Never trust a Satnav. Seriously, I asked my friend Kaylea, a Nottingham resident, where the best place to park was for Bodega, and she gave me somewhere within very short walking distance. Apparently my Satnav thought this place was in fucking Timbuktu or something.
Anyway, several circuits of Nottingham City centre later, we finally found the car park (well, a different one actually) and then proceeded to walk in completely the wrong direction for the venue. Twice. Luckily we’d arrived in Nottingham just after 5pm, so we had plenty of time to rectify things and have a few drinks in a nearby pub before going to the gig.
Nottingham is a pretty happening place on a Saturday night, and what I found astonishing was how polite and friendly everybody was! Whether this ties in with the recent success of their football team, I’m not sure, but it can’t hurt (I remember it being a bit like this here in Leicester when the Foxes won the Premier League back in 2016).
Bodega is a cracking venue – it reminds me a little of Leicester’s now sadly long gone Princess Charlotte (which eventually became just The Charlotte) in that it is a pub on one side and a music venue on the other, albeit this one’s gigs take place upstairs.
PEM were due to be the support band tonight, but for some reason – nobody seemed to know why – they had been replaced by Stoke trio Formal Sppeedwear (and no, that’s not a typo). If anyone had been disappointed with the change prior to their set, they surely must have changed their opinion on the matter very quickly indeed, as the band performed a stunning set that was bass-heavy, channelling both Talking Heads and Gang Of Four into their sound, with an intoxicating twitch, and unexpected mid-song breakdowns into mini-segments that could almost pass for free form jazz at times. Hugely impressive, and I would go as far as saying that they were the best support band I’ve seen in years. If there’s any justice in the world, they should go far.
The same goes for the effervescent headline act, the insanely brilliant W.H. Lung. A few technical glitches hampered the Manchester band early doors, as Every Inch Of Earth Pulsates‘ opening track ‘Lilac Sky‘ powered into our hearts and minds, with frontman Joe Evans exclaiming “There’s something not quite right with the sound“, prompting a random audience member to shout out “Yeah, sort it out Dave!” at the soundman. Joe being the good natured type that he is though, made light of the situation by replying “We love Dave! Dave’s a fucking legend. I know he’ll sort it.”
Anyone who was expecting tonight’s show to be heavy with tracks from Lung’s spectacular recent aforementioned long player may have been surprised at the varied mix of old and new to which we were treated, so modern classic ‘Pearl In The Palm‘ from their previous full-length was unleashed on us relatively early, unequivocally a firm fan favourite, justifiably confirmed by the amount of revellers who knew every single word. And that rubbed shoulders with the likes of the debut’s intense driving rhythm of ‘Second Death Of My Face‘ and the huge, expansive sound of set closer ‘Inspiration!‘, but for me the highlight (in a show where every track WAS a highlight) came early on, with the addictive, mesmeric ‘Showstopper‘, an absolute giant of a song and an even bigger beast live.
It’s quite an early curfew at Bodega, 10pm, but in all honesty that mattered not one jot, as both acts gave such fabulous accounts of themselves that everyone went home happy, or at least everybody I saw, anyway, and the prompt check-out time gave Mark (an old friend of mine going back 44 years!) and I a chance to get some chips and watch the pissed up revellers getting giddy with excitement on the merry-go-round that appeared in front of us as we wandered into the centre.
Much like we were at the gig, in fact. An absolutely stunning night, not even ruined by my idiot satnav sending us down a tiny dirt track on the way home instead of back to the M1.
Main Photo: Loz Etheridge
Other Photo: Mark Farmer
