PATRIARCHY + FAT CONCUBINE + SONIC CRUSH – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 28.4.24
Well tonight’s the night that Los Angeles based outfit Patriarchy finally conclude their 30 date European and UK spring tour, with a big send-off here in Brighton at the popular Green Door Store courtesy of the Paradise Noir Dance & Night Club. Patriarchy’s travels have witnessed them thrilling punters in all the cred places of Europe including Madrid, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Paris, Leipzig, and Berlin, before hopping across the water to Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and last night in London.
I was rather looking forward to tonight’s gig on account of last month’s Paradise Noir club nite, which featured Ultra Sunn and Massive Luxury Overdose, was my ‘Gig Of The Year’ thus far! Read my account of that night HERE. So how would this evening’s antics compare? Let’s find out shall we…….
According to their Bandcamp page Patriarchy state “”Patriarchy” is a word I would like to destroy for My Self and yet make my own. We live in a Patriarchy, and it won’t be changing for a while- so why not grab it by the balls and f*ck it? So that’s what I’m doing- f*cking and enjoying the situation I’m in… even if it disrespects and discriminates against me”. This being penned by vocalist/guitarist Actually Huizenga, who these days calls on the assistance of AJ English on drums/electronic drums/drumpads, who I suspect is the father of her four month old child, judging by their onstage interactions this evening.
Clearly pushing the boundaries is all part of their gambit, arguably none more so than indicated in their use of full stage backdrop, this being an adapted ‘Stars & Stripes’ American flag, which is being hung upside down, which in some circles in their homeland is a big no-no. Add to this the studded wording on the rear of Huizenga’s leather jacket, which reads “Stand above me and watch me suffer”, we can see there’s messages to get across here.
So where are they musically coming at us from? Well I guess a clue is Huizenga’s black t-shirt, with its NIN logo on it. That’s Nine Inch Nails, just in case. They being at the forefront of the Industrial rock, electronic rock and industrial metal scenes. Patriarchy adds their take on this which is at times rather sexual and provocative. And so we are in their company for the final 57 minutes of their whole tour, running from 9:45pm to 10:42pm.
The couple take to the stage, AJ English first, then eventually Huizenga and open with ‘Lock Jaw’ which is the first of seven cuts from their 2022 ‘The Unself’ album. An album which has incidentally been given the extended and remixed status of late, and offloaded as ‘Forcefully Rearranged’ last August, followed by a vinyl edition in October. Huizenga’s guitar certainly has the metal axe look about it and AJ English chooses to stand and play the Roland drumpads, electronic pads, and drum, which had a tribal vibe with screeching guitar atop. It’s just what your body needs to wake you up on a Sunday evening!
The first of a couple of cuts from their 2019 ‘Asking For It’ album is next in the form of ‘He Took It Out’ which gets down and dirty with lyrics including “Now I’ll drug you and I’ll f*ck you; In the open air; you’ll see angels there; Now I’ll drug you and I’ll f*ck you; Everything is fair; because no one cares”. It’s during this number that I see the resemblance in an amalgam of Kelly Ogden (from The Dollyrots), meets Jennie Vee, meets dare I say Nancy Spungen.
The guitar gets ditched for tune three ‘Sex Doll’ (from ‘The Unself’ album) which has a more electronic beat and sees Huizenga licking the microphone stand! ‘Hell Was Full’ (found on ‘Asking For It’) came next and this witnessed AJ English going topless. This was the best track thus far. It was surprisingly funky. For ‘The Man For You’ (from ‘The Unself’) AJ English picks up the large drum and balances on his knee, which looked rather impressive, but also reminded me of that dodgy Joy Division ‘An Ideal For Living’ drummer boy cover. The vocals are more melodic here and is the new best tune that possibly even would sneak onto many radio stations playlists. There were also a few play acting (I hope) choreographed moves during this number which hopefully portrayed the evil of slapping women and (surely) not the reverse.
The guitar was back in action for ‘Suffer’ (from ‘The Unself’) and there was so much depth of sound going on here and yet there were just a couple of people on stage in front of us. After this Huizenga told us that the next track was about “The father of her first born child which was 4 months ago”. This tune ‘Don’t F*ck The Drummer’ (from ‘The Unself’ album) starts quietly and then explodes! So much so that those on the Seaford train platform above could probably hear it! ‘No Touch Torture’ from the same platter was next and this was a more edgy EBM number and for me personally all the better for it! As far as I could tell the next selection was a medley of two unreleased tunes (although correct me if I’m wrong and it was just the one with differing parts and beats), these being an ‘untitled’ number followed by the catchy ’Boy On A Leash’. During this Huizenga hit the cymbals with a heavy bikers chain, whilst AJ English makes some noises over the microphone. This had a real primal feeling to it, which is probably what they were aiming to achieve.
