BIG JOANIE + GHUM + FRÄULEIN + HIGHBURY THE GARAGE, HIGHBURY, LONDON 11.1.23
I previously reviewed Big Joanie at Glastonbury Festival last year, (Review HERE) but this is the first time that I’ve seen them play their own headline show. Support comes from Fräulein and Ghum, both of whom I’ve also reviewed in the not too distant past.
First up is Fräulein, who dropped their ‘A Small Taste’ EP last May and who I last reviewed when they played at Brighton’s Hope & Ruin as part of the Mutations Festival in November. I’ve really enjoyed them both times that I’ve seen them before, and they don’t disappoint tonight. As usual they tear it up like nobody’s business. They generate an incredibly full sound between the two of them. Who needs a bass player anyway? (and I say that as a bass player).
There’s always something of interest going on with Fräulein, whether it’s guitarist Joni Samuels adding lead licks over the top of her rhythm playing, or drummer Karsten Van der Tol’s drum solo. Thankfully it’s not a heavy metal powerfest. There’s delicacy and finesse on display. Rimshots even. It’s not Neil Peart though. Actually I feel for Karsten, because at the end of each song he looks like he’s about to have a heart attack. Thankfully the paramedics aren’t required.
Whilst there’s a very definite grunge influence here, it’s not all thunder. Joni indulges in some lovely delicate finger-picking, and Karsten has a fine sense of dynamics. If their instrumental skills aren’t enough for you, Joni has one helluva voice. If you want to sample the Fräulein live experience, and don’t mind travelling to do so, they support Italia ‘90 at Manchester YES Basement on Saturday 4th February – Tickets HERE.
Fräulein:
Joni Samuels – guitar, vocals
Karsten Van der Tol – drums
Next up are Ghum, (stylized as GHUM) who I previously reviewed at the Mutations Festival at Patterns in Brighton during November. I also saw them headlining at Hackney Moth Club the same month. In the short time that has elapsed since then, the band seems to have somehow become more cohesive than before. The Joy Division inspired angularity is present and correct, although guitarist Jojo Khor is far better than Bernard Sumner was at her age. Vocalist Laura Guerrero seems to have very much grown into her front-person role over the last six weeks or so. All in all, the band seems to be far more ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ than hitherto.
Chardine Taylor-Stone from Big Joanie boogies in the wings for much of Ghum’s set. A well-deserved nod of approval from the headline act. Final song ‘Saturn’ is punchier and faster than anything else in the set. It sounds like a purpose-made set closer. New Order is played on the PA immediately afterwards. Coincidence?
Ghum:
Laura Guerrero – vocals
Marina MJ – bass
Jojo Khor – guitar
Vicki Ann – drums
Ghum setlist:
‘Rivers’
‘Some People’
‘Bitter’
‘California’
‘1000 Men’
‘Perro’
‘Shallow’
‘Saturn’
I’m particularly interested in seeing Big Joanie tonight, as a friend who saw them at Rockaway Beach Festival (Review HERE) said that they sounded as if they had a musician missing, and I’m wondering how that could be. Eventually I realise that it’s the lack of a bass drum. However, that doesn’t make the band’s overall sound seem like something’s missing, rather than just sound different. More than anything it makes them sound similar to The Velvet Underground, and that’s certainly no bad thing. In fact on the first song, ‘Cactus Tree’, the drums pretty much drown everything else out. That is soon rectified though.
Being a feminist punk band, Big Joanie are nothing if not intellectual. They want to know what everything means. They discuss the meaning of home. Home is where you’re born. However, if you’re part of a diaspora, it also means where your forbears come from. Then again, as a band of black women, the stage is also their home.
‘Confidence Man’ is about “greedy white men who f*ck people over”. Big Joanie are very much a team. All three regular members share lead vocals. Briefly we need to return to Chardine Taylor-Stone’s drums: her floor tom pretty much makes the room shake! How can that equate to something missing?!!
Current album ‘Back Home’ is streets ahead of debut album ‘Sistahs’. This should be no surprise as three years have passed between the two albums being released. The bulk of tonight’s set is from ‘Back Home’, and deservedly so. It’s a very fine album indeed. This would have appeared to have attracted a larger audience to the band. If The Garage isn’t sold out tonight, it’s pretty close.
They have been noticed by Jack White, and have a single, ‘Cranes In The Sky’ (a Solange cover), out on his Third Man imprint. Big Joanie are political animals, and they invite support for fellow workers out on strike. In both their onstage announcements, and in their lyrics, they tell it like it is.
On more than one song, the bass part is played on synth, bassist Estella Adeyeri plays guitar, and guitarist Stephanie Phillips plays tambourine. I’m not entirely sure how well this works, especially bearing in mind Stephanie’s superb soloing on her Fender Meteora.
We do get a two song two encore, ‘I Will’ and ‘In My Arms’, which are both from the new album. I hate to make predictions, but this could just be Big Joanie’s time. They are about to embark upon a tour of Europe, and then the US and Canada, so if you want to see them, you’re going to have to travel. If that’s not a possibility, you could do worse than treat yourself to a copy of ‘Back Home’.
Big Joanie:
Stephanie Phillips – guitar, vocals and tambourine
Estella Adeyeri – bass guitar and vocals
Chardine Taylor-Stone – drums and vocals
Big Joanie setlist:
‘Cactus Tree’
‘Happier Still’
‘Taut’
‘Confident Man’
‘Today’
‘What Are You Waiting For?’
‘Your Words’
‘Cranes In The Sky’ (Solange cover)
‘Sainted’
‘It’s You’
‘Fall Asleep’
(encore)
‘I Will’
‘In My Arms’
