Drunk Detectives / Interesting Wallpaper / Chandra
Live & Unheard, Lighthouse Poole
There are some nights you know you’ll always remember.
For one final time, Hangover Hill Presents: Live & Unheard comes home to Lighthouse, Poole — the place that has given so many incredible artists a stage, a microphone, a room full of people and, most importantly, a chance to be heard.
Over the years, Live & Unheard has been about so much more than putting bands on a stage. It has been about discovering new music, backing local artists, making new friends, sharing unforgettable moments and creating a little community around something we all love. And now, somehow, it’s time to say goodbye.
For this final Lighthouse show, we were honoured to welcome Chandra, Interesting Wallpaper & Drunk Detectives to the stage, with the incomparable Lord Si Genaro taking the helm and keeping us all in check.
Ex-local Chandra, who has now relocated to Bristol, is handed the honour of opening the show. This was originally planned as a full-band performance, but sadly, not long before the event, his band split up. Rather than let that stop him in his tracks, Chandra decided to carry on regardless and take the solo route. And what a decision that has turned out to be.
His solo performance is bolstered by a video screen synchronised to each song, backing tracks and a synthesizer, but ultimately it is Chandra himself who commands the room. His energy knows no boundaries – he is like a children’s TV presenter after drinking several cans of Red Bull (other energy drinks are available!). The songs are catchy, packed with hooky choruses and an infectious sense of fun. Above all, Chandra is hugely likeable and thoroughly entertaining. There is a genuine honesty to what he does, with songs coming straight from the heart and lyrics that have the ability to move you emotionally while simultaneously moving your feet.
Tracks such as the emotive ‘I’ll Be There’ show a more heartfelt side, while ‘Winners’ is one of those tunes that will be rattling around inside your head for days afterwards. We are even treated to two different versions of it tonight, just in case one earworm wasn’t quite enough! The Live & Unheard crowd clearly love a bit of diversity, and Chandra delivers exactly that – something different, something energetic and, most importantly, something that puts a big smile on your face.
Next up were Southampton’s Interesting Wallpaper, a band who arrive with an armful of influences and four hugely experienced musicians, creating a sound that is as difficult to pigeonhole as their name suggests.
The line-up features Pete Harvey on lead vocals and electric guitar, Leyanne Coombs on vocals, Frenchman Alexandre Parent on bass and Buzz on drums — and no, that’s not Buzz from Home Alone, astronaut Buzz Aldrin or the cartoon character from Toy Story!
The band’s creativity shines through in their song writing, with almost every track bringing its own distinct character. Their music constantly shifts gear, weaving together different styles and influences and somehow making the whole eclectic mix sound completely natural. One moment you’re hit by a wall of guitar and pounding rhythm; the next, a quirky melody or unexpected vocal twist takes the song somewhere entirely different.
The majority of tonight’s set, with a couple of notable exceptions, comes from their latest album Rockpools, released back in January. Righteous Sound immediately grabs you by the collar, an infectious rush of guitars, bass and drums that builds into a gloriously melodic wall of sound. Kaiju, their song about the Japanese titan Godzilla, stomps into view with a wonderfully offbeat flavour, its quirky rhythms and infectious vocals evoking a distinctly B-52’s-esque feel. Then Obvious, the penultimate number, throws another curveball, turning up the punk dial and injecting the set with a sharper, more frantic energy.
At the heart of it all is the interplay between Pete and Leyanne. Their voices bounce beautifully off each other, sometimes blending seamlessly and at other moments creating a wonderfully contrasting vocal texture. Alex’s bass is equally impossible to ignore — deep, inventive and constantly bubbling beneath the surface, adding movement and character rather than simply holding the rhythm together. And behind it all, Buzz attacks the drums with the sort of energy that makes you wonder whether he has secretly been wired directly into the mains. His playing is tight, powerful and occasionally feels like it has been launched into orbit.
What makes Interesting Wallpaper so entertaining is that they refuse to settle into one particular groove. Their songs twist and turn, throwing different influences into the mix while retaining a distinctive personality of their own. There is humour, melody, aggression and sheer musical exuberance packed into the set, with each song bringing another little surprise. Interesting Wallpaper are one of those bands where you never quite know what is coming next — and, when they are this inventive, that unpredictability is a very good thing.
