Shred Yr Face III feat Espers, Woods, The Cave Singers at The Freebutt, Brighton on 18 November 2009I've been into Espers since a friend alerted me to the genius of their psych-folk. Last year I saw Meg Baird, when she was in the UK for some solo acoustic shows, and so I started looking forward to it as soon as I heard they were coming to Brighton.
When I rang the venue I was told that the bands could come on in any order so to guarantee seeing Espers I should get their early. This was a good thing. Although it turned out Espers were on last, it meant that I got to see the splendid Cave Singers. Never heard of them before but they peddle a very pleasing folky-Americana, and about half the songs have got a great folk stomp thing going.
Nice to see a front man with a generous beard. Beards and check shirts abounded at this gig.
I met a couple of friends at the gig - Martin T and Robin F - and we decided to sit in the comfy seats in the Penthouse bar whilst Woods did their thing. Standing up for three consecutive bands is a tall order for men of our advanced years.
We made sure we got back down to the venue for Espers though.
Here's lovely Meg Baird...
I love Espers' sound but felt the live experience was a bit too sedate. Still, it is a magnficent noise - a Cellist, a couple of acoustic guitars, drums, bass and Greg Weeks with a plethora of effect peddles to get the psychy guitar sounds we love....
All in all a very enjoyable night out. I've since listened to The Caves Singers' latest album and it's a winner. Check them out. Sorry to Woods for missing their set - but you can't have everything.
All my photos are here....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigeyb/sets/7...832453074/show/ 