Gig: Voices Of Masada 15/5/10

And so somehow in the course of a day I had managed to rehearse Sartre and follow fashionistas around Brick Lane costume shopping for a pencil skirt, and now found myself in the Electrowerkz/Slimelight, a venue that is almost like Fight Club in that if you don't know about it, chances are you really don't know about it.
I'm perching on a cushioned seat, looking warily around this room and for the first time in a long time I am the least gothic person in the building, which is about right. The whole place is done up very... goth, with lighting fixtures that look like a razorblade, a candelabra and a fluorescent tube had an orgy, mirrored walls and a crazy green scribble projection, and the DJ is playing a mix of Gene Loves Jezebel and Specimen. Oh, and there is an unclaimed half-pint of milk sitting on a ledge.
The bands in question were as follows: Nightporter, The Mumbles, Luxury Stranger and Voices Of Masada. I was, for all intents and purposes there to see The Mumbles, although I'd done my research on the other bands playing too. This was Voices Of Masada's last ever UK show.

First band up was Nightporter, who had supplied their own lights, and had enough effects pedals to outfit any self-respecting shoegaze band, leading to a guitar sound that was... well, it was in many different ways. Musically, they're not exactly my do as it does get goth-by-numbers, however they were having fun up there and what audience there was that had shown up for the opening act were dancing away. I suppose that if you imagine Fields Of The Nephilim via Specimen (or vice versa) you've got a half-decent idea. The main gripe here was the sheer amount of technical problems: the backing track was producing evil levels of humming and feedback and more than once they got the songs mixed up. Also, the guitar wasn't working for a while. However, they soldiered on nonetheless and played their set with any shame and self-consciousness left firmly under lock and key at home, so I'll tip my hat where it is due: good on ya, brave men, long may you continue having fun and making people dance.

Second were The Mumbles, and I will admit to probably having a rather biased opinion on them (lovely, lovely people, very good music) so I'll try to remain objective as I can. I suppose that if I was to try and describe their sound in a nutshell, they took the song '1959' by The Sisters Of Mercy in the sense of utilising keyboards/piano-driven melody and deep vocals and made a band out of it. In the process they've carved some interesting and individual facets into that sound. Their stage presence is a little out of the ordinary given that they are two guys and their iPod, but they make the most out of this, and can hold an audience well enough with an understated power in their music and a sense of confidence and unity. Their more minimal sound (keyboard, vocals and backing track) was also a lot easier on the venue's rather beleaguered PA system and so the sound was clearer for their set than most of the others. They're still a young band, but they show promise in their rather unique take on goth music and assured stage presence.

Third were Luxury Stranger, who were the only band of the evening to have a drummer, and so didn't have backing tracks, which made the boozed-up rocker that lives in my head happy as he/she wasn't too keen on the people always fiddling with their gadgetry before each song. The rest of me then promptly smacked him/her over the back of the head and told them to sit quietly in an out-of-the-way synapse.
Anyway, the band... another X via Y combination would have me place them as 'Faith'-era Cure via Motörhead. I have not seen such guitar shapes thrown by goths outside of a 69 Eyes gig, and this is quite a different school of goth. Recorded, their songs are actually very good - I'd enjoyed them and put them as firm second favourites as I have a strong weakness for gothic post-punk type sounds. However someone had decided that the venue's sound system could handle going up to 11 and so their set was drenched in NOISE OF THE HIGHEST ORDER, which fair do's, I would not normally complain about, but it seemed out of place and in such a small room proved to be an uncomfortable volume. The band themselves played on, seemingly oblivious to this. Shame, really, as they seemed like kind of band that if at audible levels could prove good.

As a result, I watched Voices Of Masada's set from a bit further back to give my ears a chance to recuperate without losing out on the show. Unfortunately my being short meant I couldn't see sometimes. As for sound, Voices Of Masada could be closely compared to Rosetta Stone. Their set was very much a bidding farewell to their crowd, with smiles and that little extra bit of show thrown in for good measure. Their cover of 'Cuts You Up' was a poignant moment, and there were some islands of people in their own emotional worlds among the crowd of dancers. 'Shine', their closing song, was majestic in its own low-key manner, and the music and atmosphere meant that its position as the band's favourite was well-deserved, as the set closed with a lift that comes when a song is loved by both band and audience. And as their music presence fades into the goth music afterlife of dry ice and eyeliner, I am left feeling that even if a massive resurgence isn't happening, the goth scene is far from dead.