In retrospect, Patriarchy more than likely would have now loved to have ended their set here, as it all went Pete Tong from here on in. Huizenga was getting in the zone and wrapped the microphone lead around AJ English’s neck a few times, but this sadly ended in it getting tangled in his gold chain, which I think I heard some American in the audience state that his father had bought it for him, but I could have been mistaken. A delay of 5 minutes followed, but neither of them could free it. I think it might have got broken which would account for AJ English throwing his drumsticks away at pace. The final number was delivered, this being ‘Good Boy’ (from ‘The Unself’), which witnessed Huizenga jumping from the stage at speed and storming through the middle of the audience, clearly in an upset manner at what had just occurred. Things were to get worse! She briefly exited through the dividing venue and bar black curtain only to come across some people sitting in the bar area with their backs to the action. People are allowed in the bar area when a gig is on, and might have only been having a drink without ever having been inside the gig part, but Huizenga not being local and not knowing this, got further upset. I can see her point, because they had made the effort to come and play for us and if the folk were ignoring the band then this is the height of rudeness and NOT reflective of the Brighton music scene whatsoever.
Things then got even worse! She came storming back through the crowd and got onto the stage and realized that she had just accidentally somehow gashed the palm of her hand on a cymbal and the sight of the pouring blood sent her wobbly, although to her credit she did finish the last few lines of the tune, but clearly that was the end. I suspect that a trip to the hospital was the next port of call, but before that AJ English had to serve arguably the longest queue of merch buyers I’ve ever seen at the venue! So that’s ending on a positive note!
Also on a positive note, is the Paradise Noir music selection in between the acts, in particular just before Patriarchy took to the stage as they played ‘Obsession’ by Xymox and ‘Lucky Charm’ by hard CORPS, which are both absolute classics, and the stories I could tell you about these two bands! Another time maybe!
Check out Patriarchy’s releases on their Bandcamp page HERE.
Patriarchy:
Actually Huizenga – vocals/guitar
AJ English – drums/electronic drums/drumpads
Patriarchy setlist:
‘Lock Jaw’ (from 2022 ‘The Unself’ album)
‘He Took It Out’ (from 2019 ‘Asking For It’ album)
‘Sex Doll’ (from 2022 ‘The Unself’ album)
‘Hell Was Full’ (from 2019 ‘Asking For It’ album)
‘The Man For You’ (from 2022 ‘The Unself’ album)
‘Suffer’ (from 2022 ‘The Unself’ album)
‘Don’t F*ck The Drummer’ (from 2022 ‘The Unself’ album)
‘No Touch Torture’ (from 2022 ‘The Unself’ album)
‘Untitled’/’Boy On A Leash’ (unreleased)
‘Good Boy’ (from 2022 ‘The Unself’ album)
The main headlining slot tonight (and indeed for the whole tour) is with the mysterious London based dark-techno/noise-punk powerhouse Fat Concubine who it is said “melts electronic beats with the intensity of punk into bullets, delivered in captivating cult-like live shows” and “Coming like a Millwall brick to the temple”. This temple is not referring to anything religious but that area above your eyebrows!
Fat Concubine spoke to us during the evening and were at great lengths in order to keep their identities a secret. Fat Concubine is Fat Concubine! A recently born project that emerged from a womb that is like a child not fully formed and one that will be evolving all the time. Fat Concubine is this evening made up of a trio of contrasting characters who are not ‘fat’ or (to my knowledge) a ‘concubine’. There’s a Japanese guy on Greco guitar, a girl sporting a facemask who is initially playing violin before moving across to play the keys. She also plays the triangle, wood sounder and tambourine later on in the set. Completing the trio is the vocalist, who I’m going to suggest IS actually Fat Concubine and that his two chums are helping him out today. I will know more next time around! Anyway, this singer could be a younger clone of Emo Philips. He has a foreign accent as well, which could be Eastern European, but to be honest this is all irrelevant as it’s the music I’m here to review……
Well what can I say? Well their set lasted 23 minutes, from 8:53pm until 9:16pm and consisted quite possibly of six or seven compositions. I was unable to obtain the exact setlist on the account that some of the set was already planned, whereas other parts were quite possibly made up on the spot! Their performance began with a taped applause and then the girl took to the stage first and screeched away on the violin. Around 30 seconds later, our Japanese friend joins her on his guitar. Finally the singer arrives, but almost immediately vacated the stage and went along the front row with a black marker pen and drew black circles on some folks’ hands. After which he produced two pairs of ladies tights, with cut out air holes and put these over two of the heads of the front row punters, which to their credit kept these on for the duration of the set. The singer then clambers back on stage and is also in charge of a second guitar. Musically and theatrically to this point, there is even more chaos than Leg Puppy, but sounding like a new updated Skinny Puppy.
