It was time for another gig at one of Edinburgh’s smallest and sweatiest venues, The Banshee Labyrinth. And this gig was going to be interesting from the start with two out of three bands only using drums and bass guitar, demonstrating very nicely that you actually don’t really need anything else to make some good music and produce a big pile of noise.
First up tonight was Aberdeen based two-piece [ ] wall [ ], or actually just [ ], but pronounced as wall. Having seen this duo before I knew what to expect: ferociously played drums and lots of heavy bass playing with the use of multiple effect pedals. This band is the closest I’ve ever seen to Lightning Bolt and if you are familiar with Lightning Bolt you know what I’m talking about. If not, educate yourself! Basically they play some impressive drum rhythms and jaw dropping fills combined with some heavy riffing bass guitar work. Oh and apparently they are heavily influenced by tonight’s headliners Beehoover. Among the songs they played was their fantastic cover of Aphex Twin’s ‘Come To Daddy’, which always goes down a treat. Unfortunately the future of [ ] wall [ ] is slightly uncertain with bass player Alistair now living in Glasgow and drummer Chris still living in Aberdeen. I hope they will keep going on, as this is some impressive experimental noise!
Next up was Edinburgh based psychedelic stoner band Lords of Bastard, a “full” band sandwiched in between two drum/bass duos. These guys are creators of spacey fuzz, combined with a brilliant rhythm section (Chris on bass and Tam on drums) and some added warmth in the shape of a classic Rhodes piano. This band has been active for many years and each time I see them they get better and better. Tonight featured a new member in the band on the Rhodes piano. I think her name is Louise and she did an outstanding job, not only in playing the right sounds on the piano without practically not hearing herself on the small stage, but also in getting severe tinnitus by sitting right next to guitarist Mike’s double cabs! Ouch! They played a solid set that consisted mainly of material from the in 2012 released second album Cuddles, but we also got treated to a rather brilliant new song called ‘Whoosh’ (?). If you ever get the chance to see the Lords of Bastard, don’t miss out!
Finally, Beehoover, who came all the way over from Germany, was ready to take over the Banshee Labyrinth. As said, Beehoover plays drums and bass with added vocals. However, Beehoover plays both drums and bass very loud and very well. Ingmar on bass is like a sitting version of Les Claypool (of Primus) mixed with Rob Wright (of Nomeansno). Yes you read that right, Ingmar was sitting on a drum stool balancing his bass guitar on his right leg and somehow still managing to get all the effect pedals pressed on and off at the right time with his bare feet while riffing away on the bass like nothing else. I initially thought he had a reason to sit and play but a quick YouTube search tells me this is basically the way he performs on stage. It makes sense though being a two-piece as it provides the best communication between the two band members. The fact that Ingmar had a spare bass guitar standing right beside him on stage tells me that he’s perhaps no stranger to breaking the occasional string, but tonight there was need. Ingmar’s hands were flying from one end of the neck to the other, playing cords and open notes interchangeably, giving a great demonstration of what can be done on the bass guitar.
Combined with Claus-Peter’s extremely tight drumming it was hard to stand still as Beehoover’s music really has that effect on you. Based on the fact that a bunch of people were dancing uncontrollably towards the end of Beehoover’s set (including the promoter Ewen) meant that either the beer was doing a great job or people just felt the Beehoover vibe just perfectly, but it was probably a combination of the two. Ingmar and Claus-Peter are the nicest guys too, visibly enjoying themselves on stage and they happily returned for a brief encore to finish off the set. Afterwards everybody just smiled and was genuinely happy after a great night of live music and a lot of people. It’s one of the great signs of a successful gig!
