“Wait, so is George actually getting married tomorrow, or no?”
There are a lot of drummers out there who kinda meld into the background. Hell, there was one band a couple of months back that had my son and I debating whether there was actually a human drummer up there at all, such was the amount of smoke that had been pumped onto the stage. It’s just one of the hazards/perks of the job, depending how you look at it.
Heavy Lungs stickman George Garratt, though, is not your average drummer.
Far from melding away, he maintains constant eye-contact with the audience, leads most of the banter between songs, and makes the occasional swimshorts-attired foray to the front of the stage to take on some vocals. Plus, who could forget his appearance on IDLES‘ ‘When The Lights Come On’ video, surely auditioning to be a villain in Luther? The man is, by any standards, an absolute legend.
Still, when he announces that he is getting married tomorrow, it’s hard not to be a little suspicious. Getting married on a Friday, the week before Christmas, THE DAY AFTER A SHOW?!? Given this band’s tendency towards pranks and banter, you have to question everything.
It’s only when guitarist Oli Southgate shouts out his congratulations to the happy couple that we start to believe it’s true. No disrespect to the others, but if they had all told me that tonight’s show was a vicars and tarts fancy dress, Southgate would be the one who would convince me to break out the leotard.
That said, I could easily still be getting done over here. Who knows?
It’s never a dull night with Heavy Lungs. Back in February 2019, the Bristol punks played a sold-out show here, and there was a raffle. The winners were chosen, not just mid-set, but mid-song, literally stopping ‘Stutter’ midway through, announcing the lucky numbers, then carrying on as if nothing had happened. Expect the unexpected at a Lungs show, that’s for sure.
They have always been cracking entertainment, but in truth they were a bit of a rough diamond back then. Fast-forward to 2024, though, and now they are very much the finished article, whilst remaining one of the most exciting live acts around. Their debut album, All Gas No Brakes, was one of the best albums of 2023, a captivating mix of serious and fun subject matter, ferocious in places, surprisingly tender in others, underpinned by Southgate’s brilliantly brutal Goggs-inspired guitar sound.
With its follow-up, Caviar, slated for release in April 2025, tonight’s Riffmas Party represents an opportunity to hear some new songs, and boy, they do not disappoint. Alongside recent single ‘Get Out’, we are treated to renditions early in the set of ‘Yes Chef’ and ‘Cushion The Blow’, with the title track following later, and all are tremendous.
Representing a more straightforward, punky approach than on All Gas No Brakes, these tracks nevertheless feel like another strong progression from their previous work, one which will surely push the band to a much-deserved wider audience.
The rest of the set is devoted to breaking out the crowd favourites, and if the crowd were lively before (which they were), then they are going full-on crazy now. Pre-show rumours of another raffle turn out to be false, sadly, but Garratt and Danny Nedelko instead fill the interlude of ‘Stutter’ by serenading each other with a rendition of ‘Last Christmas‘. Warmed the cockles of me ageing heart, it did.
It may be Garratt that is getting married in the morning (emphasis on the ‘may’), but one suspects it might be Nedelko that has a headache in the morning, and not for the reasons you might think. One of his many forays into the audience ends with him crawling along the elegantly-carpeted Louisiana floor. A number of audience members kindly help him up (as they had done for me too earlier, thanks folks) and lift him over their heads, but do so a little vigorously, leading to Nedelko’s head bashing into the ceiling. Owwwwwwch.
If Nedelko has a concussion, though, it certainly doesn’t slow him down any. The highlights tonight are numerous. ‘All Gas No Brakes’ (the song) is a real live highlight now, going from groovy roller-rink disco in the first half to brutal virtuoso destruction in the second. ‘Plagiarism’ has a very neat loud-quiet-loud dynamic, and ‘Dancing Man’ is a full-on bonecrusher.
Probably the best bit, though, is the throwback to the band’s very earliest work, with ‘Abstract Thoughts’ and ‘Charmer’ being melded into a memorable medley, followed by the brutal Black Flag assault of ‘Descend’. Heavy Lungs have certainly transcended these early tracks, but it sure is fun to still hear them every now and then.
They close, as always, with a chaotic version of ‘(A Bit of a) Birthday’, and then it’s over. Any sadness we feel, though, quickly wears away, as we remember that a tour is coming in January/February for Independent Venues Week, and then Caviar shortly after, which one suspects is going to be a special record. If any thought can get us through the challenges of the holiday period, that is the one.
Congrats, George.
