With sun-kissed vibes and surfer videos, The Studio hosted a happy blend of retro, rock and psychedelia in Newport’s first indie/live club night, Radieux.
A gleeful spree of teenagers skipped along to the event, with the police in pursuit to sniff out underage drinking.
Having spent my high school gigs in the back-ends of pubs and drafty halls, I’m jealous of the Island’s new wave of indie kids – this is better than anything on offer five years ago.
Following the DJ set, local minstrels The Shutes were up like benevolent scarecrows with a seamless set.
Burgeoning Island talent
If you haven’t heard them, what are you waiting for? Awash in cascading chords, theirs is a full, soulful sound that you can really plunge into and it won’t surprise me if they break out soon, in a big way.
My only complaint of Saturday’s performance is that the words were a little bit lost in the ethereal tide. Since listening to The Shutes’ MySpace recordings, I’m convinced Michael Champion can sing less bashfully. He has no excuse – the lyrics are gorgeous.
That said, it was a hard act to follow and Eight Legs handled it like a frantic spider on full throttle.
Arachnophobia?
Signed and with a new album coming out this week, their performance was tightly accomplished and packed with enthusiasm, but failed to move me.
A relentless torrent might please those running on pure testosterone who like their music in top gear from start to finish, but I am a lady. I was bored.
Given that Eight Legs count The Smiths and Ken Kesey among their role models, I think they can reach for some dynamic subtlety – but after all, they’re so young and have already played in Tokyo.
Radieux is a small event with big ambitions. It will return sometime in the spring.
An interview with organisers Michael Champion and Michael Yates follows shortly on VB.
Image: © Oscar May