One song down and the singer then holds his microphone out to the keyboardist and says “Sing me a tune”, which she sweetly and dutifully obliges. This being in total contrast to their music, which at this moment in time is akin to ‘Frankie Teardrop’ by Suicide, but a better updated 21st century version. It’s here that we are given what I would suggest is their raison d’être, as the vocalist states “We are Fat Concubine and are here to inspire your future children”, which I must say is an absolute classic line. It’s here that I decide that if Fat Concubine were an architectural style, then they would be brutalist!
After a while we were encouraged to all squat down and then jack-in-the-box style pop up again when requested. This wasn’t so much as a normal live music set, but a happening. It’s so refreshing to hear something new. It’s tribal, it’s edgy and most of all it’s exciting.
We had had ‘We’re Gonna Bring This World Down’ and ‘MAD MAN’ as well as some other musical happenings, before they got to their final offering which we were informed they will be dropping on their next single on 7th May, this being ‘Tiny Pills’, which witnessed the vocalist donning a second guitar, whilst the girl played those bangin’ deep bass synth notes and the 200mph backing beat which had been present during the set. To be honest I could have easily enjoyed a set double this!
They are set to make a welcome return to Brighton very soon, where they will be taking no prisoners at The Pipeline on Thursday 9th May. Support for their (headline) gig will come from Chad, Divorce Attorney, and Kitchen Sink. Purchase your tickets HERE.
Check out ‘The World At Our Feet’ on their Bandcamp page HERE.
Fat Concubine:
Fat Concubine (European man) – vocals/guitar
Fat Concubine (girl) – violin/synth/percussion
Fat Concubine (Japanese man) – guitar
Fat Concubine setlist:
‘We’re Gonna Bring This World Down’
‘MAD MAN’
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????
????
‘Tiny Pills’
Kicking off tonight were Sonic Crush which consists of Yemi Sawyerr (vocals/bass/laptop), Lucy MIlani (guitar/ synth) and Jay (drums). They informed us that their influences are Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Icky Blossoms, Peaches, and Metric. We last caught up with Yemi and Lucy last October when they (along with Lucie Isle) were going under the name ‘Dee Diva’ and they performed at The Hope & Ruin as support to the rather wonderful Baby’s Berserk – Review HERE.
Sonic Crush are aiming to release a 10+ track album this coming September. In the meantime you can check out ‘Audio Fetish’ on their Bandcamp page HERE as well as their ‘Serpentine’ and ‘Beyond The Veil’ singles on their Soundcloud page HERE.
Tonight we are given a seven song set lasting 23 minutes, from 8:10pm to 8:33pm. Yemi is on Squier bass, vocals and organises the laptop when required. Lucy flits between Squier guitar and keyboard duties depending on the song, and Jay sits behind the drumkit. Thankfully Yemi has a decent scream in their armour as it is put to good use in order to entice the punters in the bar and in the outside seating area to make their way into the performance room. They kick off with ‘No Saint’ and ‘Dom’, both being of the same ilk and reminding me of The Slits. Next up is ‘Play En Rouge’ which sees Jay operating a drum and cymbal alternate beat, whilst Lucy switches from guitar to keys which makes it more interesting. ‘Panties In A Twist’ is their fourth selection, this sees Yemi delivering the lines with even more attitude. With each number, they are growing in interest to myself and many punters standing near me.
Yemi then informs us that the next number will be ‘Serpentine’ and that it’s only the second time that they have performed it live in front of a crowd. For this the bass is laid to rest and the laptop is utilized thus freeing Yemi up to concentrate solely on the vocals. ‘Sex Sells’ with its keys and laptop backing beat combo is their best thus far! Well that is until the arrival of penultimate tune ‘Nuclear Reaction’ which has the vibe of the legendary American duo Suicide, on account of the keys and guitar combo. They sign off with their ‘Audio Fetish’ single which competes with its juxtaposition pseudo rap/metal beats all fighting to take control. Sonic Crush gave a good account of themselves and hopefully they will be back in Brighton in the not too distant future.
Sonic Crush:
Yemi Sawyerr – vocals/bass/laptop (they/them)
Lucy MIlani – guitar/synth (she/her)
Jay – drums (they/them)
Sonic Crush setlist:
‘No Saint’
‘Dom’
‘Play En Rouge’
‘Panties In A Twist’
‘Serpentine’ (a 2024 single)
‘Sex Sells’
‘Nuclear Reaction’
‘Audio Fetish’ (a 2024 single)
