poppedmusic

The Mysterines

Jimmys, Liverpool, 7th December 2019

Words: Elena Katrina
Photos: Fi Carroll

I have been waiting for this gig with some anticipation. It’s not like I haven’t had my fill of this band for a while now. In fact I’ve seen them 6 times now this year and possibly there might have been one or two festival appearances that I’ve forgotten (shocking, I know). But this is their biggest show and also their own show and I just knew that something was brewing for it to be something special and I wasn’t wrong.

Setting the scene for the evening was local band The Merchants, who, if you ask me, do a really good job of being a band from Liverpool without sounding too much like a band from Liverpool. There’s the twang of vocal but they’re doing something different to not sound like the band sof the ear in which their sound is primarily based and I very munch enjoyed this. They have a 90s feel but don’t sound like The Las or indeed like Cast. In fact they have more of a sound that made me think of Verve or even mid 90s The Charlatans. The singer informed us this was their first year as a band and I could probably have guessed that – they haven’t quite got their live performance down yet. They play well but they don’t quite look like a band yet – there was very little interaction betwee them on stage and I often feel that’s something that comes with time and with confidence. Vocally I was really engaged, gorgeous gruff tones with power behind them. I think it’s a vocal I’d learn to instantly recognise and this is a massive plus point for any band.

Next up was Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard. A band who have got a lot of buzz buzz buzz around them and now that I have seen them I can completely uderstand why. They played this show as if it was their own headline show. They had their own fans in the crowd too that was for sure. In fact, when they walked on stage one very such fan (who had probably had too much drink) was stood centre stage, as if he were in the band. The band looked a bit bemused but greeted him as they treid to start their set and tried to remove him. In the end he had to be removed from the gig because he fancied himself up there on the stage just a little too much. Once he’d gone I could concentrate properly on Buzard Buzzard Buzzard and the first things that came to mind was that I could see that the younger people (of the very mixed crowd) were really into them while some of the older generations seemed to enjoy but had a look on their faces that sggested they’d seen this all before. They’d not be too wrong. While I never saw Queen I have seen The Rolling Stones and well, this was a bit of a take on the two combined – an interesting combination but a style of sounds and performance that has been done before. It got to the point where watching them started to irk me a little. Overall though what a show – I felt like they gave absolutley everything to it and I forgot for a while that it wasn’t their headline show. Now that says something.

The Mysterines. WHAT. A SHOW. The end.  – I feel like that would be more impactful than all the shite I’m about to say and could really save you the time of reading but that’s not really how we do things around here. And I do love to waffle….  I’ve seen this band play support slots and festival slots this year and there’s been a slight difference sometimes in their performance or in how I’ve percieved it at least. It’s not just been me that’s spotted it either. Various support slots have seemed a little less grizy and a little more shiny  – I can understand this, to some degree – not your show, trying to win over new fans. Then again, win the fans who love you for you… like the show at The Great Escape where it was raw and impactful. This headline show was more like that. An energy and an excitement, maybe safty in front of familiar faces. But this was bigger than a famililar faces home gig. This was raw, exciting, this had band members in the crowd, on top of the crowd and the crowd on the stage. This was gritty and real and lyrics were spat and shouted away from the mic. This is how I see The Mysterines – full of passion and angst, not a shiny radio 1 band trying to fit in. Never fit in, stay true to your sound, to your lyrics which can be as devicive as they are brilliant.

New tracks are sounding on point, with a flavour of The Mysterines without ever sounding samey – something I saw that they were accused of recently (and that person is so very wrong). I’m excieted now more than ever as how the live shows will progress and how the album is going to sound. I’ve seen The Mysterines 6 times this year and this was by far my favourite one. Next year is going to go off! Don’t miss out.