Words originally for Vapour Trail Blog
All photos and more in high resolution here.
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| Savages live at Cambridge Junction |
Is there any band today
better suited to their name than Anglo/French fem-rockers Savages? We think
not. Just weeks after the release of their second LP Adore Life, tonight their UK tour brings them to Cambridge Junction
where they tear through an unforgettable set of face-melting songs and formidable
stage antics. We were there to explore the vicious world of these rock legends
in the making.
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| Bo Ningen live at Cambridge Junction |
To open the show, Savages have
brought along their collaborators/fellow noise-rock overlords Bo Ningen. Hailing
from London but with origins in Japan, they’re a hell of a sight to behold, all
robes and androgyny underneath their instruments. What did they play? We have
no idea – no one seems to understand a word frontman Taigen Kawabe says. But
they’re ferocious, vigorous, and they give Cambridge a good seeing to with a
hefty dose of psychedelic wizardry.
Entering to an almost empty
stage, save for their instruments and a set of blinding floor-lights, the pack
mentality of Savages is clear to see. Noire clothing and solemn expressions are
their uniform. Introductions are ignored and Sad Person is unleashed, followed by City’s Full and “a slow but sexy one”, Slowing Down the World. Jehnny Beth’s French purr is intoxicating,
but her aggressive stage persona is quite the opposite. She creeps around stage
like an animal, to the amusement of her bandmates, as cuts from Adore Life and 2013 debut Silence Yourself are fired out one by
one.
A peak is reached during the
frantic Husbands, which is maintained
through Evil, When In Love and The Answer,
the latter catching Cambridge off-guard with its sudden reprise at the end. The
audience lap up the sassiness from the band who in turn feed off the energy in
the room. Hit Me steps things up to a
whole new level: Beth explores the front of her audience before stepping from
the barrier onto the palms of her baying admirers. She walks over the crowd, the
whole time roaring her unforgiving lyrics, before toppling down and rolling
back on stage. The whole thing feels as spiritual as it looks, Beth taking the
roll of religious deity as the people lunge forwards to just be touched by her.
TIWYG closes the main set on a bang before Beth and drummer Fay Milton depart,
leaving guitarist Gemma Thompson and bassist Ayse Hassan to build up a
ferocious introduction to the moody Mechanics.
Finally, the crowd are given what they came for: Adore, Savages’ crowning jewel, rolls out like a thunderstorm, its rumbling
bassline powering through every essence of the Junction as its almighty
crescendo erupts in a flourish of power and emotion. Beth and co. thank
Cambridge for their hospitality, before ending with Fuckers, an empowering and energetic conclusion to an unforgettably
savage show.
Savages' Adore Life is out now.
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