JOHN OTWAY BIG BAND + DAKKA SKANKS + HENRY NORMAL + PHAT PROBLEM – THE BARN, SOUTHWICK COMMUNITY CENTRE 24.7.26
Friday 24th July:
I must confess that I had been completely unaware of the ‘Alive At The Barn Festival’ being held at Southwick Community Centre, until a couple of months ago. It is the successor to the Glastonwick Festival, which I had heard of, and has apparently been in existence for a few years. How did it manage to fly under my radar? Clearly I wasn’t paying sufficient attention!
When I saw that the incomparable John Otway was headlining the first night, and that Attila The Stockbroker was acting as compère, well – I couldn’t stay away!
PHAT PROBLEM (18:30 – 19:15)
Under ten minutes before the first band are due on, the audience is looking disturbingly sparse. However, most of the punters are sunning themselves outside, and as soon as Phat Problem start playing, they come flooding in.
Phat Problem are a Brighton based punk band and specialise in fast punk. Initially they sound a bit underpowered. The guitar and bass are too quiet, whilst Frankie Pink’s vocals are really loud. The venue have received complaints about noise in the past and are very careful about the sound. So much so in fact that guitarist Chris Blake’s guitar is facing the back wall of the stage! It’s turned so it’s facing across the stage, which I guess is a compromise of sorts. It does result in an improvement in the sound though.
‘No Justice, No Peace’ echoes the popular chant from demonstrations. ‘We Shall Not Be Moved’ is not the old song of the same title, but a recent Phat Problem single. ‘Gratitude’ is a bit slower than the rest of the set, and is about the negative effects of drug use on home life. There’s a notable reggae influence on some of the songs. Some creditable lead guitar too. Phat Problem have been a good palate cleanser to prepare us for the rest of the evening.
HENRY NORMAL (19:30 – 20:30)
Let it not be said that the bill at ‘Alive At The Barn’ is not diverse, for the next artist is poet Henry Normal. Henry is by no means a comic, but that doesn’t stop him being drily funny. ‘Sans Pretention’ is about the use of French words in the English pretension. His love poems are very moving, whilst ‘I Don’t Think I Have Another Password’ is about technology dominating modern life. It’s all thought provoking stuff.
www.instagram.com/henrynormalpoetry
DAKKA SKANKS (20:40 – 21.30)
Next up is Dakka Skanks and their mix of ska and reggae. Vocalist Clara Byrne has a superb voice and plays melodeon too. The rest of the band are a long way from being slouches. Bassist Alex Rushmer in particular shines on his five string bass.
They have a new album coming out soon that has been crowdfunded. ‘I See Fire’ is from it. It’s more reggae than ska, with passionate lyrics. ‘Brighton Bomb’ is a reworked reggae-fied Angelic Upstarts cover. It features an incendiary guitar solo and finishes with some emphatic 4/4. They end with ‘Ain’t A Skinhead’, which is about racist fascists who adopt the skinhead look without a clue about skinhead culture. Skinheads are not racist, and have a love for black people, music and culture. As the chorus of the song says: “Why would you call yourself a skinhead when you only want war?” As my History teacher used to say, it’s a good point well made.
JOHN OTWAY BIG BAND (21:45 – 22:50)
I’ve seen John Otway many times over the past 45 years or so, and I have gradually come to the conclusion that the man may be a genius. So I’m delighted to sample some more of his genius as the John Otway Big Band are headlining tonight. It’s not really a big band. In reality it’s John plus a guitar-bass-drums three piece. Still, if John says it’s a big band, then obviously it is!
Otway’s sets tend to take a certain shape these days, starting off with ‘Cor Baby That’s Really Free’, which generally appears on the setlist as “Hit”. That’s then generally followed by ‘Beware Of The Flowers (‘Cause I’m Sure They’re Going To Get You…Yeah)’ which was the B-side of the hit, and usually appears on the setlist “b-side”. Tonight, incidentally, it seems faster than normal. Although that might be my memory playing tricks with me.
Otway semi-introduces his band, saying that before they met him, “they were a bunch of nobodies from Essex”. They appear not to disagree. Otway used to be “the voice of Weetabix”. Apparently his cover of Tom Jones’ ‘Delilah’ was in the advert, and he released it as a single. It got to No.186, which it has to be said, is no mean feat.
Otway explains the difference between himself and the band, and why he’s a star, and they aren’t. Working with Otway must make the band feel very humble.
Always one to embrace technology, Otway has a portable mic stand made out of two coat hangers. Unfortunately when Otway moves his mic it bounces up and down. This is not ideal, so he wraps the coat hangers around his head and dangles the mic from them. That seems to work better, kind of. Otway rips his shirt open for ‘We Rock’. It’s undeniable really. There’s an ace guitar solo from Richard Holgarth, and a comedy drum solo from Adam Batterbee. I should point out that this is not representative of his playing. He’s bloody good. We get Otway’s second hit as well: ‘Bunsen Burner’, which peaked at No.9 back in 2002.
John Otway has occasionally written serious songs, as is proven by ‘Josephine’, which is played tonight. Otway recorded it with Wild Willy Barrett, and it was on their eponymous album released in 1977. It’s probably the best song of the set, even if it was never a hit. The set ends with ‘Cheryl’s Going Home’ from the rock opera ‘Cheryl’, which Otway released with Atilla The Stockbroker in 1991. It sounds a little like The Who to me, although that could be my imagination running away with me.
Otway and the band briefly leave the stage, but soon return for ‘I Don’t Know What I’m Doing, But I Shouldn’t Be Doing This’ featuring Otway on theremin. The final encore is ‘Geneve’, which in my opinion is probably Otway’s best song. It’s a masterpiece. Otway starts on his own before the band come in, and there’s a stupendous guitar solo from Richard Holgarth. This has been an excellent set. Otway is apparently playing every day at the ‘Rebellion Festival’ in Blackpool, solo, with Atilla The Stockbroker playing ‘Cheryl’, and with Willy Barrett too. I’m hoping to see every set. This has been a great opening night for the ‘Alive At The Barn Festival’. Roll on tomorrow!
