PROJECTOR + ELLiS⋆D + THE FAMOUS PEOPLE – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 9.7.22
Tonight, something a little novel went down at the Green Door Store in Brighton, as a trio of local talent lived out their teenage fantasies by performing live at a ‘covers party’. For one night only PROJECTOR were starring as The Pixies, ELLiS⋆D was starring as T. Rex and The Famous People were starring as The Smiths instead of them all performing their own original material. The Brighton & Hove News Music Team went along to witness this special one off event. Here’s what occurred……
We arrived in time to have some pre-event banter with friends as the outside area began to fill up. First on the bill this evening were The Famous People who refer to themselves as “slurry jangle jank”. They dropped their debut single ‘Sultry Summer Blues’ at the end of April, which you can watch a live version recorded at Brighton’s South Lanes Studios HERE as part of The Loft Sessions.
The Famous People consists of Bowie Bartlett (vocals), Alfie Beer (guitar), Bertie Beer (drums) and Scott Pearce (bass), but this evening as a special one-off they invited some mates to join them on stage for a few songs.
The quartet took to the raised Green Door Door stage at 8:04pm and performed a 28 minute set consisting of seven tunes made famous by The Smiths. Gladioli flowers at the ready…and they were off…….
I’m sure the band were more than pleased to note that the uneven cobbled style former stable floored room was more than 50% full from the start of their set. Some poor bands just get to play to a handful of folks sometimes! This has just reminded me of something an old school chum told me about a couple of his trips to The Basement Club at the Art College in Brighton back in 1980, when he and literally a handful of other punters witnessed very early on days sets from New Order (who had apparently been booked as Joy Division, who never played Brighton) and U2 who played on 30th September 1980.
Back to tonight and The Famous People admitted that they had been practising the seven twangy guitar-pop Smiths numbers over the past week. It was astounding as to how much they have learned in just seven days! You would have never guessed it if they hadn’t let the cat out of the bag.
They opened with ‘Girlfriend In A Coma’ and were going down well with the punters with this special on off performance. Clearly they are already building up a following of fans. ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ and ‘Frankly, Mr. Shankly’ came and went and then for one of their two set highlights arrived in the form of the John Peel Festive 50 No.1 tune for 1984, namely ‘How Soon Is Now?’. A brave tune to attempt, especially as it’s filled with Marr-tastic eye watering echoey guitar riffs. Cue Finn Marlow (aka Johnny Marlow) on stage on guitar to assist. He stayed for the duration of the set.
They followed with ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’, and then ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’, which saw Kamran Kaur (referred to as ‘Kam’) join the quintet on Korg keyboards, who is followed by Charlie Jenkins on guitar for the final equal set highlight of ‘This Charming Man’. This saw Alfie take joint vocal duties with Bowie, which livened up the set which concluded at 8:32pm.
This was an honourable homage to a leading indie 80’s band, that some see as anyone touching their material as sacrilege, but hey tonight was fun and not to be taken seriously. Clearly after just one week, they were never going to be as great as The Smiths, but that wasn’t the point! As far as the punters and myself were concerned, the experiment worked!
The Famous People are:
Bowie Bartlett (vocals)
Alfie Beer (guitar)
Bertie Beer (drums)
Scott Pearce (bass)
Assistance this evening also came from:
Finn Marlow (guitar)
Kamran Kaur (keys)
Charlie Jenkins (guitar)
The Famous People setlist:
‘Girlfriend In A Coma’
‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’
‘Frankly, Mr. Shankly’
‘How Soon Is Now?’
‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’
‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’
‘This Charming Man’
www.facebook.com/thefamouspeopleband
Clearly, ELLiS⋆D who were starring as T. Rex, were keen to get on with their performance as a mere sixteen minutes after The Famous People’s set had concluded, the stage was filled again.
By my reckoning, ELLiS⋆D operate just like Johnny Moped, as it it’s the name of the band as well as their front person! But those in the know and those who attended Varndean College may recognise the towering person stood stage centre as Ellis Dickson. Ellis has cropped up a few times during previous Brighton & Hove News gig reports, whereby we have seen him seated at the rear of the stage on drums for Strange Cages – who sadly called it a day back in February – as well as on the drum kit for The Slaughter House Band who have recently released their ‘I Don’t See You Dancing’ from the upcoming debut album ‘And So It Goes’ on Sour Grapes Records.
