The Lovely Eggs: Live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
The Lovely Eggs/AK/DK/Thick Richard put on for a sold out night at Concorde2 by Dictionary Pudding. Punk, Techno and poetry, we had it all!
The Lovely Eggs – AK/DK – Thick Richard – Dictionary Pudding presents. Concorde 2, Brighton 3 Aug 2021.
The Lovely Eggs
The Lovely Eggs are a two-piece lo-fi psychedelic punk rock band from Lancaster, England. They consist of married couple Holly Ross and David Blackwell. Ross was formerly the lead singer and guitarist in the all-female band Angelica. The band formed in 2006, playing their first ever gig in New York City and then returning to the UK to play nationwide shows. They gained recognition from radio coverage on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6, from DJs such as Marc Riley, Huw Stephens and Steve Lamacq.
The Lovely Eggs: Live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex – Holly
They released their debut album, If You Were Fruit, in June 2009 on Cherryade Records in the UK, and in August on HHBTM Records in the US, and promoted both with a tour of the UK and US. The next release was a Twin Peaks inspired, limited edition Halloween CD. It was released in October 2009, promoted with an exclusive video for Artrocker TV. Following this, the band collaborated on a limited edition cassette release, with an all-female band from Manchester, Hotpants Romance!
The Lovely Eggs: Live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex – David
It had been a while since the guys last played Brighton, and so the demand to see them live resulted in a Sold Out gig at Concorde 2. Lots of fans had happily shelled out for a ticket (No more egg jokes!). Concorde 2 was mega busy early doors as an exciting warm up selection, AK/DK, were ready in the wings!
The Lovely Eggs: The Set.
Ok, dear reader, hands up – I had not actually caught these guys live before when they played Brighton, but have seem them climb venue size on each visit, and tonight it was the turn of Concorde 2 and 600 fans. Good to see that with the passing of time, and a Pandemic they’re selling out the main venues like nobody’s business.The duo took to the stage and Holly took a pre gig crowd photo of us in the crowd on her phone.
The Lovely Eggs: Live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
The Eggs burst from the side stage with a frenzy from the get go with a melter, Stem Carnation. The two are clearly definitely on form from the get go! And this was confirmed by the fans roar as within a couple of minutes we had This Decision. We were treated to song 3 – Witchcraft, an absolutely blistering live performance of the song. If that one didn’t get your pulses racing, well there is no hope! Very short and very sweet. The stage seemed big with just the two of them making up The Lovely Eggs, but the sound was massive. The lighting seemed to have been set on the minimalistic side of things and plenty of smoke and haze.
The Lovely Eggs: Live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
You can definitely feel it, there is absolutely an energy that you can feel in the room tonight. The crowd lapped it up and it seemed to fuel the band. The guys stopped momentarily to open a beer or a cider before continuing. And from time to time they would chat away to us. A great mix of information and banter. Their DIY ethos and their no nonsense attitude make The Lovely Eggs quite unique. I was chatting to a fan about the set list, he was quite excited to see it and the only track he didn’t recognise was 24 Eyes. With various releases around the world, The Lovely Eggs have played hundreds of gigs around the UK, USA and Europe.
The Lovely Eggs: Live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
The set fired along at breakneck speed. I Wanna and with the psych-punk Magic Onion. These guys were generating a powerful raw sound, you have to check to see if indeed there are only two of them. What we had fired into us was a racked up mix of seriously heavy psych, pop, punk and quirkiness. Judging by the crowd and their reactions they have clearly become known for delivering a furious set, and watching the audience its clear to anyone that they provide a joyous live set. Their latest single I Moron, released in July 2021 was up next, Iggy Pop supplied vox inserts on that release.
The Lovely Eggs: Live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Other tunes included in the set were the guitar chugging Wiggy Giggy, Insect Repellent, F**K It, I Like Birds and Digital Accordion. The crowd had opened up with a small mosh pit, all very well behaved and not too intrusive. It was great to see such a wide range in ages in the audience tonight. Safe to say, and state the obvious, everyone was enjoying the lockdown release with The Lovely Eggs. No introduction needed for the band anthem, the melodic opening chords and searing melodic vocals of ‘Fuck It’ from Holly – oh yeah, the song builds and the crowd are bouncing, drinks and dancing bodies are everywhere now! Arms up high and Brighton voices shouting ‘fuck it’. Scarves purchased from the merch desk held aloft!
The Lovely Eggs: Live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
There are no half measures here tonight as the set headed to a close, both Holly and David smiling as they snapped open another drink. Dick Head, Don’t Look At Me and ending with the aforementioned 24 Eyes.
The sound generated threatened to bring down the building. Tonight was a chance for gig goers to get out and celebrate the bands achievements and music. The Lovely Eggs came to Brighton for a party – and they delivered one! Well played.
The Lovely Eggs are on the WWW
GUEST: AK/DK
AK/DK live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
AK/DK
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- AK/DK live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
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- AK/DK live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
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- AK/DK live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
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- AK/DK live photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Click on the images for a larger view.
I seriously enjoyed what these guys did, and I guess were part of the reason why Concorde 2 was so busy early doors. AK/DK, Brighton’s double drum and synth duo Ed & G lifted the C2 roof with a fast paced and exciting set. These guys didn’t mess about, they casually walked onto the stage and delivered what can be described as a sonic tour-de-force. With tracks like Morphology and Shared Particles – what’s not to like! It was thirty minutes of energy-packed-noise, chanting, and pure percussive joy, leaving you slightly breathless as your body attempts to keep up, and yes, these guys leave you wanting more. Damn we enjoyed their set! I want more!
AK/DK are on Facebook – keep in touch with these guys!
Guest: Matt Thick Richard
As I understand the Lovely Eggs like to have a Poet on tour with them. Our ears needed a break after the battering from AK/DK! Out strolled Richard. What a delight he was!
“they told me to leave my cynical attitude at the door, and somebody stole it.“
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- Matt Thick Richard – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
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- Matt Thick Richard – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Click on the images for a larger view.
Thick Richard (real name Clever Dick). He has presented BBC Radio 6 Music’s Beat of the Day, performed on BBC Radio 4, and gigged with Kae Tempest, John Hegley, Arthur Smith, The Fall, Jerry Sadowitz and (sort of) Dr John Cooper Clarke. He co-hosted spoken word franchise Bang Said the Gun’s Manchester events during its run at The Dancehouse Theatre and his recent one-man show, Swear School (a crash course in everything you wanted to know about bad language – with puppets), toured nationally.
This lonely figure strolled out onto the stage to a warm Brighton Welcome. Thick Richard warned us it was going to be loud, fast, and full of swear words. Yep he did just that as he relayed some of his poetic work. It was fast and satirical with life observations and political comment. Brilliant. At times eye wateringly hilarious. I was full of admiration for what he did and to remember all those words and to fire them out at speed! He did pull out a set list. The ink was red, he explained, as was the lighting – so he couldn’t f’ing read it! Bravo Matt Thick Richard. It was a real thrill to talk to you after your set and hear how blown away you were with the Brighton crowd. I hope we get a chance to see you perform again soon.
He has some paperbacks of his work available (recommended) and you can keep up to date with Thick Richard on Facebook – here
Dictionary Pudding: Well done to Dictionary Pudding, they hosted the event. They are a live music promoter, Brighton-based, national promotions and European bookings. It was well put together and everything was well organised. Thank you guys! Dictionary Pudding are on the web – check them out here. They will always put on a great show and deliver a little extra.
Thanks also to Sonic PR.
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