SAINT ETIENNE + QUATERMASS III – THE OLD MARKET, HOVE 11.11.22
Saint Etienne were founded in London in 1990 and are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne. They became associated with the UK’s indie dance scene in the 1990s. Their work has been described as uniting 1990s club culture with 1960s pop and other disparate influences.
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists. They originally planned that Saint Etienne would use a variety of different lead singers, and their 1991 debut album, ‘Foxbase Alpha’ – influenced by sources such as club culture, 1960s pop, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s ‘Dazzle Ships’ – features several vocalists, including Moira Lambert and Donna Savage. However, after working with Sarah Cracknell on ‘Nothing Can Stop Us’, they decided to make her the permanent vocalist, and Cracknell has written or co-written many of the band’s songs. In 1991, the band also released two singles, ‘7 Ways to Love’ and ‘He Is Cola’, under the name Cola Boy with different singers. Wind the clocks forward by ten studio albums and Saint Etienne are still in the game.
They have now performed live in Brighton & Hove on at least four occasions; Concorde 2 on 30th December 2004 and again 13th December 2012 and last year at The Old Market on 27th November, and now this evening.
This means that exactly fifty weeks have elapsed since Saint Etienne rolled into town and closed out their 2021 tour at the atmospheric Old Market in Hove supporting the launch of their then new album, ‘I’ve Been Trying to Tell You’ from which only one track (‘Fonteyn’) would get an airing this evening. Read our review of that night HERE.
So here we find ourselves in the same venue just shy of a year later to witness the band play one of only three dates this year, the others being Sunderland and Manchester back in June (not counting an appearance on the Park Stage at Glastonbury – Review HERE), thus this gig sold out relatively quickly and there was a palpable buzz around the room in eager anticipation of what was to come from fans lucky enough to bag a ticket.
Lining up again as an expanded 7 piece but conspicuous by the absence of founder member Bob Stanley, Saint Etienne took to the stage with the other original band members, singer Sarah Cracknell and Brighton based Pete Wiggs who provided electronic wizardry. They were joined by regular backing singer ‘Debsy’ who was on great form as supporting vocalist this evening.
Sarah remarked that they loved playing this venue as she soaked up the atmosphere from the stage. However, there was a marked difference in the performance as this year’s offering seemed so much more up-tempo and Sarah really seemed to be enjoying herself.
From the opening ‘Like A Motorway’ which was greeted with alacrity, we were essentially treated to a ‘greatest hits’ set spanning their entire career which comprised some of their best known numbers such as ‘Girl VII’, ‘Spring’ and ‘Nothing Can Stop Us’ from their seminal debut 1991 album ‘Foxbase Alpha’, all of which sounded as fresh as they day they were released, 1993 release ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ is a real crowd pleaser live and ‘Split Screen’ and ‘Sylvie’ from the 1998 album ‘Good Humor’ were also great choices.
There were two encores, ‘He’s On The Phone’ was a real crowd pleaser and the second encore which closed out the night, the stunning ‘Avenue’ released 30 years ago in October 1992 which I still think is a masterpiece. Sarah wished us an early “Happy Christmas” as she left the stage to the extended outro whilst the band played on.
All in all, this performance seemed to have a bit more oomph than last years, which I guess reflects the band’s familiarity with these fabulous songs that have more than stood the test of time. Their set lasted 78 minutes and ran from 9:14pm to 10:32pm.
A top night was rounded off by some choice ‘choons’ from DJ Steve Mason which kept the crowd dancing and setting the weekend well and truly underway.
Saint Etienne setlist:
‘Like A Motorway’ (from 1994 ‘Tiger Bay’ album)
‘Mario’s Cafe’ (from 1993 ‘So Tough’ album)
‘Split Screen’ (from 1998 ‘Good Humor’ album)
‘Girl VII’ (from 1991 ‘Foxbase Alpha’ album)
‘Magpie Eyes’ (from 2017 ‘Home Counties’ album)
‘Who Do You Think You Are’ (from 1993 ‘You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone’ compilation album)
‘Heart Failed (In the Back Of A Taxi)’ (from 2000 ‘Sound Of Water’ album)
‘Spring’ (from 1991 ‘Foxbase Alpha’ album)
‘Fonteyn’ (from 2021 ‘I’ve Been Trying to Tell You’ album)
‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ (from 1991 ‘Foxbase Alpha’ album)
‘Tonight’ (from 2012 ‘Words And Music By Saint Etienne’ album)
‘Sylvie’ (from 1998 ‘Good Humor’ album)
‘Nothing Can Stop Us’ (from 1991 ‘Foxbase Alpha’ album)
(encore 1)
‘You’re In A Bad Way’ (from 1993 ‘So Tough’ album)
‘He’s On The Phone’ (from 1997 ‘Continental’ album)
(encore 2)
‘Avenue’ (from 1993 ‘So Tough’ album)
Support this evening came from Brighton based quintet Quatermass III, who are apparently the people behind World Of Twist, Earl Brutus and the Dials. According to the circular badges they wear on their white N.A.S.A style overalls, the band consists of Andy, Ben, Gordon, Neil and Richie. They played their first ever gig on 2nd April this year. It was at The Con Club in Lewes. Another Brighton outfit wears the same style outfits, they are called The Atom Jacks and are well worth checking out.
Quatermass III this evening entertained us with a seven track set that lasted 39 minutes, running from 8:03pm to 8:42pm. Not having seen these lads before, we weren’t quite sure what to make of them at first during ‘Tulpa Lover’ (where the vocalist wore a silver glitter ball helmet) and ‘Room At The Top’. Their format was vocals, guitar, Moog synth with laptop, Korg synth with bass guitar, and drums.
Clearly they are an act that don’t take themselves seriously, as they borrow their sounds from right across a wide spectrum. Each of their tunes seemed to offer something of a nod here and there. Tunes one and two (above) seemed to merge Hawkwind with early 80’s disco, and thus I had christened their sound as “wavey space rock”. Which was backed up by the arrival of ‘Hellfire Club’ as a pseudo space rock disco tune, which was the best so far. After which, they announced that they were surprised that they have such a young following as they are mature guys.
Tune four was ‘Lucky 7’ which had the line “Going down to Rioooooh”, which was a massive nod to “We are flyin’ down to Rio” (‘Virginia Plain’ by Roxy Music). We learned that track five ‘Superstar’, is apparently number 56 in the Spotify Workout Chart. Is that a real thing or a jibe? Mind you it must be OK as it name checks Captain Kirk and the vocalist got out a walkie-talkie radio out of his prop case. It’s Buggles meets Spizzenergi.
By song six, ‘Rats In My Room’ (which we were told was a cover – Tony Burrello 1952 by my reckoning), it was obvious that the singer wasn’t the best that we would hear this evening, but they are a fun outfit. Hence this number started quietly before turning into The Glitter Band. They ended with ‘Big Blue Beach Blues’, which commenced with decent (BBC Radiophonic Workshop) Moog keys and a mix of The Rah Band’s ‘The Crunch’ and slower Suicide tracks meets a 33RPM version of the Sweet’s ‘Blockbuster’.
Confused about these comparisons, then you can catch Quatermass III live in Brighton at The Hope & Ruin on Saturday 17th December, with support from The Mechanical Hops. Purchase your tickets HERE.
Quatermass III setlist:
‘Tulpa Lover’
‘Room At The Top’
‘Hellfire Club’
‘Lucky 7’
‘Superstar’
‘Rats In My Room’
‘Big Blue Beach Blues’
