Do you like fun? Do you cling to rusty notions of authenticity that stop you enjoying paunchy men in jumpsuits? Tonight’s gig, courtesy of very good local promoters Loose, neatly delineates such tired thinking, and most of the crowd thankfully go with happiness, which in this case means sweaty drunks in make up.
Having said that, good audience, if you could just turn up a little fucking earlier for the support band, that would be alright too. Joy Of Sex’s playful, splenetic racket cuts straight through the miserly punters, into a place where Young Marble Giants are loud and psychotic, or Wire are ramshackle and garagey. Stupidly good looking and cool, in a born fully formed, standing drummer kind of way, Joy Of Sex bang into the local band premier league ridiculously quickly. What is this, their tenth gig? Bastards.
Anyway, turn that smile upside down, it’s Bohemian Embassy! Bohemian Embassy are the opposite of fun. This is what happens when you embrace authenticity: four men with all the right clothes, jewellry, hats, riffs and pomposity of the shit end of the 70s. Their endless stream of dull guitar wank sees many people take up smoking outside. Members of the band will later be seen wandering past the headliners, dancing ironically and looking self satisfied. Spanners.
So fast forward, and bring on dancing girls, Adam Ant face stripes, unfashionable heroes Eddie Argos and David Devant, and a bloke who puts gigs on in Bath. Can’t not love Argos: wobbly, high-kicking, mad cheeky eyes. He’s pissed, clearly, rolling with music that’s obviously as much fun to play as to hear. It’s a nicely brief set; a few chunks of ace Glitterbeat and chanting bookending a costume change and a slightly rubbish Devant solo number. The last song basically consists of repeated thank yous and goodbyes, Argos trying to shake the hand of every grinning audience member. You can learn a lot tonight: the Lord is a man of war, two safety pins will hold a whole jumpsuit together, don’t ever see Bohemian Embassy, and fun never goes out of fashion.
