Hopeless Heroic at The Barfly
Hopeless Heroic – The Barfly, Camden – 17 August 2010
Support: Delica Black
Words and photo’s by Michael Dickinson
Being that the weather had sucked balls the last fews day I decided to take some precautionary measures and wear by mac for the first time in ages. By the time I reach Barfly in the early evening though Mr. Sun has decided to come down from his cloduy perch and bathe Camden in a bright, sparkly sheen. I now feel like a tool for wearing a jacket but feel that I will commit to it, never now when the weathers going to turn. So I enjoy a few drinks with my book and my mac, I feel like I should be in a Europe Camp tent instead of downstairs in The Barfly.
Going upstairs though is a different matter entirely. It always is in The Barfly. It changes from a stylish little seating area to a den of anticipation, excitement and… more booze all within a few bounds of the staircase.
As Delica Black take to the stage I realize that my pleasant summers eve is about to become something much more intense, like The Last of the Summer Wine being taken over by Dog the Bounty Hunter (now that’s a show I would pay to see).
They tear the place up before they even get off the starting blocks. Within moments a small mosh pit has formed to my left and fans are head banging with pure glee. Vocalist Chris Watt proves himself a master of the octave range floating breathlessly from a broken hearted cry to a ghoulish roar bringing a great sense of schizophrenia to most of the tracks. There is something fundamentally romantic about their sound but in every case the romance is falling down around their ears and we get to hear every single moment of it. If this sounds terribly grand the guys in Delica don’t show it. They look like the kind of guys you could very easily have a chat with after, Watt’s between song banter showing him to be a guy who just wants us to have a good time and I believe everyone was.
On the drums Andy Patrick was a fucking wildman never letting up for a instant. It looked and sounded as though the drum kit was going to disintegrate by the time the set was done. On guitar Alix Goode was equally ready for war, but like in action film when it’s the quietest one who is also the most dangerous looking. Looking through my notes after I found I had scribbled “He can fucking play”. The sound of the band resembling the harder moments of the Deftones and at times a faint echo of some old school Psychedelic Furs. The set passes in a heartbeat despite being over a half hour long. The mosh pit continued, aided on by a strobe and I was now sweating my nuts off in my mac.
Ah! Here comes the string section with their sheet music and lamp stand. Hang on did I just fall unconscious and end up at the proms. No I’d gone to the bar and came back to find Hopeless Heroic setting up.
A band I’ve been enjoying for a little while now. One of the main elements which impresses me is their use of a violin (Fans of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds more recent stuff I think will agree there is much to be said for it). Tonight though Hopeless Heroic have brought another violinist and a cello player. And what’s more Alix Goode re-appears on stage, in a fresh shirt and is tuning up. Goode could easily be one of the hardest work men in the unsigned scene right now.
As vocalist Gavin Bain takes to the stage the string section lead by Tony Sabberton begin to swirl as though an orchestra really is about to begin the festivities. Instead the entire band explode into I Cried Wolf. The first time they played the song live, but you couldn’t notice. The string section compliment the hard rock tones of the song brilliantly. It sounds as though there are 20 musicians on stage and at the front Bain conducts it all. They quickly move on to single Guinea Pig Syndrome, for which the strings take a back seat to let the band really show what they can do. Once again Alix Goode shows how damned versatile a player he is. Robert Bayley, on bass, easily switches between providing a funky groove to desolate heartbeat. He along with Sabberton and Dai Knight on drums provide immense backing vocals throughout. All the while Gavin Bain works the stage like a man who was fucking born to do it. There are no airs or graces, no sense of preciousness just the sense that while he’s on stage your in good hands. He gives you his all and it seems only polite to give something back.
Especially when they kick in to the unmistakable opening for Blindly Apparent (admittedly one of my favourite tracks right now). An incredible song to see performed live. The string section fucking sore, the drums switch from a hip-hop beat to annihilating punk, the vocals flitter between rapping to anguished cries fitting the songs theme of heartbreak. Plus it’s an awesome moment for some call-response action with the crowd. Seriously it’s incredible song.
The onslaught is quickly followed by Death Whispers which just sounds down right evil in comparison. If the drum kit had survived the Delica Black set in must have been waving a white flag by the time Knight was through with it. Throughout the set the crowd seem to be loving it all, hands are in the air, voices singing along and all the while my mac remains on.
Hopeless Heroic are becoming a force to be reckoned with on the live circuit and I seriously recommend taking your hard earned pennies and spending it on what will be an undoubtedly awesome night of epic punk/metal/rock with a bit of hip hop swagger and some violent violin thrown in.
On their website they state that they want to “kill mediocrity”. This is certainly music to be murdered by.
As I leave Barfly a very happy bunny, though soaked to the bone I am delighted to discover it’s raining outside. I knew that mac would pay off in the end.
