THE MARCH VIOLETS + ST///LL – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 13.7.25
Tonight’s entertainment is a more modest affair than the musical happenings across the globe on this very day 40 years ago. But remember many of the artists that took part in the famed Live Aid concerts, would have begun their journeys in venues very similar to this evening’s selected place of worship. We have trundled along to Queens Road in Brighton in order to catch a musical performance from famed Leeds trio The March Violets who are performing a headline set at The Hope & Ruin with support assistance from another trio, ST///LL.
The March Violets first came together back in 1981 as one of Leeds’ four famous drum machine bands and they were label mates in the beginning with The Sisters Of Mercy. The other two being Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and The Three Johns. Interestingly, all of these bands were invited into the studio in order to record John Peel Sessions for broadcast on the legend’s show. The March Violets recorded three from 1982-1984, The Sisters Of Mercy recorded two 1982-1984, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry recorded two 1982-1983, and The Three Johns recorded six sessions 1982-1987 – God that man had taste!
The March Violets, who formed at Leeds University, were originally a quartet comprising guitarist Tom Ashton, bassist Laurence “Loz” Elliot, male vocalist Simon “Detroit” Denbigh and female vocalist Rosie Garland, and percussion was provided by a drum machine, nicknamed “Dr. Rhythm”. The band were going strong until 1987, but then decided to call it a day. A one-off reunion gig was performed in 2007 with Mat Thorpe from Isolation Division on bass, and tonight in Brighton he is still in the band as are founding members Tom and Rosie. This time around, The March Violets have been back together since 2010 and still have that original aura of dark, wistful songwriting, laden with reverberated guitars, mechanical drum machine rhythms and a distinctive stage presence.
This “distinctive stage presence” very much falls to vocalist Rosie, who draws on her inner flamboyance and announces each tune with a small storyette that culminates in the next song’s title. It’s all very theatrical, and I wasn’t surprised when I learned that Rosie had become a cabaret performer after the band originally split. Naturally the ingrained goth was on display here as her stage name was ‘Rosie Lugosi’. You can tell that she’s a published poet and has even released a novel, ‘The Palace of Curiosities’ which was published in 2013. I can imagine Rosie being cast in an Alfred Hitchcock film or an episode of the original Outer Limits television series as the unnerving owner of a creepy gothic mansion, who has many hidden secrets! “Transport me back 65 years” Rosie exclaims as she reads this! As she would talk them into her being able to portray her Lesbian Vampire Queen alter-ego. Clearly, Rosie would be an interesting person to spend an hour in a pub with, whilst I drink my pint of IPA and Rosie slowly sips on a Bloody Mary, her eyes gazing at me as she states “It’s not tomato juice you know!”.
Back to tonight and we are in The March Violets company for 61 minutes from 8:19pm to 9:20pm, which thankfully allows for an early night, or hitting the hotel bar should you wish! (in-joke for those that were there). They give us 14 numbers to enjoy. The punters are a real mixed bag this evening, or as the uninitiated might say “It’s full of weirdos!”. To be honest, they’re not wrong! But there certainly aren’t any Mancunian gobshites donning bucket hats, that’s for sure! As you would expect, black clothing is the dress of the day today, but the crowd do at first seem a little shy or sedate. Rosie soon puts amends to that though! The longer The March Violets play for, the louder the applause gets. In fact, the band’s second half of the set was even better than the first, so I guess they were getting into the swing of things as well, or just left the more choice cuts for later on.
They begin with ‘Long Pig’ from 2015’s ‘Mortality’ album, which is an enjoyable post-punk ditty with notable riffage coming from loose-haired and slick guitarist Tom. I find myself watching him and pondering that his look and playing reminds me of someone. A few more songs in and it dawns on me, it’s heyday Chris Spedding of “Motor Bikin'” fame and the producer of the Sex Pistols’ first demos, which were recorded on 12th May 1976 at London’s Majestic Studios. I prefer these mixes to the released ‘Never Mind…’ album. The title track of The March Violets ‘Made Glorious’ album from 2013 is next, and the song title is an earworm and musically Transvision Vamp springs to mind.
As far as I can tell, there’s a small electronic unit to Mat’s left (our right) that he taps and I believe this is how the backing tracks arrive, which has the drum machine and other instruments on. Song three is their 1983 ‘Crow Baby’ single, which also turned up on 2015’s ‘Mortality’ album. And there’s the clue! During their initial fame, when they dominated the Independent Singles Chart, they released no less than 7 singles, but sadly no album! I’m not sure why they didn’t, but surely it would have helped to get more goths on board. Anyway, ‘Crow Baby’ is another melodic goth tune, which features some great sliding guitar action from Tom, and those not concentrating would have been jolted by the tune’s sudden ending. Prior to performing the next number, ‘Hammer The Last Nail’ from last year’s ‘Crocodile Promises’ album, Rosie states that “We were pissed off in 1981 and we are still pissed off now, and we are going to Hammer The Last Nail”. There’s some further great guitar riffs which for a short while are in Buzzcocks territory, before going off as if being used in a cowboy western. It’s melodic, especially Rosie’s ending vocals “All I ask is the stars”.
