– THE KINGS ARMS, SALFORD –
Well there’s tension in the air. Something of a first is happening to me tonight, I’ve bagsied the chance to see one of my musical heroes. He maybe an unlikely candidate for many, but Euros Childs was lead singer in one of my favourite bands, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. Let me fill you in. You pronounce his name not like your holiday spends, but “Airos” instead. And as for one of the greatest, underrated bands Gorky’s hit my radar in the barmy summer of ’95. Us indie kids got spoilt rotten with a breakthrough of foppish haired kids making splashes in the top 40. Amongst the ripples brought the edgier, riskier and downright weirder lot through. Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci hovered somewhere on the rock-folk-psychedelica dial. Have a listen to Bwyd Time, it’s completely original compared to what everyone else was doing.
It’s with this level of old affection I feel nervous about tonight. Euros went solo in 2005 and he’s released a steady flow of 5 albums. BBC Radio 6 Music champion him, but whenever I hear a single on there I get that dreaded thought “please don’t be doing a Belle and Sebastian.” (You know when someone does something really great and then it’s never quite matched or reinvented since.)
We get into the Salford’s favourite local The Kings Arms early enough to catch the first of two supports. There’s less than 40 of us in the upstairs room and the first line of music to fill the air is brave and huge sounding. Ok trying to put this into words is clumsy, but basically Adam Strearns displays virtuoso style piano playing. It’s bonkers and unexpected but absolutely brilliant. He finishes and we do that annoying audience thing of clapping reverently while working out what just hit us. I genuinely want to shout ‘That was AMAZING!’ but don’t. I’m doing it here for you now Adam. He’s holding our attention throughout and performs deliciously wistful and well crafted songs with lots of twists and playfulness. Adam looks every part the comfortable solo performer even though there’s a gap between what he’s giving us and the audience warming up.
The Wellgreen are on next and take us on a musical trip to a bygone era. Both supports are in Euros’ backing band and the fit of their individual sounds blend really well together. The Wellgreen are a duo who have a warm fuzzy retro sound. My on the ball gig partner Jane, cited the 60s garage band sound down to vocal styling. Both the Glaswegian lads have a really nice harmonising thing going on.
Euros comes on stage and now the room is packed. He’s got a strong male following which is an interesting one. His current style is folky and quite romantic. Songs like ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘Always Thinking Of Her’ are quite gentle and because of his gorgeous accent have almost a lullaby quality to them. I’m not versed with all the song names, but we’re in that part of the gig where the melodic folk set is in full swing. It’s something he’s very comfortable with and creates a warmth in the room, but it also holds the potential ‘Belle and Sebastian’ moment.
The folksy calm is intruded by a 30 second rendition of ‘Shithausen,’ something rolled out earlier on Mark Riley’s show. It’s erratic and shakes the audience up. He’s got a wide musical vocabulary and it’s good to see him throw in an unpredictable moment of staccatoey piano playing. We’re seeing more of the band playing well and with more energy together. What happens next is a stroke of boldness and ushering in of a much more psychedelic mood. Euros heads to stage right and switches on some sort of 70s contraption that plays 3 loud, jarring notes in succession. My honest reaction – uh oh we’re headed into weird avenue here. To the contrary he gets in tune with the machine and bit by bit, piano, guitar and bass, everyone does their magic to layer up the sound. The results are utterly mesmerising. The venue had been over boasting its capacity with a rather showy green laser. The dry ice and the light show couldn’t have fitted more perfectly for this moment of Euros’ hypnotic chant, ‘The first time I saw you’ with 3 robotic chords. It lasts for ages and is ace.
If this is your first introduction to the world of Euros Childs, go discover some gems of this hard working song maker. If you’ve just listened to his music at home, go and experience it. And if like me you’re a sentimental Gorky’s fan, go see him to get re-acquainted and reminded of why you first fell in love with this unique talent.
I'm an indie kid at heart, with a soft spot for thoughtful electronica and a guilty love of pure pop. A break up in the early noughties with a foppish haired 'all about the guitars' boy caused my musical path to diverge out towards Mr Scruff, Ministry of Sound and dance pleasures beyond. Highlights from this year's musical calendar include Sounds From the Other City, Badly Drawn Boy at the Ten album launch, Bjork at MI and when Elbow came home.I design and illustrate so I'm continually perfecting the ultimate work soundtrack to get ideas going: daytime People I'd still like to see: Imogen Heap, Jason Mraz, Brett Anderson and Ghostpoet.Follow me on Twiiter - http://twitter.com/#!/rachaelkearney
