The TUTS
The Tuts are an indie punk “three-tone” trio from West London. Live they pack a punch and are noted for their impassioned songs about sexism, feminism and everyday life-isms. In 2014 Billy Bragg invited The Tuts to play his LeftField stage at Glastonbury. The effervescent appeal of Nadia’s irreverent stage persona and, as Billy himself called it, the ‘fabulous cacophony’ these three musicians conjure up every time they play makes for an unforgettable live experience.
The Tuts’ music owes something to the Libertine’s brash, devil-may-care aesthetic but they are not fashionable, and hopefully never will be. This is not beautifully crafted gloss for the latest hipster market – the tunes are too good for that. Their timeless three and four chord rants sung out in authentic working class accents carry the X-Ray Spex and 70s New Wave mantle onwards. And they do it in style.
The TUTS: The Band.
The TUTS: Nadia
The TUTS: Nadia. Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Nadia leads the way with vocal duties and those guitar chords mentioned earlier. She is always lively, on point and delivers a searing vocal performance.
The TUTS: Harriet
The TUTS: Harriet. Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Harriet – provides a top notch bass support, working hard with Bev to deliver the support to the songs. She also takes on some of the vocal duties and with Nadia they provide the audience with an exciting visual aspect, along with the unique sound of a TUTS performance.
The TUTS: Beverley
The TUTS: Beverly. Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Beverley – Bev plays those drums like there is no tomorrow and throws in some pretty fine vocal work into The Tuts mix. Make no mistake Bev can supply the kick ass Tuts sound from that kit of hers.
I have seen The Tuts a few times now, they have supported The Rezillos on a few gigs in Brighton and London. We met up for a photo shoot in Brighton back in 2017 and we had a great night and an impromptu photo shoot for Knock Down The Tory Towers tour.
The TUTS: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
The TUTS: The Set.
As I say, have seen the TUTS a few times now and it was good to see them performing on a large stage, with a big sound system behind them and some decent lighting. They looked great up there! They were guest for The Specials on their encore tour. They took to the stage, 1,2,3,4 and straight into one of my favourite TUTS tracks ( I have a few!) “Let Go Of The Past”. This song is just great on the album “Update Your Brain”, but live it just has that edgier feel and with Nadia hitting those chords and riffs, Harriet chugging in with the complex bass lines, and Bev kicking in with hi-hat and bass drums producing a wall to wall sound. A brilliant start to the set.
The drums thumped, Nadia and Harriet raised their arms told us to join in “TUT TUT TUT” was up next. Brilliant live and a superbly delivered rap at 100mph from Nadia, the bass and drums come back in as Nadia fires those chords up while strutting her stuff. Brilliant. Great track.
It’s a tough job to discover a band like The Tuts, but, when you find one they stick! They are politically engaged “we are a political band” Nadia told us and with that in mind they can write top tunes with killer lyrics and it all works and comes together. And that’s just part of the reason the Tuts deserve the praise they get, as “We do everything ourselves” as Nadia informed us. The Tuts do a great job getting themselves out there with the album, a pledge campaign that reached its target in a week, and all the social media and videos they oversee and create. Nadia gave the album a good plug along with a new range of T’s. You cannot help but like this band and brand.
The Tuts had been asking for a “cover” to do on the tour, last time it was a ramped up version of The Spice Girls “Wannabe”, this time suggestions were asked for bearing in mind who they were touring with. The song they chose, dedicated tonight to the recently departed legendary figure of Ranking Roger from The Beat, was ‘Stand Down Margaret’ . The crowd was a little sparse as the guys started playing tonight, but after a few songs the numbers of those watching had swelled, and this song went down well with the predominantly Two Tone fan based crowd.
The TUTS: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Another track from their debut album was up next ‘Dump Your Boyfriend’ and was again dedicated to anyone unfortunate enough to have been involved with a bad relationship. ‘Give Us Something Worth Voting For’, is a strong political song and a perfect fit in today’s political climate. Good to hear 1982 again performed live.
Nadia did seem to have some sound issues and at one point seemed to get her hair snagged, but the band carried it off with professionalism with Bev and Harriet providing an ongoing riff and Harriet telling us about how they landed the guest/support slot.
The TUTS: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
A short, 30 minute set from The Tuts seemed to impress everybody, and rightly so. Sadly I didn’t get a chance to say hello this time around.
Well played The Tuts. The set closed with Back Up and a crescendo of guitars, bass and drums as Nadine kicked over the mic stand. What a way to finish a set.
The TUTS: A video.
A small section from The Tuts in Brighton at The Dome.
You can find The Tuts on the WWW here
The Tuts are on Facebook – here
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