The Brighton & Hove News Music Team also covered the ELLiS⋆D ‘We Are The Last Generation’ EP launch concert at the Green Door Store back in December last year, where we reported thus:
“Finally, to the stage was headliner ELLiS⋆D, opening with title track of the new EP ‘We Are The Last Generation’. It was instantly obvious why there was such excitement around this release, the powerful vocals mixed with melodic guitar backing created an exciting atmosphere for the crowd to join in with. With other songs from the EP ‘Unison’ and ‘Pesticide’ played alongside previous releases ‘Homecoming Queen’. The set held the crowd’s attention for the full 45 minutes, with the punters really enjoying the powerful music and experience created by ELLiS⋆D”.
Tonight though is all about a one-off T. Rex homage from the band, which features the aforementioned ELLiS⋆D (lead vocals/guitar) as well as Luke Norman (lead guitar), Sammy Jones (bass) and Jed Johnson (drums). There are no special guests from this outfit during their 32 minute eight track set.
I heard a twang of guitars tuning up and rushed back into the venue in fear of missing anything. I need not have worried as I was the first person back in and just like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, everyone present had swiftly followed on behind me. Thus within literally seconds, the room was three-quarters full.
ELLiS⋆D fit the bill as champions of everything Marc Bolan and T. Rex. They fill the stage with their kaleidoscopic coloured clothing and ooze the psych rock influences from the late 60’s and early 70’s. They certainly look as though they belong in the T. Rex early 70s Glam Rock era, which I was a great fan of and remember so well. The borders of Glam Rock were back in those days to me more defined than they are now. You now often see Facebook pages pertaining to the genre and they post songs from acts that were never Glam Rock eg Smokie. Back then, the leaders of the scene were Slade, Sweet, Bowie, Mud, Wizard, The Glitter Band, Gary Glitter, Suzi Quatro and the diminutive pixie Marc Bolan and his T. Rex.
Back to tonight and ELLiS⋆D opened with arguably a lesser known composition in ‘Mambo Sun’, but the party really gets started on song two ‘Metal Guru’. Next up, another obscure one in the form of ‘Buick MacKane’ which witnessed great guitar playing from Luke, which was then surpassed by Jed’s drumming. We learned that it was in fact Luke’s first gig with the band. He was a great addition and I couldn’t help wondering if it was just for this evening or not?
Ellis was sure getting hot and remarked “God knows how Marc did it” when referring to him wearing the feather boa fashion accessory. In fact, after the performance I shook Ellis’ hand and he was drenched, he had given it his all.
A somewhat downbeat version of ‘Ride A White Swan’ was up next, which was followed by the distinctive chugging chords of ‘Lean Woman Blues’. The set was ramped up for the final trio of songs, which were the moving ‘Cosmic Dancer’ – which my partner Jordan Mooney had at her funeral – ‘Hot Love’, which reminded me of my childhood, with its “La la la la-la la-la” chorus, and finally ‘Get It On’, which was greeted with cheers from the punters. This had been a “hubcap diamond star halo” performance, which concluded at 9:20pm.
ELLiS⋆D are:
ELLiS⋆D (lead vocals/guitar)
Luke Norman (lead guitar)
Sammy Jones (bass)
Jed Johnson (drums)
ELLiS⋆D setlist:
‘Mambo Sun’
‘Metal Guru’
‘Buick MacKane’
‘Ride A White Swan’
‘Lean Woman Blues’
‘Cosmic Dancer’
‘Hot Love’
‘Get It On’
Visit ELLiS⋆D’s ‘linktree’ HERE.
I believe that this evening’s ‘covers party’ was the brainchild of Projector (stylized as PROJECTOR) and thus it was only right that they should be the headline act for tonight.
Brighton’s PROJECTOR had decided to take on the enviable task of covering a dozen tracks made famous by US alternative rock band The Pixies who formed 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts, whose original lineup consisted of Black Francis (real name Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV) (vocals, guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals (1986 to 2013), Joey Santiago (guitar) and Dave Lovering (drums).
PROJECTOR, who formed back in 2017, state that they “fuse the abrasive tendencies of Sonic Youth with the lushest alt-pop of the 90’s, inhabiting a space where the most infectious melodies sit alongside experimental musicality”, so them choosing The Pixies was a natural progression of the band’s sound.
