Never before had I gone to the Cumberland Arms in Newcastle, but I know that from now on I will become a regular at this absolutely wonderful venue. It’s a little pub set in the rough wilderness that is Byker (of grove fame) and it’s a lovely place. High ceilings, wood panelled walls, no arcade games and traditional ales- this was my kind of pub and they played my kind of bands. I was a happy bunny!
I went there to see HERMAN DÜNE, a Swedish anti-rock trio who were favourites of the late John Peel. Supporting them were three bands. The first was a local guy called John Egdell- one man, one electric guitar and some very poetic melodies.
My only complaint would be that unfortunately he didn’t play for long enough- he only did about four songs- but this was because MISTY’S BIG ADVENTURE were up next, and my what a band! This group come from Birmingham and were stark raving bonkers crazy.
Imagine a band with seven members- three girls and four boys crammed onto a tiny stage with a whole assortment of instruments playing a mixture of jazz, funk, pop and electro with lots of shouting over the top. Then picture a man dressed in a bright red costume covered in sticky-out blue hands- complete with head-dress dancing madly around at the front in time to the music.
Finally complete this image by inserting strange and wonderful songs with lyrics all about moving mountains with spoons, having two brains and disliking disco. This band was super fun- they didn’t take themselves seriously and didn’t expect anyone else to either.
It was great- but totally different to what we encountered next.
DIANE CLUCK is a small, dainty woman from New York and currently touring with Herman Düne around Europe. She has an absolutely fantastic voice which reminded me slightly of the lead singer of the Cranberries, powerful yet tuneful with a just a light hint of sadness. Her lyrics were simple yet heartfelt and they were accompanied by an acoustic guitar. I didn’t really think that the guitar playing fitted in with Diane’s voice- it was quite discordant and also slightly aggressive- contrasting with her beautiful voice; but when talking to other people about it I found that I was in the minority with this view.
|
Finally after eager anticipation HERMAN DÜNE ambled on stage looking like out of work hillbilly truck driving types from the 70’s, complete with bushy beards, NHS specs and retro t-shirts.
The band consists of two brothers, Andre and David and a drummer, Neman. Standing on a stage that didn’t seem big enough to hold all of their equipment, and clutching not quite full sized guitars, I was initially apprehensive about what this band would be like. My fears were swept to one side though when they started playing bare and uncomplicated folk tunes which reminded me slightly of Belle and Sebastian or Beth Orton.
The band don’t use a bass guitar, but their music sounded complete without one and their lyrics were hypnotic, tugging at heart-strings simple with the singing duties being switched between the two brothers.
They played for about an hour and a half and every song was greeted by cheers and warm applause from (a slightly over-eager) audience made up mostly of students. Herman Dune were fantastic and definitely worth all the praise lavished on them through the years by the underground indie press and DJ’s such as John Peel.
It was a brilliant and totally memorable evening, and I left vowing to get all I could of Herman Dune’s back catalogue - or at the very least find somewhere where I too could get a costume like the crazy dancing man in Misty’s Big Adventure.
|
