| Going north with Psydoll |
[Oct. 22nd, 2007|05:44 am] |
Over the weekend I took one of Mr Branson's 140mph guided missiles to Stoke On Trent (14 minutes late, children on the line at Coventry) in order to see thee mighty Psydoll at the Glebe, Stoke's eqivalent to London's Devonshire Arms (except the Glebe has proper beer and a proper PA).
Who are Psydoll? In four words, surrealist cyberpunx from Tokyo. In slightly more words, here's my StarVox review of their CDS (scroll down till you find it), which explains why I like them, and why you should, too.
Over the last week or so, Psydoll have been on an eight-date UK tour, which is a pretty impressive run of gigs for a band from Japan who are hardly megastars in the UK. There are plenty of home-grown bands which don't tour as extensively as that. But all the gigs were in the oop-north zone. Stoke On Trent was as close as the band came to London, so it was to Stoke On Trent I went.
The reason for this strange bias towards the top end of our island is not that Psydoll don't want to play dahn sarf. It's just that they couldn't find anyone to give 'em a gig or two further down the map. I suspect this might be because Psydoll sometimes describe themselves as 'Metal'. That might be vaguely logical in a way (after all, the guitar is suitably loud) but I think it might be a bit of an off-putter to the art-punk promoters who might like the band, while being something of a red herring to metal promoters, who'd take one listen and say, 'That's not metal!' I think a heavy-duty PR onslaught might be needed before the right people sit up and take notice. After all, Psydoll would be ideal for a club like Back To Nature, but I think someone's going to have to tell both parties that the other exists...
But they were, of course, brilliant. I spoke to Nekoi (vocalist) about RazorBladeKisses (she thought the idea of a band from the UK doing the visual kei thing was odd but interesting) and Sins Of The Flesh (who were represented on a flyer as being 'from the Japanese goth/industrial underground', a description that skirts neatly around the fact that their main man is English, and went to school with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) markrimmell). It was a fine night, and Psydoll effortlessly captured the hearts of hard-bitten Stoke On Trent rockers and punks alike. Here's Nekoi being accosted by fans after the show:
Worth the trip? Of course it was. Next time, mind - London.
Link-o-rama: Psydoll website, Psydoll on MySpace. |
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| Comments: |
I did consider booking them to play Brighton, but their tech spec confused me.
A bass amp but no bass? Ah, well, I've seen stranger than that!
apparantly the bass amp was needed for the electronic drums
I'm relieved that the journey proved to be worthwile and you enjoyed the gig. I wish we'd personally been able to attend more than just the one show (in York, funnily enough with Global Citizen who played London on saturday, as you recommended in a previous post) but logistics and animal husbandry would not permit.
Hullo! Good to meet you at the gig, briefly (I was the sketchy, unshaven bloke that was convincing Nekoi to shake her nerves and come say hello to you). Glad you enjoyed the gig, was a great atmosphere to end their tour with. Hopefully you'll have a shorter trip to see them next time, and thanks for the helpful nudge in a good direction!
huh! the japs love it though.. we played a gig with a band from Japan last night in Jetrock night at Bar Monsta. The other band was going mental about us! They all wanted pics with me and Azy and the rest of the band and kept coming for more!!! there was also people from the Gothic and Lolita bible and they interviewed me and azy and took loads of pics.. I guess it's a novelty to them :) thanks for mentioning us though!
Sins Of The Flesh (who were represented on a flyer as being 'from the Japanese goth/industrial underground', a description that skirts neatly around the fact that their main man is English, and went to school with markrimmell).
Nah! You've got it only partly right... I didn't go to school with Jamie, I met him because he did his homework at the library in East Sheen where my friend worked. I'm sure I have some old live tapes of Sin of The Flesh from way, way back.
Totally agree, fantastic gig it was!
I saw them night before in Blackpool too, where the pa and mixing let them down, but I'm glad I got to see the show on Saturday night. Could have done with being a little quieter, but the performance was wonderful.
Roll on the next tour.
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/68290581/6529479) | From: nekoipie
2007-11-08 12:28 am (UTC)
to Nemesis and all... | (Link)
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Hello, it was wonderful tour^^
Nemesis>Our one of purpose was to have shown us to you.
We are very glad to achieve it! Special thanx to your trip.
smogo>Please do not fear us! Show your courage!
bitbat>Would you mind call Uncle to Yorkshire^_^?
I think that Goth scene of Yorkshire is cool. can he live in the York Castle?
nullmouse>It was so great adventure with you, supported by TESCO and Travel Lodge!!
daevas>No one say "jap"in US since world war 2nd,
　　　　but is the word used in your country?
I do not know your stage so much
but I know some about your band's a little bit rude manager.....
I associate only with people who respect manners^_^;
markrimmell>I do not know them,but I envy them! He might be good at English.
wyrdreddragon>thank you so much! All Goth people and Goth ghosts in Stoke supports us^^
I love UK so much, to all of the Goth/Industrial people in UK,be Goth/Industrial forever.
You do not need to care so much about J Goth,because we are strange!
and, yes,see you again!
x.......... Nekoi PSYDOLL | |
