Cauldronated/The Cesarians – Shacklewell Arms – 19th Oct 2014 – Gig Review.
Today!
Now!
Well actually it was last Sunday!
That’s the funny thing about Time Travel… It’s not long before temporal alignment disruption kicks in, leaving one impervious to the perception of lateral temporal echoes… and whatever that means!
Which brings us (less than neatly) back to last Sunday…
Leaving rather late to make journey across the great South/North divide of our fair Capital. And Public Transport being what it is. Arrival was much sooner than originally anticipated. Which afforded this traveller some time to explore charmed Hamlet of Dalston, before the anticipated arrival of gig-companion KiB.
Hunger necessitated a diversion in the way of what passed for nutritional intake in this locale. Suitably revived we beat a path to the back hall of The Shacklewell Arms Public House (Which, one imagines, has all the qualities of a hollow in the ground which had formed naturally by the weathering of rock). We had arrived in time to hear the closing bars of opening band Heman Sheman and thus lack sufficient information to impart their story herein.
Before long, Cauldronated took to the stage and entertained us with their Dark Punky Drum Led Techno. Having been fortunate enough to hear their latest EP beforehand, one had an idea of what was to come. But there was more. Clearly the studio process (as is often the case) had not fully captured the energy that can be conveyed by Cauldronated in a Live situation.
The Drums!… The Drums!… And then some! This is like – The Drummers Revenge!
With the advent of modern music technology the first musician to be replaced by machine was the Drummer and others would soon follow… However Cauldronated have turned the tables they are drummers who have replaced the rest of the band with triggered multitrack layers of fat Analog synth sounds. Very effectively! The synths sounded great coming through the PA tonight; putting images in mind of early synth pioneers while still retaining a modern edge.
Married to this are Frontwoman Eva’s sloganistic poetic chanting and edgy stage presence. Eva is clearly an accomplished drummer with her sharply timed rhythms complimenting the sound most effectively. Eva is joined on stage by Master Drummer – Dave Barbarossa who still displays his mastery of Tribal Rhythms alongside clever and subtle Dance/Trance/Techno ‘Drum-lickery’.
Tonight their recorded songs had an extra edge and rawness in this live setting. Great stuff!
Before we knew it, time had caught up with us once more and we were checking times of last trains but KiB calculated that we may just have time to catch a few numbers of headline act The Cesarians.
Glad we did Too! As they presented richly sharp/shifting sonic textures afforded by their superb line-up of multi-instrumentalists. Echoes of Tom Waits, The Fall and Leonard Cohen among many others. A mental note being made to definitely follow this lot up. They serenaded us with the superb ‘Just Fuck Off!’ And then we had to!
Over.
No pineapples were harmed in the making…