Enjoyable Listens/Powdered Cows
Bear Cave, Bournemouth
When great minds come together, brilliant things happen. Tonight at The Bear Cave in Bournemouth, Ski Daddle from Shindig Promotions has joined forces with Pier Journal director Laura Williams to put on a rather special gig featuring Abbingdon on Thames resident Luke Duffett’s Enjoyable Listens and local band Powdered Cows.
For a Thursday night, people are out in force in impressive numbers and, as the first act is introduced, the downstairs basement venue is already packed.
Powdered Cows is the brainchild of off-the-wall musical experimenter Martin Roberts, whose band has undergone several metamorphoses over the years. Tonight sees the band performing tracks from their OMA-nominated album Lost Pyx On Space Mountain. The band comprises Martin on vocals, bass, percussion and keyboards, alongside James Worrall on drums.
With heavy reverb on the vocals and atmospheric synth sounds, the duo deliver a host of immersive tracks. From the darkness of Rabbit to the religious undertones of Thanks For Coming Back, the appropriately titled Weird Out takes you deep into Martin’s world on a night out in Bournemouth. The music’s psychedelic and eclectic nature is certainly not lost on the audience, who show plenty of appreciation throughout the set.
After a quick and efficient changeover by Bear Cave regular sound engineer Nick, the three-piece band Enjoyable Listens takes to the stage. Alongside lead vocalist Luke Duffett are Jimbo Savage on bass and Sadbh on backing vocals, flute, recorder and laptop.
With the press of the space bar, they are off.
Charismatic Luke is immediately the focal point, blending elements of Jarvis Cocker, Elvis Presley, Samuel T. Herring, Nick Cave and a healthy helping of Saturday Night Live-style satire into a uniquely entertaining performance. Early tracks such as Arbour of Dreams and Tear Up The Picture of My Kids set the tone with wondrous lyrics and distinctly original sounds.
Luke’s focus is always on the audience. He stares intently at each person, seemingly trying to read our thoughts while singing directly to us. His facial expressions and unpredictable movements are hilarious, making him impossible to look away from — especially in contrast to Jimbo, who barely moves apart from his fingers on the bass guitar.
The bright and breezy Summer Hit feels perfectly suited to a town like Bournemouth, while Drown The Reef begins with a somewhat random conversation about Luke’s father-in-law, Phillip Haig.
After a one-song encore, the laptop kicks into the karaoke backing track for Suspicious Minds. Luke leaps over the barrier and joyfully sings among the crowd, with the entire audience joining in.
A fittingly chaotic and memorable end to a thoroughly entertaining evening.
Videos
Links
https://www.facebook.com/enjoyablelistens
https://www.facebook.com/powderedcowsmusic
Article By David Chinery (Chinners)
