HIS LORDSHIP + ROBIN EVANS, ESQ. – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 30.5.24
His Lordship are a power duo of guitar and drums who have built a reputation for manically high-energy shows delivering their own explosive brand of stripped back garage rock’n’roll. Distinctively clad in dark suits and white shirts, the 2-piece lineup is usually supplemented by a bassist for live work. They are currently at the end of a 12-date UK run promoting their eponymously-titled debut album, which was released in January this year.
The core duo formed in 2021 and boasts an impressive pedigree, having met whilst working with new wave icon Chrissie Hynde. Guitarist and vocalist James Walbourne has been with The Pretenders since 2008, and has also played with The Pogues and The Rails. Drummer and vocalist Kristoffer Sonne, originally from Denmark, has worked with Suede’s Brett Anderson. For tonight’s show at The Hope & Ruin, the pair are joined by Dave Page on bass and backing vocals.
There’s a sizeable crowd upstairs, and a palpable buzz of anticipation. We’re treated to a fine set of stomping beats and slide guitar by support act Robin Evans, Esq. (details below) and now it’s time for the main event. The three ‘Reservoir Dogs’ suited players of His Lordship take the stage to a recorded violin intro and blast straight into the lively boogie chug of opener ‘I Live In The City’. James is house left, digging into a red SG guitar, his rock’n’roll lead vocal augmented by some mellifluous backing by his bandmates on the naggingly catchy chorus. For the chanted “C-I-T-Y” breakdown, Kristoffer, in his trademark thick-rimmed specs, gets busy round the kit. Dave is house right, shaking a shock of curly hair and wrangling a pleasing twangy growl from his Peavey T40 bass, a retro classic popular at the start of the 1980s.
With no messing about between songs, we’re straight into the one-two beat of ‘All Cranked Up’, it’s even more insistent chorus hook nicely accented by some energetic drumming. The playing is super-tight on the staccato rhythm of ‘I’m So Bored With Being Bored’, and James is out on the bass bins for the solo, getting up close and personal with the front rows. The garage rock of ‘Jackie Works For The NHS’ is topically introduced as “F*ck The Tories”, and concludes with crunching stabs and a call-and-response “N-H-S” chant which gets an enthusiastic take up from the ecstatic audience.
Beautifully tumbling bass runs open ‘Rock Fall Echo Dust’ and from a lively start, the band are getting progressively more animated as the set goes on. James does an elegant sideways dance across the width of the stage, swivelling gracefully on the Cuban heels of his Chelsea boots. The showboating intensifies further during a brilliant cover of The Cramps’ strutting classic ‘The Way I Walk’. Kristoffer is out of his seat to get a decent swing at some thumping tom hits, whilst James holds his instrument out to the audience as he solos with flurries of hammer-ons. There’s a brief false start and an entirely intentional false ending to ‘Buzzkill’, a gloriously angular piece driven by piercing stabs of trebly guitar and punctuated with stuttering snare rolls. I’m impressed by the variety that the band can bring within this format. The energy reminds me of early Dr Feelgood, but this is no 12-bar chug-a-thon, it’s engagingly eclectic and ambitious. ‘The Repenter’ is a good example, moving from a slow start to a sort of do-wop vibe, before building massively to a spellbindingly awesome guitar solo.
Kristoffer comes out front to take the lead vocal for the lyrically intriguing ‘My Brother Is An Only Child’, while Dave puts down his bass to jump behind the kit. Freed from the constraints of the drum throne, the performance is admirably acrobatic, including a nifty knee shuffle whilst miming a paddling action, and a slightly alarming Daltrey-style microphone swing whilst crouched on the kick drum. It concludes with Kristoffer perched precariously on top of the kit, the mic in his mouth, flapping his arms like a bird. Spectacular!
Next up is an instrumental that James introduces as new and as yet untitled. It’s down as ‘Paddy’ on the setlists. He dedicates it to the late great Shane MacGowan of The Pogues: “the best songwriter, in my opinion, to walk the planet.” Given that context, it’s a heart-wrenchingly beautiful piece, based around a central motif of delicate riffing and oscillating chords. Bolstered by the locked-in rhythm section, it builds exponentially to a sublime crescendo of tremolo strumming and wildly soaring lead, a vivid demonstration of the possibilities afforded by a six-string electric guitar in the right hands. ‘Weirdo’ is also new, its bass-led strut inspiring some rhapsodic clapping along by the audience, and ‘Joyboy’ motors by at breakneck speed, with a delicious falsetto vocal hook. I really like that the vocals are prominent and clearly audible amongst all the manic bluster, and that the lyrics seem to deal with the contemporary everyday rather than retro clichés.
