Where have
you been living if you don’t know Let’s Eat Grandma, the two Norwich teenagers with
a passion for all things weird? Launching their debut album I, Gemini in style at Open, it’s plain
to see that these two bright young things are on the cusp of something big.
Ginny Dix is our opening act. Her solo
vocal/piano performance is delivered nervously, but a lathering of audio
effects nudges the set from generic to intriguing. It’s downbeat and beautiful,
for fans of Shura and Daughter. Up next is Birds
of Hell, a wonderfully interesting character (a.k.a. Pete, as he introduces
himself). Visually he could be Jesse Hughes portrayed by Noel Fielding, or
something equally abstract yet dashing. And the music is just as whimsical.
Snake noises, bells on shoes and samples of dead relatives are all twisted
together in a pastiche of temperamental storytelling, made real through a dry
voice and a dryer wit. Different tones and narratives accompany each song, but
a downbeat, spoken-word drawl is present throughout. Leonard Cohen, John Cooper
Clarke, and Kate Tempest are all valid comparisons, but in this reviewer’s
opinion you’d really be best to catch him live and decide for yourself.
Headliner
time can’t come soon enough for Let’s
Eat Grandma’s first hometown performance in far too long. Tonight, Open brims
with fans new and old, all united with anticipation for the show we’re about to
see. As the unmistakeable drum clicks of Deep
Six Textbook pound into the room, 16-year-old Rosa and 17-year-old Jenny
fall into character with heads hung low and faces obscured by thick hair. They
don matching outfits head to toe, the images of space splattered across their
tops adding to the mystical ambience. A row of friends and fans are sat eagerly
just in front of the stage, creating a wonderfully intimate atmosphere.
Eat Shiitake Mushrooms is led
into seamlessly. The intricacy of the track feels muted slightly in a live
setting; the synths and sequencers that bubble and mix organically on record
have a much more 2D feel tonight, but this quality does add to the cosiness of
tonight’s performance. And, with delightfully amusing stage personas coupled
with astonishing musical skill, no one could say it’s not entertaining. Between
the two of them, keyboards are played, recorders make an appearance, there’s a
mandolin, a glockenspiel, guitars and a drum-kit, any of which can crop up at a
moment’s notice. The girls run back and forth around the stage multiple times
per song, sharing instruments and interacting in ways seen rarely in any
popular bands today. There’s a little roughness around the edges in places, but
the ornate control and choreography these two young performers hold is truly
awe-inspiring.
Rapunzel closes act one with a bolder
sound than on the album, courtesy of a little kick-drum action, before Sink leads into the second half of the
show, with a more hip-hop feel compared to the ethereal flurry that we’ve experienced
so far. It gets one of the best reactions as the most ‘pop’ sounding song in
the set, as well as one of the more lyrically driven. The epic monster that is Donnie Darko closes the show in a thirteen-minute
extravaganza of beeps and blips, layered gradually over one another with guitar
murmurs and keyboard buzzes mixing in accordingly. The duo conduct their
signature handclap routine, when they’re not lying perfectly still on the
floor. Or twiddling with pedals and boxes sat cross-legged and seemingly
oblivious to the audience, making for a bizarrely voyeuristic experience, as if
we’re all sat together on a bedroom floor trying to make music together. It’s
beautiful and fun and absolutely unlike anything else you’ll see in the pop
scene today.
The
show ends with a synchronised “thank you” – the pair’s only adlib in the whole
performance – before rapturous hometown applause marks the end of a truly
special evening.