This evening, Lucy Sheehan (bass/vocals), Callum Marinho (drums), Edward Ensbury (guitar/vocals) and for tonight the addition of George Gershman on guitar, were leaning their set towards the 1988/89 Pixies period that saw the release of the popular ‘Surfa Rosa’ and ‘Doolittle’ albums.
PROJECTOR have worked hard playing live since their inception and have thus far graced many stages at The Great Escape as well as the Latitude Festival and has seen them blasting their wares with support slots with Blood Red Shoes, Kid Kapichi, Deap Vally, Tigercub and the Xcerts.
In 2018 PROJECTOR were the first awardees of PRS & Festival Republic’s ‘Rebalance’ initiative, and their debut EP ‘How Does It Feel?’ was welcomed by DIY, Clash and Dork, praising its ‘cinematic noir’, ‘stabbing urgency’ and ‘visceral grunge pop’. You can listen to and/or purchase it HERE.
In 2019 they were awarded the PRS Open Fund to release their second EP. EP2 sees Projector morph beyond the territory of the three piece and into more sonically adventurous territory and a year ago they dropped their ‘ZERO’ EP which is a brutal expansion on their grunge-pop pallet. Back in May they dropped their ‘Hell In My Head’ which you can find HERE and watch the homemade video HERE.
They opened their Green Door Store 40 minute set at 9:44pm with the ‘Doolittle’ album’s closing track ‘Gouge Away’. Clearly the night had taken a heavier music turn and the strobe lights kicked in, thus adding to the excitement of their energy filled performance. By now the room was in excess of three-quarters full, which is very admirable for a local outfit performing on a hot steamy Saturday summer night.
The punters this evening were learning towards being in their early 20s, but the ages in the room ranged right up to nearly OAP status, but hey they are just numbers right! Everyone was enjoying themselves! ‘Wave Of Mutilation’ came and went and then ‘Cactus’ arrived! I have to come clean here in stating that I had forgotten that it wasn’t a David Bowie original composition as found on his wonderful 2002 ‘Heathen’ album. Lucy did a great job on the vocals here, but clearly this version could have easily been done by Nirvana. A fact which shirtless jacket wearing frontman Edward Ensbury alluded to when the band initially took to the stage as he jokingly announced that they were “Nirvana”.
Edward’s guitar has clearly seen some serious action since the outfit’s formation 5 years ago as his Fender guitar has certainly seen a battering. He delivered tonight’s vocals to the tracks which he is in charge of as though he has always sung them. In fact the same could be said for the whole band’s performance. It was quite remarkable that these are tunes that the band doesn’t normally plan, so fair game to them!
‘Hey’ came and went and the quirky foot-tapping ‘La La Love You’ was hot on its heels. ‘Debaser’ was up next, which was setting the band back on track like a dirty gritty Rolling Stones meets The Fall and was the best thus far!
‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’ could only have been written by an American outfit that were inspired by the sound of CBGB’s from more than a decade before they formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts. That being the birthplace of the unique Jonathan Richman, a man who I have admired for more than 45 years!
‘I Bleed’ was unleashed next and thus the jacket and other top’s were discarded by the trio of PROJECTOR bandmates. Guest George kept his on, although, I’m not 100% sure that his name, as it might actually be Porge Santiago if the band’s Facebook post is anything to go by. Lucy (or could that really be ‘Lucinda’) took lead vocals for ‘Gigantic’ and then continued to do so for ‘Tame’, which certainly wasn’t as she jumped off the stage and screamed down the mic in front of us excited punters. Needless to say that this went down very well thank you very much.
The penultimate number was ‘Bone Machine’ and the final number of the night was ‘Where Is My Mind’, which immediately saw many in the crowd raise their hands towards heaven in elation. Had we suddenly morphed into a giant festival happening? The sound and lighting was just as good! The tune concluded at 10:24pm and the faithful left and headed to the bar or outside to get some fresh air.
PROJECTOR are:
Lucy Sheehan (bass/vocals)
Callum Marinho (drums)
Edward Ensbury (guitar/vocals)
Assistance this evening also came from:
George Gershman/Porge Santiago (guitar)
PROJECTOR setlist:
‘Gouge Away’
‘Wave Of Mutilation’
‘Cactus’
‘Hey’
‘La La Love You’
‘Debaser’
‘Monkey Gone To Heaven’
‘I Bleed’
‘Gigantic’
‘Tame’
‘Bone Machine’
‘Where Is My Mind’
Find out more about the band at www.projectorprojector.co.uk
