The sun is blazing as Scruff of The Neck Records put on an all day music event – The Pop-up Summer Festival.
El Gazelle are in good spirits as they take to the stage with an early evening slot. A strong fan-base greets them as they put on a typically passionate show.
They fly into their opening number Weekend like Usain Bolt out of the starting blocks. Singer Paul Wright gives it plenty and is well up for putting on a show this evening.
Lee Morse’s guitar solo is Pete Townshend-esque in its construction and perfect in its execution. The all day drinkers are shaken to their very core but that is not enough for El Gazelle. Bassist Phil Lodge, in his psychedelic-mod shirt addresses the audience: “Come on…its Saturday night…liven up!” and he is right to tell them to do so.
Their second number is the single Beat Goes On. Sixth member Martin Wilkinson plays a trumpet that would not sound out of place in a 60’s-period kitchen-sink drama.
Another enticing guitar solo from Lee, the scouse infected single has Paul Wright shaking his Mick Jagger-style maracas ardently and it is to Wright’s credit that there is far less posturing involved in his movements than there is in Jagger’s.
Wright is that rare breed of front man who manages to hold the audiences attention for all the right reasons and has a knack of instinctively knowing how to connect with an audience. None of his movements are forced. He is who he is.
Next up is fan favourite Love On The Dole holding Rick Hyde’s classic lyric: “John and Paul said ‘Love is all you need’, but I am yet to see a Beatles record that is free.” Aside from the hook-laden chorus the songs outro combines Paul Wright’s Harmonica and Martin Wilkinson’s trumpet together perfectly to create a wonderful cacophony of noise.
As the set moves on, the realization hits that as well as El Gazelle being by far the best band of the day, they are also the best-dressed band of the day. Regardless of the weather, they still manage to carry off the look of a band to which style and identity are of high importance. Desert boots, the correctly cut jeans and the correct haircuts all serve to communicate what El Gazelle are about.
Troubled mind, another Mersey-Beat infected song echoes Captain Beefheart in his Safe As Milk period and holds what can only be described as having a spooky, almost mystical twist, while Now You’re Gone features a great Mexican style trumpet as well as a wonderful Cream-era Clapton wah-wah effect from Lee Morse.
It seems the Mexican feel of the song has a cosmopolitan effect on Paul Wright as he starts speaking in tongues when thanking the audience!: “Gracias! Merci!” He is completely on top of his game and seems to be loving what he is doing.
A cover of Liar, Liar by The Castaways is much more driven than the original as it precedes Time Out and Woman which both help to force home the fact that El Gazelle are a band full of killer tunes.
Count Five’s Freak-Beat classic Psychotic Reaction is El Gazelle’s closing number. A few meatheads in the audience decide to leave along with the people sporting nasty looking baseball caps.
This is surely a good thing and an obvious marker for those with taste against those without. Psychotic Reaction sounds immense. John Gagon’s drum-fills are thrilling along side Phil Lodge’s bass runs which emphasise the fact that Lodge never seems to put a foot wrong.
The song closes with even more psychedelic guitar from Morse and Hyde and following that, the game is up. The response is one of genuine admiration and as the band leave the stage a splendid time has been had by all. We all look forward to the release of their first single.
Beat Goes On is released on Saturday August 3 through Scruff of The Neck Records and is available through iTunes.
A launch night also takes place on Saturday August 3 at The Night and Day Café, Northern Quarter, Manchester.
Image courtesy of Little Red Promotions via YouTube, with thanks.
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