Norwich Waterfront venue on Saturday. Doors open to the capacity 700 fans half an hour late for this sold out gig, because headline band Electric Six have not yet arrived. They missed the slot for a soundcheck, stuck in heavy traffic due to an accident on the way between their Friday night gig in Northampton and Norwich.
As a result, the support act, London artist Luke Duffet aka Enjoyable Listens – tonight joined by a bass player – had his quirky set cut short, but the headline set stuck to the original schedule.
Some may only know this Detroit band for one song, their timeless smash hit, “Gay Bar”, or maybe also their other biggies, “Danger High Voltage” and the last of the three-song encore, “Dance Commander”. But there’s a lot more decent stuff in their back catalogue of 20 studio albums, since their 2003 debut LP “Fire”.
Tonight they trawled many of those albums to deliver 25 songs in their 90 minute high energy and great fun set. The place had a great vibe and the fans were well up for it…
As were the band whose travel stresses seemingly faded away the minute they launched into the opener, the rockin’ title track of their latest (2023) album “Turquoise.
Fronted by main man Dick Valentine [aka Tyler Spencer] suited and booted for the gig, this was a faultless show from a sextet are no slouches as musicians, and as a unit with buckets of chemistry and energy. A relentless partaaayyy on stage and off…
While close to 75,000 flocked to the second night of the Oasis re-union gigs at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, there were 700 people in Norwich who could not give a monkey’s chuff if Lord Lucan was the Manc’ lads’ special guest riding in on Shergar.
This lot probably made almost as much noise as the ‘mad-for-it’ bucket-hatted crowd in Cardiff, and there were hands in the air and raucous sing-alongs most of the night. It was hot and sweaty and bloody brilliant.
Electric Six celebrate 30 years next year since they formed in 1996 in Detroit. This gig is # nine of this 14-date run, with another trip across the pond scheduled for November and December for 16 shows.
On this run they have played Barnsley, Newcastle, Lancaster, Stoke, Leeds, Derby, Lincoln, Northampton and Norwich; with Southend tonight (Sunday 6th July), 8th at London’s 100 Club, 9th in Bath, 10th in Plymouth and closing on 11th in Cardiff. [The Autumn tour dates can be seen at the bottom of the page].
Dick and the boys were all smiles all night, and seemed genuinely appreciative of the fans who filled the room and for the high spirits and energy from the crowd the band could fed on.
All smiles except for the big geezer on guitar and in the baggy suit, Johnny Na$hinal – built like a brick outhouse who spent the night staring scarily with wide eyes, and who looked more like a psychotic bouncer than a member of a famous US rock and roll band.
[I am sure he is a cuddly bloke in his spare time and is kind to animals and gives to charity in reality, and it’s all an act!]
It is hard to pigeonhole this band’s main genre, but if you dig funk, disco, grungy garage, punk, rock, metal, new wave and synth’ stuff, this a band for you.
With a great big tongue firmly in a great big cheek drenched across their lyrics. The title of this one, “Staten Island Ass Squad” is a wee clue as to this lot not taking things too seriously.
We had to wait until song # nine for the big one, the fabulous “Gay Bar” – released in June 2003 as the second single off their debut album “Fire” – and the loudest rendition of the gloriously repetitive chorus, from 700 lairy fans that probably woke the dead in the nearby graveyard. That song then merged into “Nuclear War”.
First of the triple song encore was a very well received cover of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s classic “Murder On The Dance Floor”. “Dance Commander” closed the night in fine style.
Tonight no one was worrying about how to pay the electric bill, trust me these tickets were worth every penny. Grab some for their next UK jaunt in Nov/Dec – and thank me later!
Electric Six Autumn Tour:
NOVEMBER
6 – GREAT YARMOUTH, Hard Rock Hell
7 – SHREWSBURY, Albert’s Shed Bar
8 – HOLMFIRTH, Picturedrome
24 – COTTINGHAM, Civic Hall
25 – YORK, Crescent
26 – MANCHESTER, Club Academy
27 – DUBLIN, Academy
28 – BELFAST, Limelight 1
29 – GLASGOW, Queen Margaret Union
DECEMBER
1 – OXFORD, O2 Academy2 Oxford
2 – LEEDS, O2 Academy Leeds
3 – BIRMINGHAM, O2 Academy2 Birmingham
4 – LIVERPOOL, O2 Academy Liverpool
5 – BRISTOL, O2 Academy Bristol
6 – LONDON, O2 Forum Kentish Town
7 – BRIGHTON, Concorde 2
