Singing Knives - All Dayer - Chora, Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides, Pekko Kappi, Le Drapeau Noir - Part Two

Chora were more effects based than the preceding acts… a table covered in a spaghetti junction of boxes... flanked on one side by saxophonics, the other, bamboo pipes, Indian banjo and hub caps....the result, a drone with piling textures... Loved that one fingered Indian banjo ... the sax spurting over the pitch shifted chaos... a hint of Wolf Eyes about it......










the vox and trumpet sinking through the cracks. When the dronic waves subsided, the intricate details became more apparent... burned the brightest...

Suddenly the PA died and all the lights were reduced to meagre emergency ones…the power had failed... The Gracchus drummer suggested it was the post match kettle surge…he was probably right...


Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides decided to perform completely acoustically... Candles and tea lights providing an old time music hall vibe… those 'Bataille De Battle' percussive fits and lush flute silks melding together...






the drummer finding everything a worthy sound source, even turning his scramble for a dropped bow into part of the show, upending drum stands with metallic clicks and rhythmic floor scrapes… Sometimes the duo seemed to be on a separate trip... but mostly they drifted around each other with fearful ease and inventiveness... Kelly's flute breaking into bee stings … thistly stammers that stretched the singing bowl tongues Pascal was plying... The whirly-gig spirals of that piping on drum skin were sheer genius... thankfully my sneezing had subsided and didn't mire the intimacy.

Pekko Kappi was comfortable with the lack of power too, didn't recognise him at first due to the cropped hair... Alternating between two harps, his set glowed, Finnish folk songs that dealt with death, nasty diseases and black magic with a few relationship troubles mixed in for good measure.






Incredible sounds coming from just a trio of strings... voice electro statically charged, seemingly arguing with himself, his descriptions of the songs full of super dry humour... 'this is about being cast into hell's mouth and also a spell' adding '...um, a very bad spell'... must grab a copy of his latest LP sometime soon.





The finale was something else, the bodies on stage out-numbering the spectators... a clattering, caterwauling improv meltdown of all the days performers that sizzled for a chaotically superb 45 minutes...