This was my first time at Arch 1, described as an intimate arts and nightlife space, with (it said here) a capacity of 70 people. It was certainly intimate. I expected you could comfortably fit 70 people in there if half the space hadn’t been taken up with the stage. This was going to be a cosy evening!
There was something special about a gig in a tiny venue, where you were right up there with the band and properly immersed in the event. This was Halloween, and we had been promised a “world famous” costume competition. With a collection of fantastic costumes, including a pirate, possibly a Dalek, some kind of Buddhist monk and (it was claimed) Andy Burnham among the almost certainly exactly 70 people there, I was thinking that my fake scar and dribble of blood might not win, but it was going to be a fun evening!
First up were Cuckoo Corner. I won no prizes for (correctly) guessing that these were from Southend. They were also the first band to succumb to a scourge of illness running through the evening’s performers, with their lead guitarist not making it on the night. They nevertheless managed a couple of worthy costumes, with the singer in a Traitors cloak (did they even sell these?) and a kind of creepy bear-chainsaw-massacre character on bass.
And they played some cool tunes, with a blend of fresh, guitar-driven indie rock which could have come from any corner of Britain in the last 60 years. They sang songs about life, I imagined mainly life in Southend, with a slightly haunting vocal that made you sit up (well, stand up straight in this venue) and pay attention. A very promising start to the evening, despite the missing guitarist.
Next to appear were my old mates Johnny Moses and the Electric Motherfuckers. Even if they hadn’t been my old mates, with a name like that I was going to be nice to them. Fortunately, given that there were only three of them, they hadn’t got the sick bug this evening and they all turned up..
I had seen them three times lately, and I wasn’t about to get tired of hearing their brand of tight, highly strung rock ‘n’ roll. In fact, a friend of mine at the gig remarked that Johnny’s hands moved so fast over his guitar that you actually couldn’t see them. They played most of their excellent album, I’m Electric, and managed to sneak their version of Babylon’s Burning in there for good measure.
They were really, really good, and I would happily keep catching them whenever they played. If you hadn’t come across them yet, they are well worth seeking out.
Just before the last band, we had the costume competition. I apologise for not getting any decent photos of it. I tried, but when you were no more than a foot from the competitors it got tricky. The guy dressed as a monk (*) won. Well, it looked like he was dressed as a monk. You just never knew these days. (I have since been advised that he was in fact beloved children’s character Avatar Aang.. I really am getting too old for all this…)
And so to Kneeslide. This group of young local lads seemed to have brought with them at least 70 people. That’s right – apart from the landlord behind the bar, everyone was a Kneeslide fan. It was just one big party from start to finish.
Although the whole band had turned up, illness did strike. I had it on good authority that two of them managed to throw up during the course of their set, although fortunately they were very discreet about it. And even more fortunately, they shrugged off their illnesses to perform a raucous set of their style of “high energy indie sleaze”, including some slightly shady-sounding songs like Scooby, Keanu Reeves and Shrooms, as well as their upcoming single, Wrong Un.
Certainly they had plenty of energy; sleaze was more difficult to determine given the range of costumes in the audience. But one thing was for certain: the audience absolutely loved it. A brilliant way to round off the evening, and a band worth keeping an eye out for at their next gig, this side of Christmas.
So maybe not quite as spooky a Halloween as some, but absolutely a very, very fun evening. Loved it!
Kneeslide: Instagram
Johnny Moses and the Electric Motherfuckers: Instagram
Cuckoo Corner: Instagram
Words / photos by grillyx