Tonight’s headliners Drunk Detectives are somewhat of a local supergroup that features Mark Carter who can usually be found fronting Johnny Cash tribute Cash Converted (or on a train), Paul Tucker (The Mother Ukers, Moonbeams, Fox and the Owl… amongst various others , Mark Arnold (Loose Chippings, Dumb Poets, The Bowie Experience, The Rheumatics and a few others) along with a fine drummer Tony that has been tempted out of retirement. Hangoverhill’s Matt Black is also sporadically called upon to add his keyboard skills to proceedings. The band name is a nod towards 1970’s TV series The Sweeney and this is displayed with their Regan & Carter backdrop.
Like Interesting Wallpaper the band sound comes from a plethora of influences and the quartet sounds quite unique with their pooled musical ideas set around Mark Carters song writing. They sound like have been locked in a rehearsal room, fed a steady diet of alternative rock, punk and indie and then told to go outside and cause a little trouble.
There is something gloriously unpolished about Drunk Detectives, and I mean that in the very best possible way. They have an infectious energy that simply refuses to sit still, combining chunky, slightly ragged guitars, driving rhythms and hooks that somehow burrow their way into your head and refuse to leave.
With ‘Midlife Crisis’, complete with its delicious country twang, and the wonderfully Dylanesque ‘Loaded Dice’, they demonstrate that beneath the apparent chaos there is some seriously fine song writing. But their pièce de résistance has to be ‘A Week Next Tuesday’, the wonderfully bizarre tale of a chap doing life in prison who remains convinced that his release is just around the corner. It is storytelling with a distinctly Drunk Detectives twist — funny, slightly surreal and completely infectious.
Then there is ‘Thai Bride’, an early highlight that delves into the seedier side of life, driven along by infectious guitar licks, a relentless rhythm and a cracking guitar solo. There is a deliciously chaotic edge to everything they do, with the band clearly having an absolute ball and feeding off the atmosphere in the room.
They don’t appear particularly interested in playing it safe or following some well-worn musical formula. Instead, they throw their influences into the musical blender, give it a very good shake and somehow emerge with something that sounds unmistakably like Drunk Detectives.
After a fine set, the audience aren’t prepared to let them leave just yet and they are called back for an encore. And what better way to finish than with a reprise of ‘Thai Bride’.
After eight years, Live & Unheard has reached its final chapter at Lighthouse, and Drunk Detectives have the honour of being the last band to take their bows in front of this wonderful audience. There is something incredibly poignant about watching that final performance knowing that this stage, which has hosted so many musicians, stories, characters and unforgettable moments, will never quite be the same again.
There have been loud nights, strange nights, brilliant nights, unexpected moments and plenty of memories that will stay with us long after the last note fades away. From the first nervous steps onto the stage to tonight’s final encore, Live & Unheard has always been about one thing — giving original music a place to be heard.
And that could never have happened without the people.
To every band who has played, every person who bought a ticket, every photographer who captured the moments, every sound engineer who made us sound better than we probably deserved, every lighting technician, every usherette, every volunteer, every supporter, every friend — and every complete stranger who simply walked through those doors and gave a local band a chance — thank you.
To Matt, Mel and Si Genaro, and everyone behind the scenes who has poured their time, energy and passion into making this happen, I genuinely cannot thank you enough. And, of course, to that faithful and loyal audience who kept coming back, week after week, month after month, year after year — you are the reason this became what it became.
Live & Unheard was never just a gig. It was a community.
It was a room full of people discovering bands they had never heard before. It was musicians being given a stage, photographers being given something worth capturing, friendships being formed, opportunities being created and memories being made.
Eight years is an incredible achievement.
So tonight, as the final notes disappear into the darkness and the lights eventually come up, there is undoubtedly a huge sense of sadness. But there is also an enormous amount of pride.
To everyone who has been part of the journey, from the very first note to the very last encore — thank you from the bottom of my heart for making Live & Unheard so incredibly special.
This may be the end of Live & Unheard as we know it…
But it isn’t necessarily the end of the story.
Watch this space.
More info coming soon…
Set Lists
Chandra
Boom
I’ll Be There
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) Eurythmics Cover
Winners (Country Version)
Heaven On Earth
Smile (No Fox Gibbon)
Winners
Interesting Wallpaper
Treadmill
Righteous Sound
Rabbit
Kaiju
51 Western
Sleeping Lions
Sunny Side Up
Window
Obvious
Forty Days
Drunk Detectives
Future In The Past
Thai Bride
Mid Life Crisis
Stalking You
Capitalism Will Eat Itself
Unknown Soldier
Mission Girl
Lorraine
Loaded Dice
Week Next Tuesday
Time To Get High
Thai Bride (Reprise)
Videos
Links
https://www.facebook.com/Interestingwallpaper
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570120123078
https://www.facebook.com/ListenToChandra
Article By David Chinery (Chinners)
Photography by Matt Rayner
