Henry’s Funeral Shoe return to the live circuit, with Heavy Flames and Next Day Shakes joining them for the ride.
It’s been a few months since we visited Jacs in Aberdare. Sat in a back street, next to the police station, it has slowly but surely built itself a reputation for being the best live music venue in the Cynon Valley. There aren’t many venues in the rest of the South Wales Valleys that can compare with it.
The venue itself has had no expense spared in terms of getting the sound and lighting right, and they have not been afraid to change things, meaning the bar has moved a few times before settling on the best place, at the back. The staff are friendly and helpful, and they make sure there’s enough bodies behind the bar to minimise queues.
They even tried running their own radio station for a while, and we spent many happy hours in the shed out the back broadcasting the Peppermint Iguana Radio Show live to the world. It didn’t last, but I think the fact that they gave it a go was a sign of their willingness to support the local scene and to try to do things differently.
They have always aimed big in terms of the bands they have put on. The Dub Pistols, Space and Electric Six are just a few of the names that have appeared on their stage.
With venues across the country shutting on a regular basis, Jacs has weathered the storm reasonably well. Even lockdown did not stop them, they hosted gigs that were broadcast live on the net. I think persistence has been key. Not afraid to take a punt, the successful gigs have made the less successful gigs worthwhile.
Yes, they do have a lot of tribute acts, but that seems to be what a lot of people want these days. But they make a point of having original music on a Friday night – or even a Sunday afternoon, which made no sense to me. Until I went to see Steve Ignorant as my Sunday dinner was still going down. It’s actually a brilliant idea. See what I mean about innovation and doing things differently?
As I scan the posters in the toilets I see posters for 999, Bad Manners and Ed Tenpole Tudor coming up. There’s a Mod and Ska weekend coming up, which wouldn’t normally appeal to me, but Sharp Class* are playing. *Where’s my diary?
We arrive early, because there’s three great bands on the bill. But even though we are early the number of free seats is limited. We get plotted up to the side of the stage before mingling with old faces.
There’s been something in the water in the Cynon Valley for a good few years now. For as long as I have been familiar with the area, there has always been a seam of talented and creative musicians to tap into. Many of them are close mates and swap and change which band they are in.
Next Day Shakes, in their own words, are “a four piece rock band with big riffs, driving drums and bluesy rock vocal”. And their own words are pretty spot on to be honest. Being first on is always a big ask, but there’s a healthy early turn out to catch them and they even manage to get a few up dancing. After their set my glamourous assistant heads over to the merch table to acquire their three track EP.
By the time Heavy Flames hit the stage, it is standing room only and the beer has started to kick in, so the dancefloor is starting to wobble.
In Heavy Flames’ own words; “Born in a shed made of yesterday’s forgotten promises, Heavy Flames were beset on all sides by persistent wolves until the fateful day they discovered an ancient tome printed on druid skin that told the tale of the all conquering pentatonic scale. Since that day, no wolf has been able to sleep easy.” That doesn’t really tell us much about what they sound like, but it does tell me I like the way they think. In reality they are, erm.. a six piece rock band with big riffs, driving drums and bluesy rock vocal. And harmonica. I love a bit of harmonica, it adds just that little extra bit of bluesy vibe to the sound.
While we sit on the sidelines with all the other old heads that have been around the block, there’s quite a few youngsters getting energetic and throwing shapes on the dancefloor. Megan’s son is with us, this is his first ever gig, This is most definitely not the sort of stuff he has on his Spotify play list, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see he is grooving to the beat. (I cant believe I just wrote ‘grooving to the fucking beat’).
The fact that global success has not come knocking for Henry’s Funeral Shoe says more about the music industry than it does The Shoe. They have flirted around the outskirts of mega-stardom though. Marshall Amps have used their music in adverts, although as guitarist Aled often points out, they can’t afford to actually use Marshall Amps themselves. Charlie Sheen once name checked them saying that ‘Dog Scratched Ear’ was his all time favourite song. The King recently picked their song ‘Janice The Stripper’ for his playlist of tunes from the Commonwealth that give him the horn* (*one of these facts might not be true).
If you only ever heard their music, without seeing the band, you would be surprised to learn that the incredible ‘wall of sound’ hitting your ears is simply coming from one guitarist and one drummer. Two brothers from Ystrad Mynach, they have three albums and an EP to their name, the first released back in 2009. They have won crowds over wherever they play, with both of them sounding like they are making the noise for three people. In the words of their website “The dexterous brothers have finally joined forces to create some of the loudest soulful rock’n’roll to come out the UK in a long time.” Which is pretty much spot on. When Brenig pounds a drum, it sounds like he has harnessed a thunder storm and trapped it inside his drum kit. When Aled strums his guitar it sounds like there’s three other guys backstage playing guitar as well. And it is all turned up to eleven.
This is their first gig for around five years, for family reasons, but any worries that they might be rusty are soon blown out of the door as soon as they hit the stage. They kick off the show with ‘High Shoulders Everywhere’ and power through a set that includes, ‘Dog Scratched Ear’, ‘Janice the Stripper’ (*That’s the two Charlies happy), ‘Grown so Angry’, ‘Empty Church’ and ‘Quick as a Hiccup’, before ending with ‘Henry’s Funeral Shoe’
There’s not quite a much interaction between the brothers as usual, that might be them just getting back into the swing of things, or it might be the acoustic screen the venue has around the drum riser. Or it could just be my imagination. But it certainly doesn’t stop an enthusiastic bunch of young guns enthusiastically throwing shapes down the front like nobody is watching. And yes, Junior Megan is once again grooving to the beat.
Good gigs in South Wales are a bit like busses. You wait for ages then three come along at the same time. After grabbing tickets for this gig two other events were announced that we would have loved to go to were announced. We did consider getting rid of our Shoe tickets, all be it very briefly, and going to see one of the other gigs. But in the end, as we walked back out into the night air, we had no complaints about our decision to stick with the Shoe. You can rely on these guys to deliver. And, as we have discovered tonight, they are able to win over young ‘uns that aint even into rock music.
Let’s hope its not another five years before their next gig. We suspect it won’t be. The Shoe be back, and the world is a little bit louder for it. You’d better invest in some ear plugs.