Luke Haines & Peter Buck Brighton concert report

LUKE HAINES & PETER BUCK – CHALK, BRIGHTON 23.2.23

This is the second time I’ve seen Luke Haines and Peter Buck. The last time being at London’s 100 Club in April last year. Since then, they’ve managed to bring out another album: ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’. Haines and Buck both have impressive musical backgrounds, as indeed do the members of their rather stellar band. Haines is the former leader of The Auteurs, Baader Meinhof, and Black Box Recorder. Peter Buck of course is an alt rock superstar, having spent over a quarter of a century as the guitarist of REM.

They are joined tonight by Scott McCaughey on bass, Nick Fowler on keyboards, and drummer Linda Pitmon. McCaughey was a touring member of REM, variously playing second guitar, keyboards and bass. In addition to that he is the leader of The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He has also been a member of The Baseball Project, Robyn Hitchcock’s touring band The Venus Three, and others besides. Nick Fowler’s musical background is a little less complicated, being a member of Gaz Coombes’ touring band. Linda Pitmon on drums was also involved in The Baseball project and supergroup Filthy Friends.

Watching the band tonight is almost like seeing a masterclass in how a top notch rock band operates onstage. They all watch each other like hawks, but there is clear camaraderie and bonhomie between them all, which is a pleasure to see. Peter Buck’s stage persona is unchanged since his days in REM. Every now and again he will kick in the air with his left foot, or twirl around, but basically he just gets on with playing. Scott McCaughey often seems to be in a world of his own, lost in the music. He seems extraordinarily happy though, and sounds superb! Fowler is no more mobile than most other keyboard players. Keith Emerson he ain’t, but he does stand up occasionally, when the mood takes him. Linda Pitmon is absolutely on it throughout. A top class drummer. Then there’s Luke Haines. It’s difficult to know where to begin with him. Let’s get the simple stuff out of the way first: he plays more lead guitar than I was expecting. He’s responsible for all of the lead vocals, and I suspect most of the lyrics, as there’s a lot of dry humour in his between song announcements, which is also reflected in the lyrics.

The set is more or less evenly split between their two albums, ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ and the aforementioned ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’. The early part of the set is weighted towards the latter, but I’m sure nobody minds as they’re both fine albums. After ‘45 Revolutions’ Haines tells us: “we’re just gonna do a rock ‘n’ roll set for you”, and that’s a fair appraisal of what we get. Haines’ black humour shines through in the titles of ‘The British Army On LSD’ and ‘The Commies Are Coming’. If Mr Putin’s nostalgia for the USSR was turned into reality, I’m sure that the Commies would be coming for us right now. I’m not sure if there has ever been wholesale use of psychedelics by the British military, but I have it on good authority that British troops during World War II on occasion went into battle bolstered by a good dose of amphetamines.

‘Last Of The Legendary Bigfoot Hunters’ could almost be a REM song. Peter Buck is all over it. Haines tells us that they have just played “up north”, where there have been lots of bigfoot sightings apparently. At this point I feel a pinch or two of salt may be required…. They have a new song about radical bookshops. Haines hopes that we like their “new radical bookshop direction”. Hmmm… Haines tells us that the purpose of ‘French Man Glam Gang’ is to speed our re-entry into the European Union. It’s nice to encounter a musician who still believes that rock ‘n’ roll can change the world.

The main set ends with ‘Ugly Dude Blues’. Haines tells us “we don’t normally let ugly dudes in”. Someone in the audience yells back “too late!” Touché! The band leave the stage but return within a few minutes. There are three encores on the setlist, but these don’t get played, as Haines indicates that he is having problems with his voice (not that we could tell). So what we do get is the title song of ‘Exit Space (All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out)’ followed by the marvellously biting ‘Andy Warhol Was Not Kind’. It’s not very often that one gets to witness a gig of this calibre. As I said earlier, this was like watching a masterclass, and the amazing thing is, they make it look so easy. It’s just a shame that Chalk was only a little more than half full. Where were you Brighton?

Luke Haines & Peter Buck’s band:
Luke Haines – vocals/guitar
Peter Buck – guitar
Scott McCaughey – bass
Nick Fowler – keyboards
Linda Pitmon – drums

Luke Haines & Peter Buck setlist:
‘45 Revolutions’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘The British Army On LSD’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘The Commies Are Coming’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘Apocalypse Beach’ (from 2020 ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ album)
‘Sunstroke’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘The Last Of The Legendary Bigfoot Hunters’ (from 2020 ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ album)
‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ (from 2020 ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ album)
‘Psychedelic Sitar Casual’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘Won’t Ever Get Out Of Bed’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘Witch Tariff’ (from 2020 ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ album)
‘Subterranean Earth Stomp’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘Diary Of A Crap Artist’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘The Skies Are Full Of Insane Machines’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘Radical Bookshop Now’ (unreleased)
‘Waiting For The UFOs’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘French Man Glam Gang’ (from 2020 ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ album)
‘Ugly Dude Blues’ (from 2020 ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ album)
(encore)
‘Exit Space (All the Kids Are Super Bummed Out)’ (from 2023 ‘All The Kids Are Super Bummed Out’ album)
‘Andy Warhol Was Not Kind’ (from 2020 ‘Beat Poetry For Survivalists’ album)

Luke Haines
Peter Buck

Support this evening came from Katie Malco, but unfortunately due to prior commitments and traffic delays, I wasn’t able to get down in time to witness her set. If you wish to find out about her then check out her ‘linktree’ HERE.