of newbie ‘U/U’, which featured some really decent synth parts, as well as some magical duel vocal harmonies from Jasmine and Ananda. The unreleased ‘Hyacinth’ with its backing taped vocals which included the line “Is it so hard to kiss me!” was their penultimate choice. Ananda’s vocals had entered the world of Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins), and Jamie’s guitar playing had seriously strayed into Slowdive territory. Winter Garden left us with their 2021 single ‘Laminar Flow pt. II’, which they joyfully blasted out for our appreciation. And appreciate it we most certainly did. Once again Winter Garden had delivered and I’m certain they had won over some more fans this afternoon. At 3:50pm they vacated the stage, tireder but much happier!
Winter Gardens:
Ananda Howard – vocals
Jamie Windless – guitar
Jasmine Ardley – vocals, synth
Will Luchford – bass guitar
Connor McCorkindale – drums
Winter Gardens setlist:
‘Moonjockey’ (2023 single)
‘Crystallise’ (2022 single)
‘Coral Bells’ (2019 single)
‘Zigzanny’ (from 2020 ‘Tapestry’ EP)
‘Wonders Bleak’ (from 2020 ‘Tapestry’ EP)
‘U/U’ (forthcoming single)
‘Hyacinth’ (unreleased)
‘Laminar Flow pt. II’ (2021 single)
Opening up this afternoon’s musical entertainment are Brighton based outfit The Evening Sons who we have as yet to see live, until now that is. This afternoon there are a half-dozen more mature ordinary looking fellas up on the stage plying their wares. According to their Bandcamp page there should also be Chrissy on guitar and vocals, but the band are already rather compact on the stage and a seventh person would be very comfy! This afternoon they are set to ply us with nine tracks from 2:30pm to 2:56pm. The instruments of choice are Yamaha Reface YC keys plus another keyboard being utilised by (I presume) Dave, who is a man of taste, as he is proudly wearing a Modern Lovers t-shirt. There’s a couple of Fender guitars on the go, as well as a bass, and drums with drumpads, and their vocalist also has a tambourine.
With their ‘Intro’ out of the way, they move on to ‘Force Field’ and ‘Morning Serenade’. Both of these tracks remind me of the likes of Cheap Trick and American indie rock from 1979. Their toe-tapping ‘Superspreader’ single from last year is very much along the same lines. I’m a tad confused as to their choice as opening support this afternoon, as they really don’t blend in with either of the other two bands and this is honestly reflected in the audience’s reactions at the end of the tracks, as in they are seriously muted. The more urgent ‘Cindy’s Sox’ was a little better and the name of the next number caused a laugh, this being ‘Boomtown Twats’. The slower and even more American sounding ‘I Gotta Gurl’ was next and followed by another similar sounding song in the form of ‘Lonely Tonite’. They signed off with the decent guitar riffed ‘Hey Hey (Let’s Get Lost)’, which was their best tune and had a 1970s pub rock blues vibe going on.
The Evening Sons:
Russ – vocals
Dave – keyboards/vocals
Macca – bass
Simon – guitar
Jay – guitar
Jamie – drums
The Evening Sons setlist:
‘Intro’
’Force Field’
‘Morning Serenade
‘Superspreader’ (2023 single)
‘Cindy’s Sox’
‘Boomtown Twats’
‘I Gotta Gurl’
‘Lonely Tonite’
‘Hey Hey (Let’s Get Lost)’
www.instagram.com/theeveningsons
