Fifty Nine Violets at the New Adelphi (2/3) By Michelle Dee

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3),

This accolade should be seen as quite a feather in Barton's cap, considering Raw Talent: has, in the past, staged shows from much larger places such as Leeds and Sheffield. I managed to listen to the first hour and it sounded like it was shaping up to be a top night. I was really sorry to have missed it, but fear not because the Violets in their infinite wisdom have yet another 8 track CD called Fifty Nine Violets: Live and Rawe.

This is a completely live recording of their gig that memorable night, and is available for a song.

Some years ago fate or fortune took Digsy to London, he then promptly disappeared; Seduced by the pavements of gold and the bright city lights, he made few return visits. After an undisclosed amount of time Digsy came back to the quiet Lincolnshire town to settle down and met up with Andy. Together they decided to start a band. The Violets came together after several conversations in Barton hostelries.

Some of the band knew each other already: it's hard to go out in Barton and not get to know everybody worth knowing with in a year or so.

After a year or so and Digs finally plucking up the courage to ask Bill, a bassist of note to join the group, the Fifty Nine Violets: were ready to embark on their musical quest. During their first rehearsal the amps blew up and that seems to have been quite a regular occurrence ever since. They made the decision to rehearse for six months to perfect the sound and gain confidence in each other's abilities. They started gigging, playing original material and a few covers. Nothing startlingly new in that you say. The Violets, cunning to the last, did covers of really obscure tracks that nobody knew.

Songs like Mess Around by Red Cross some MC5 numbers and maybe a few Hard Ons would find themselves slipped in at the last minute. They could well have been playing their own stuff and nobody would have been any the wiser.

Since those heady days of ambiguous tracks in The Red Lion:, they can now, quite easily, play ninety minutes of prime Violets numbers. The Fifty Nine Violets: are still the only Barton band doing their own material, but The Favours, Turismo, The Paddingtons, as well as the Violets, have now entertained the crowds over the water. Their most recent record purchases include Biffy Clyro, Kasabian:, Ian Brown's latest not Lamar at all, and The Killers. This would suggest a healthy interest in what some of the signed bands are up to: when they are not bathing in Schnapps, rolling in spliffs and being a bit 1995. Always Coca Cola.

I asked whether they get out to see many other gigs whilst they save up for a new power amp. Yeah you guessed it, that too was blown up. By my left ear a soft chilling voice, accusingly whispers we saw you at the Fonda 500 gig. Digsy can be really unnerving sometimes. He's like, really cool and that, but every so often he takes you unawares.

The Fifty Nine Violets: have a number of new songs after what seems like years, to certain members, of touring the same set they have decided they need some fresh ideas. If it is anything like the sheer power and intelligent rock n roll on Prime Numbers:, then it will be worth the wait. The songs on the album all stand out for different reasons; the dark undertones on Fields; the ferocity of Thugg; the easy feel of Steal From Me or; the rhyming lyrics and vocal change on Yeah Yeah Yeah. After a few listens this album will play in your head when you least expect it. Just don't start singing Thugg in a crowded Chav pub - you might not get out alive.

The songs are borne from a chord progression discovered in the rehearsal room, or maybe a certain catchy riff, sometimes Digsy will bring in a song he has written by himself; that hasn't happened for a while though. Andy, the Violets drummer has begun to write some of the songs: he brings a fresh non-clichéd aspect to the group's song writing, which will serve to improve them further.

Continued ...next page

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