STOP PRESS - The Joy Formidable added to Basement Club 22/5 w/Fryars, Official Secrets Act - get tix here!
By: Thomas Hannan
The room was full of a wide array of talented folks when Rockfeedback last sat down in Jeremy Warmsley's living room in North London to sip wine, munch on a samosa and witness another recording of his cult smash, online telly hit Welcome to our TV Show. We were also lucky in that most of the assembled throng (Jeremy himself, Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit) were mates of ours. But personally unknown to us other than through a slew of excited press releases and the giddy chatter of our most clued up pals, it was to be a young gentleman called FRYARS (pictured below) who would indulge in a bit of show-stealing.
'Twas only himself, a retiring female accomplice and a piano about to make a noise - the setting didn't look as if it were about to birth anything particularly spectacular, yet as it turned out, that's exactly what happened. It's been months now, and we can still remember how every single one of those songs went. Such is the reason for our delight that he'll perform in a similarly stripped back guise for the next instalment in our unstoppable Basement Club series at the Buffalo Bar in Islington, on Thursday May 22nd 2008. Heres's his MYSPACE.
Into an equally thrilling supporting roll for the night step OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT (pictured above), a band so fine Rockfeedback TV couldn't help but feature them on our recent documentary on the Camden Crawl, where this frantically fervoursome foursome recalled all the best bits of Blur, XTC and Wire in a fashion we wish more bands had the requisite testicles to attempt. Or, as Jim Carroll put it in his Rockfeedback review of the show, "think Television's jerkiness coupled with a dash of Talking Heads; all rounded off with a hint of Adam and the Ants tribalism - yet with enough a la mode indie sensibilities to still feel contemporary." The topics dealt with are refreshingly weighty, the delivery alarmingly accessible - it promises to be a special one, this. MYSPACE.
**STOP PRESS** - Just added to the bill, THE JOY FORMIDABLE are Ritzy, Rhydian and Justin, a three piece who make a sultry, sexy but delightfully friendly indie noise reminiscent of all the nights you've forgotten but wish you hadn't. Like St. Etienne pondering why they don't sound more like Elastica, the video to the song 'Austere' is both the rudest and most, well, touching promo for a song we've ever seen (check it HERE), and what's more, Harry Hill has taken to wearing their badges on TV Burp - a seal of approval if ever there was one. Catch them at the Latitude Festival in the summer - actually, don't. Just come see them at the Basement Club. MYSPACE.
But, yeah, whatever, like, Rockfeedback - the real question is who the hell is DJing, right!? Well, there'll be the RFB regulars (with rumours abounding of the homecoming of the classic Hannan / Molloy pairing made famous between '04 and '06 - happy times), along with the return of the hottest DJ twosome in London, BIGDJS. Rumour has it if you maintain eye contact with them for too long, you fall in love.
Doors open at 8pm and close at 2am. Entry is £6.00, with tickets needing to be reserved by emailing thebasement@rockfeedback.com and asking nicely. The venue, as ever for these nights, is the Buffalo Bar on Highbury Corner in Islington, North London, right next door to Highbury and Islington Tube station and easily accessible on any bus serving Upper Street or the Holloway Road.