‘Cat Call’ is another guitar-led instrumental. The high-velocity and jaw-droppingly dextrous riffing is interrupted for precisely 40 seconds by an unfortunate string break. James, the seasoned pro, has a selection of instruments in a little aluminium house marked-up with The Pretenders’ case number. He selects another red SG, quickly tunes it, and we’re back in business. The playing is nothing short of stunning, and I’m completely entranced. There’s a cheeky lead break up on the bass bins, and a few pauses for some fist-shaking rabble-rousing. The crowd are loving it, and the conclusion rightly draws tumultuous applause and vociferous cheering.
A wailing siren from Kristoffer’s toy megaphone launches the set closer ‘I Am In Amsterdam’, and there’s no doubt whatsoever that an encore will be required. We’re treated to ‘Red Hot’, an old rock’n’roll number made famous by Robert Gordon and Link Wray in the 1970s. I suspect I’ll have the hook of “My gal is red hot – your gal ain’t doodley squat” stuck in my head for a good while yet. This has been a fantastic and thoroughly entertaining performance by a band of outstanding players, absolutely at the top of their game.
His Lordship:
James Walbourne – guitar, vocals
Kristoffer Sonne – drums, vocals
Dave Page – bass, vocals
His Lordship setlist:
‘I Live In The City’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘All Cranked Up’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘I’m So Bored Of Being Bored’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘Jackie Works For The NHS’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘Rock Fall Echo Dust’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘The Way I Walk’ (Jack Scott/The Cramps cover) (from 2022 ‘Play Rock’N’Roll Volume One’ EP)
‘Buzzkill’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘Pixelated Polly’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘The Repenter’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘My Brother Is An Only Child’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘Paddy’ (new, unreleased)
‘Weirdo’ (new, unreleased)
‘Joyboy’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘Cat Call’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
‘I Am in Amsterdam’ (from 2024 ‘His Lordship’ album)
(encore)
‘Red Hot’ (Billy ‘The Kid’ Emerson cover) (from 2022 ‘Play Rock’N’Roll Volume One’ EP)
Support tonight is provided by Robin Evans, Esq. You don’t often hear the courtesy title “Esquire” used these days, but it sits rather nicely alongside His Lordship on the bill. Robin plays in a band called Snakemilk, who have been a previous support to the headliners, but tonight he’s appearing solo, playing a dirty sort of Delta blues on a Resonator guitar. The beat is provided by a pair of heel-operated kick pedals, one hitting a tiny bass drum, the other providing a sort of snare sound via a wood block with a tambourine on top. Keeping a beat with your heels whilst singing and playing strikes me as something of a challenge, but Robin manages it with aplomb. He presents a striking figure with a western shirt, mullet and ‘tash, and heavy eye makeup that is soon running down his face in this hot and sweaty environment.
The lyrics have the flavour of doom-laden Americana, although the player is actually from Norwich. He’s an engaging character, in a self-effacing way, and I like him and his music straight away. ‘Dust Bowl’ starts with fingerpicking over a three-note thud, and builds to a more urgent chorus. The splendidly morose ‘Send Me To The ‘Lectric Chair’ is driven along by chunky rhythm chords and an insistent double-heel stomp, before launching a section of tasty slide guitar. There’s more fingerpicking on ‘Oregon’, alternated with a brisk strum and a whistling break. The introduction to ‘Building A Plane’ is an amusing digression about being the weird guy in a block of flats, and the singer is incredulous that only one audience member admits to living in a similar residence. The song lyrics are hilarious, the plane in question being constructed from “motorcycle engines, radiator brackets, and the hinge from a folding chair.” I really like the slide playing in ‘Badger Milk’, and there’s another funny moment where the player has to briefly pause the manic rhythm to rest his aching ankles. Best of all is the closing number, a cover of Dizzee Rascal’s grime classic ‘Bonkers’, which works shockingly well. Robin totally has the crowd on board, to the extent that he pulls off a get-down-and-jump-back-up exhortation with an impressive take-up. The slide ascend seems to go on forever, and it’s a great end to a fun and enjoyable set.
Robin Evans, Esq. setlist:
‘Dust Bowl’
‘Send Me To The ‘Lectric Chair’
‘Oregon’
‘Building A Plane’
‘Midnight Radio’
‘Badger Milk’
‘Bonkers’ (Dizzee Rascal cover)
