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EMF/Jesus Jones/Echobelly, The Ritz. 25th October 2024

I often play down the nostalgia premise with older returning bands, but there’s no denying that with tonight’s gig, I can smell the 90s! This is a weird line up too. Maybe Jesus Jones and EMF make sense together, but Echobelly‽


It’s Sonya and Co. that kick us off in The Ritz. First name terms as I shared some warm beer back stage at the Hop & Grape with the band many years ago. I doubt the band will recall that, but it sticks in my memory as one of the most un rock n roll rooms I’ve ever been in, not the bands fault I should add. Back stage is never as glam as you think it is, you should see back stage at The Ritz!! Anyway, how do Echobelly sound 30 years (thirty years!) on? Well the voice is still there and the guitars are solid. It turns out I don’t know much Echobelly though. ‘Great Things’ three songs in settles a shaky start. I know this and so does the crowd. Sonya seems to grow in confidence with it too, ditching the mic stand and getting the crowd in on the chorus. I quite like the next one too, the voice soars and they’re starting to look like they’re having fun. It can’t be easy being on first, but it’s far from empty, everyone’s made the effort which is good to see. “Who’s drunk?” Sonya ask, I’m sorry but it’s still only 7 o’clock so it’s met with silence. ‘Fear of Flying’ sounds pretty great to be honest and I’m really getting into it. The lounge lizard riffs break into full on guitar hero stuff. My hopes weren’t high to start, but they’re bloody good and the rhythm section have great hair. ‘If The Dogs Don’t Get You, My Sisters Will’ is heavy on the blues licks and all the better for it. I never thought of them as this sound, but it’s good. Not ground breaking, but it gets the room nodding happily and then bouncing around too with ‘King of the Kerb’. This is the one everyone knows and it’s pretty joyous. It would be good way to close, but they do that with ‘Dark Therapy’ which although less poppy, it’s big expensive guitars do sound pretty epic. It’s a decent set. If you’re a fan, you’ll want to grab a ticket for their headline tour.


Now for something completely different. I had a thing for Jesus Jones and ‘Move Mountains’ that they lead with still sounds good. Solid indie banger with police sound effects and the keyboard going head to head with the guitars. I’ll be honest though, a lot of the electronic elements get lost in the mix. Half of ‘Zeros and Ones’ is missing, it’s all bass and drums. Not often a bad thing, but it is for a sound like theirs. The lead vocals need turning up too. Mike has a thinner sort of delivery. He sounds great on record, but the sound desk aren’t doing him any favours live. There’s some new stuff that sounds alright, it sounds like Jesus Jones, but it’s the songs everyone knows like ‘Never Enough’ that gets the room going. That said there are some hardcore fans dancing to every song, making the spring loaded floor do its thing and getting everyone else moving by proxy. The lad on keyboards is mad as a box of frogs, he’s everywhere! In fact they’re all pretty animated, especially on ‘International Bright Young Thing’. This too suffers though with no top end. Of the three sets, this is the one I was looking forward to most and my expectations were maybe too high. ‘The Devil You Know’ though is brilliant, even with the bassist cleaning up a spillage mid song. We’re in the sweet spot here with ‘Right Here, Right Now’ and ‘What Would You Know?’ following. The heat cranking up as the full on dad dancing breaks out all around. I’m surprised how many songs I know, but they’re packing in the favourites. ‘Real Real Real’ sets up ‘Who? Where? Why?’. The mix now sorted just as they’re hitting high gear. They put in a shift and sound really good. Closing with ‘Info Freako’ they easily meet those expectations I imposed, even if the dick that’s been filming half their set really pissed me off. I’m gonna start shaming these pricks.


That’s gonna be hard to follow. I know sod all about EMF and only one song. Yes, that one. They bounce on stage looking like a load of dads dressed up like millennials at a day festival and kick off with ‘The Day Tha Music Fied’ and you know what… it’s not bad. I recognise ‘I Believe’ and I’m quite taken with James’ shirt with ‘sensible raver’ stenciled on it. They’re not exactly my thing, but they are fun and giving their all. “We don’t get out of the house much” James declares. They’re a likeable bunch. Fair play to them. They too debut some new stuff, although to be fair it’s all largely new to me and they lose me. Mid set I’m thinking to myself how much James’ voice reminds me of Jim Bob from Carter USM. I feel obliged to say although I’m not the only one nonplused, the crowd are into it. Half way in we get a weird mega mix. Pump up the Jam mixed with Chime is fun, add some Dominator in and then Breathe and I’ll admit I’m briefly enjoying it. They’re not their songs though and did we really need to hear a snippet of Info Freako again? By the time they get to Born Slippy it’s wearing thin. They play some of their own stuff, then it’s back to covers with a full run through ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’. It’s not good I’m afraid. We finally get to ‘Unbelievable’ and it’s just about worth the wait. Say what you like about EMF, but it’s a genuine classic of the era. They should finish there, but instead bludgeon another cover, this time a weird grebo/thrash mauling of ‘I’m a Believer’. Still not done, they close with ‘Inside’ but they’ve lost the room. They do pull it back though for the final bars. Calling us “The greatest city on the planet” will help. It’s a bizarre set. Made perhaps even weirder when they come back on stage for an encore and don’t play one. There’s just some heartfelt thanks and although I don’t really like them musically, they come across as humble and thankful to be doing this again. I really can’t knock that. I got in tonight for pretty much free too, so can’t really complain with two decent sets and a bit of a breather at the end. It gave me time to write this, which I suspect EMF won’t care for, but hey if you like their stuff, they seem like nice lads. They’ve got a new record coming, so no doubt they’ll be on tour if you fancy it. I’ll probably give that a miss though.


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