THE WAEVE + QUEER FREEDOM DRONE ENSEMBLE – CHALK, BRIGHTON 28.3.23
The WAEVE (pronounced “wave”) are a band formed by Graham Coxon from Blur, and Rose Elinor Dougall, who in recent years has been a solo artist, but once upon a time was a member of The Pipettes.
This evening’s concert at Chalk in Brighton is the final night of The Waeve’s UK tour, promoting their self-titled debut album which originally came out on 3rd February 2023 on Transgressive Records. On 27th March they also released a digital deluxe version featuring 4 previously unheard bonus tracks, which is available for purchase HERE.
Rose and Graham have also produced a baby girl, but I understand that she is a limited edition of one. As far as I am aware she has no catalogue number, although if they were signed to Factory, she probably would have one.
Support comes from Brighton based Queer Freedom Drone Ensemble, a synth duo consisting of Louis MacGillivray and Thomas J White who will later grace the stage as The Waeve’s drummer.
A bell is struck as the performance begins. The two band members look like Oods from ‘Doctor Who’, or with their robes and bare feet, monks. From the beginning the performance feels like a religious ceremony, one that unspeakingly commands respect.
Apart from the bell, everything seems to be played on the synths. There are bird noises. It all seems very serene and relaxing. The sound gradually builds to a crescendo. This is music that will take you far away if you allow it to. I was initially concerned that the Queer Freedom Drone Ensemble might be a little dull. However, this music is really rather magical.
There is no rhythmic accompaniment whatsoever, which I find rather refreshing. There are no vocals either. The performance feels like a perpetual crescendo, which I suppose is theoretically impossible. It’s utterly hypnotic too. It’s almost commanding. It feels like the music is growing until it completely fills the venue. Is it benign or threatening? I honestly don’t know.
The bell is struck again to mark the end of the performance. The duo leave the stage, barely acknowledging the audience’s applause. This has been a rather unique performance. Maybe this band’s records could be prescribed as a means of relieving stress. I certainly felt most relaxed by the end.
Queer Freedom Drone Ensemble:
Thomas J White – electronics
Louis MacGillivray – electronics
Queer Freedom Drone Ensemble setlist:
‘Gay Birds’
You can listen to or purchase ‘Gay Birds’ HERE which Queer Freedom Drone Ensemble played for us this evening and can also find their work on Spotify HERE.
I certainly don’t expect The Waeve (stylized as ‘The WAEVE’) to make me feel relaxed. Having heard the album I found their material to be pleasingly eclectic and am very much looking forward to hearing it performed live. For their live band, Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall are joined by Charlotte Glasson on violin and saxophone, Joe Chilton on bass, and Tom White from The Electric Soft Parade on drums. All of them sing backing vocals too.
Opener ‘All Along’ has something of the feel of acoustic Led Zeppelin about it, with Graham playing mandolin with a slide, and Rose channelling Sandy Denny. Charlotte Glasson’s violin sounds quite trippy at times, with the instrument being fed through a number of pedals. For ‘Over And Over’ Rose is on keyboards, Graham alternates between guitar and saxophone, and Charlotte Glasson is also on saxophone. Graham produces a blistering slide solo.
For ‘Drowning’ Rose plays Bach-like arpeggios on the keyboard. Graham is on harmonica, before indulging in some utterly hooligan-ish guitar work. Excellent! Charlotte Glasson produces a fairly hooligan-ish saxophone solo as well. At the beginning of ‘Undine’ there is percussion on the backing track. However, with so much fabulous musicianship on display we can forgive that. Tom White wears headphones for much of the gig, so presumably for most of the time he is playing to a click track.
‘Sleepwalking’ is sung by Rose, who abandons her keyboard. There are keyboards and percussion on the backing track however. Rose indulges in some slinky dancing until the drums come in, and she returns to her keyboard. There is a fabulously harmonized guitar and saxophone duet.
The set so far has been one of very diverse moods, which reflects the nature of the album, and indeed, continues in a very eclectic manner. ‘You’re All I Want To Know’ is in 3/4 (or possibly 6/8, I can never quite tell the difference between the two), and Graham tells us that they nicked the germ of the song from Heatwave. However, it sounds to me as if its heritage is much older than that. The song features an ace violin solo, followed by a similarly ace guitar solo.
Without becoming too gushy, this is an absolutely brilliant band. Their playing is superb, and collectively the band have great ‘feel’. The Waeve have dates booked for the summer, and I sincerely hope that they play with the same line-up as this tour.
‘Kill Me Again’ features a saxophone duet, with a synth riff on the backing track. Graham and Rose proffer some wonderful harmonies. ‘Someone Up There’ is probably the most ‘rock’ offering of the evening thus far. It features Rose speak-singing and is very reminiscent of Graham’s rockier solo work.
Set closer ‘Can I Call You’ is slow and moody to begin with, and then speeds up with a propulsive bass riff and a joyfully hooligan Coxon guitar riff. They leave the stage. Will they come back? Yeah. ‘Course they will.
And after a very few minutes, they do. ‘Old Fashioned Morning’ is slow and plaintive, whilst ‘Say Something Pretty’ is very rocky indeed. Graham executes a backward roll whilst still playing his guitar, which impresses me a great deal!
This has been an utterly superb gig, partially due to the diversity and quality of the material, and partially because of The Waeve being such a brilliant live band. As debut albums go, The Waeve is pretty much top notch. They’ve set the bar quite high for themselves. I don’t see that as a problem though. I’m absolutely certain that they will be able to maintain the quality of their material and their live performance.
The WAEVE:
Graham Coxon – vocals/guitar/mandolin/saxophone/harmonica
Rose Elinor Dougall – vocals/keyboards
Charlotte Glasson – violin/saxophone/backing vocals
Joe Chilton- bass/backing vocals
Tom White – drums/backing vocals
The WAEVE setlist:
‘All Along’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘Over And Over’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘Drowning’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘Undine’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘Sleepwalking’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘Alone And Free’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘You’re All I Want to Know’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘Kill Me Again’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘Someone Up There’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘Can I Call You’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve’ album)
‘Old Fashioned Morning’ (from 2023 ‘The Waeve (‘Deluxe)’ album)
‘Something Pretty’ (2022 single)
Find out more at thewaeve.komi.io