Another cut from last year’s long-player follows, this being ‘This Way Out’, which is noted for its deep bass drums backing action. It strangely reminded me of Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’ somewhere hidden in the beat. It too has an abrupt ending. After this, Rosie instructs us that we all have to wish for green lighting and lo-and-behold the stage lighting all turns to green! Magic! They then performed their 1982 ‘Grooving In Green’ single, which too turned up on 2015’s ‘Mortality’ album. For me, hidden within the beat was a nod to Gang Of Four’s classic ‘Damaged Goods’. ‘Kraken Wakes’ from their latest ‘Crocodile Promises’ record is next, and the combined bass, guitar, and backing drumming come together as if it’s a Siouxsie And The Banshees tune. That is until Rosie sings “Lies, lies, lies” and immediately the word assimilation reminds me of the Thompson Twins tune.
OK from here on in, this is where for me, and a number of the gathered punters enjoyment increases (judging by the increased bopping throughout), as the trio perform their No.1 UK Indie Chart single ‘Walk Into The Sun’ which benefits from a fast drumbeat and early U2 guitar twang. This is a brilliant song and well worth coming out for this evening, in order to just hear this! When Rosie sings “Follow me now” it does remind me of Toyah though. The b-side of 1983’s ‘Crow Baby’ single is up next, this being the catchy ‘1 2 I Love You’ with its speedy beat and rumbley top bass string action, it’s another corker!
The band are now into double digits on their setlist, with the performance of ‘Crocodile Teeth’ from last year’s ‘Crocodile Promises’ album. This has a skippy Bauhaus style drumbeat to begin with, which then heads off more into borderline punk territory, like an old Blondie tune. The ballsy rockin’ ‘Strangehead’, which I can only find that finally saw the light of day on the band’s 2022 ‘The Palace Of Infinite Darkness’ box set, despite being played live decades before, was the trio’s next delivery this evening. The comical line herein being “Baby I love you when your head explodes”. They finish off the main set with ‘Heading For The Fire’, which is another tune that can be found on ‘Crocodile Promises’. This one has what I presume is a Hammond Organ sound and there’s more notable guitar action going on here and it’s almost like the bizarre clash if Kirsty McColl and Jefferson Airplane had got together and recorded a goth tune.
The trio then take their bows and then rather than faffing around getting on and off stage, they simply pretend to hide, whilst we play the game and applaud for more. Obviously we are rewarded with further tuneage, as their setlists say so. First up is an early cut in the form of ‘Fodder’ from 1982 ‘Religious As Hell’ EP. Strangely Squeeze’s ‘Goodbye Girl’ suddenly springs to mind here, on account of the backing beat. Rosie’s vocals are delivered with a punk sneer and there’s yet another great guitar riff going on. This would have made a great choice for a John Peel Session tune, but sadly wasn’t. They conclude tonight’s proceedings with obvious crowd favourite ‘Snake Dance’, which was a 1984 single and another track found on 2015’s ‘Mortality’ album. There’s some terrific guitar slide action going on here and at 9:20pm that’s it, and I must say that I did enjoy myself, despite being a little tired and jaded on arrival at the venue! The power of music, eh! Even goth tunes can cheer you up!
The March Violets:
Rosie Garland – lead vocals
Tom Ashton – guitar
Mat Thorpe – bass, vocals
The March Violets setlist:
‘Long Pig’ (from 2015 ‘Mortality’ album)
‘Made Glorious’ (from 2013 ‘Made Glorious’ album)
‘Crow Baby’ (a 1983 single & from 2015 ‘Mortality’ album)
‘Hammer The Last Nail’ (from 2024 ‘Crocodile Promises’ album)
‘This Way Out’ (from 2024 ‘Crocodile Promises’ album)
‘Grooving In Green’ (a 1982 single & from 2015 ‘Mortality’ album)
‘Kraken Wakes’ (from 2024 ‘Crocodile Promises’ album)
‘Walk Into The Sun’ (a 1984 single & from 2015 ‘Mortality’ album)
‘1 2 I Love You’ (from 1983 ‘Crow Baby’ single)
‘Crocodile Teeth’ (from 2024 ‘Crocodile Promises’ album)
‘Strangehead’ (from 2022 ‘The Palace Of Infinite Darkness’ box set)
‘Heading For The Fire’ (from 2024 ‘Crocodile Promises’ album)
(encore)
‘Fodder’ (from 1982 ‘Religious As Hell’ EP)
‘Snake Dance’ (a 1984 single & from 2015 ‘Mortality’ album)
Support this evening fell to ST///LL who I reviewed at this very venue back on 15th June as support for Vision Video. That night was my debut encounter with the trio that used to go under the banner of The Last Cry, who we reviewed back in 2019 when they supported the aforementioned Toyah at Brighton’s Chalk venue – Review HERE. Tonight is virtually the same set, they drop one tune, but there’s one forced change in the lineup as one of the guys, Mark the guitarist, is over in Ireland. So tonight the trio are Andrew Birch (vocals), Chris Carey (bass guitars: 4 string bass and a Bass VI as used by Robert Smith), Darren Davies (Fender guitar), and the drums are on a backing track with the keyboards, so no physical drum machine is used. They play us 7 songs across their 32 minute set. Clearly they don’t operate in the sub two minute world of punk rock!
Frontman Andrew is clearly feeling better today as last time around he began the set by having a spoonful of posh honey. There’s no sign of the honey today. Thankfully the impressive looking vintage 1950’s style microphone and its white stand, are here again today and made good use of. There’s a rumble and a taped talky intro and they kick off with ‘Empty Room’ from last year’s ‘Empty Room’ / ‘Shout Out’ single. It truly has that retro mid 80’s goth sound that the likes of The Sisters Of Mercy, Gene Loves Jezebel and ‘Eloise’-era Damned were purveyors of. They then play the first of a handful of consecutive songs from their self-titled album, this one being ‘Darkened Eyes’. But it’s the following number that really takes a hold of me! We are informed by Andrew that it concerns dementia. The song is called ‘End Of Days’ and Andrew feels every note and every lyric and on its conclusion, it’s almost the case that it has been so hard-hitting that some folk are actually unsure whether to remain respectfully quiet or to enthusiastically whoop and clap in approval. Musically it has the feel of ‘The Eternal’ by Joy Division, but in all honesty it’s their ‘Drive’ by The Cars at Live Aid moment! Local artist Cordelia Gartside has a similar heartfelt song in ‘Hospital Corners’, which I have to seriously fight any tears back for!
Where do the trio go from there? It’s a hard one, but they select the more upbeat ‘Scars’ which has a nod to the Echo And The Bunnymen sound, rather like their ‘The Cutter’. Vocally (once again this time) it reminds me of ‘Papillon’ by Editors, as the lyrics are delivered with angst and Andrew’s grimace face expression is exactly the same as my mate Dave Towse (RIP) used to do. Andrew then tells us that the next track is about Marilyn Monroe, and he is sporting a patch of her on his shirt, the song in question is ‘Misunderstood’. This has that distinctive goth fast drumming action and sound-wise it’s very much in Joy Division territory. Last time around they played ‘Shout Out’ from 2024’s ‘Empty Room’ / ‘Shout Out’ single, which I really enjoyed as it was well within the Depeche Mode and Gary Numan remit. It’s a sad omission.
They therefore skip onto, arguably their most immediate and danceable number, ‘She Walks In Shadows’, with its energetically fast backbeat. Last time around it reminded me of Clan Of Xymox, but this time it’s She Wants Revenge’s ‘Tear You Apart’, which I can’t seem to stop playing at the moment on the account of having heard it live at the ‘Forever Now’ festival in Milton Keynes – Reviews HERE.
The trio sign off with their latest single, ‘In The Static’, which starts with backing keys and then the guitar kicks in. It’s a very good choice to end on and judging by the crowd response, it’s been a greatly successful performance. And I tell you what, The Sisters Of Mercy fans need not bother to go and see them, but catch ST///LL in action instead! I really need to see these guys in action again. Their next performance will be at the ‘Alive at The Barn! Music Festival’ at The Barn Theatre, Southwick, West Sussex, BN42 4TE at 6:30pm on Saturday 26th July (Tickets and information HERE). In the meantime you can check out their Bandcamp page HERE.
ST///LL:
Andrew Birch – vocals
Chris Carey – bass guitars
Darren Davies – guitar
ST///LL setlist:
‘Empty Room’ (from 2024 ‘Empty Room’ / ‘Shout Out’ single)
‘Darkened Eyes’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘End Of Days’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘Scars’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘Misunderstood’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘She Walks In Shadows’ (from 2023 ‘Stiiill’ album)
‘In The Static’ (a 2025 single)
