"I think I’m more likely to see
a ‘Pale Green Goat’ in the wild
before you post the review..🙄"
I received this text from Mike two weeks ago and to be honest, I could hardly blame him.
After all, it had been nearly three weeks since we had both sat in the presence of John Grant and his band, performing live at the Beacon in Bristol on Saturday 1st February 2025.
A fortnight after Mike's message, half-joking, half-resigned, and a month after the concert, at last - at last! - some words, a photo and a Dubhed selection, recreating the set list.
If your eyes have been unable to resist glancing down, then you'll see that it was a formidable set list: 7 of the 11 songs from current album The Art Of The Lie, 5 from Pale Green Ghosts (2013), 3 from debut Queen Of Denmark (2010), a couple from Boy From Michigan (2021), one from Love Is Magic (2018) and absolutely zero from Grey Tickles, Black Pressure (2015).
Before all that though, a special mention for Big Special. The duo of Joe Hicklin (singer) and Callum Moloney (everything else, but mainly drums) had been scheduled to open for John Grant on 25th October 2024, before John fell ill and the show was postponed.
Thankfully, the pair were here to open proceedings and they were on top form, with Callum adding 'warm up' to his extensive CV.
"We are Big Special.
We are not big and we are not special."
" We are what is known as the support act.
We are contractually obliged to get you ready for John Grant.
Are you ready?"
(cue call and response with the audience)
"This is our single.
It didn't get any play on the radio.
I can't think why.
This is Shithouse."
A parental advisory for the liberal effing and jeffing throughout this and other songs, none of which detracts from how truly special their 30-minute set was. Joe pretty much left the between song banter to Callum and let his vocals, er, speak for themselves.
Switching from one line to the next from a Black Country Mike Skinner to a Scott Walker-esque croon to stratospheric, operatic high notes, it was incredible to believe that all of this was coming from one body, but it was and it was something to behold.
When Callum asked the audience for the final time, "Are you ready for John Grant?", the response was raucous, but honestly I could easily have enjoyed another 30, 45 minutes of Big Special. Believe me, they are big and they are special.
I bought the album the following morning.
So, a tough act to follow? Well yes, but we are talking about John Grant here. Though inevitably, there was a huge weight of expectation. As I wrote the day following the postponed gig in October 2024, as series of unfortunate events have meant that I'd missed John Grant concerts five times in the past ten years. Surely cruel fate couldn't intervene for a sixth time?!
Thankfully not. Music. Lights. Band taking position on stage. Then the great man himself. And I mean literally. Even from our lofty vantage point in the lower tier, face on to the stage, John was head and shoulders above his bandmates.
The set opened with an unfamiliar, funky passage, which meant that it was a song from the current album, The Art Of The Lie. I should explain. When the album was released last June, I made a conscious decision not to buy or listen to it until after the concert. That way, I'd get to experience the songs for the first time, performed live on stage. It was a bit of a stretch with a four month wait, but what could go wrong? Little did I know.
When the Bristol date was postponed and rescheduled for February 2025, my resolve remained firm and so, seven months later, I got to hear All That School For Nothing and another half dozen songs from The Art Of The Lie for the very first time. It was worth the prolonged wait.
Of course, I bought the album the following morning.
From the groovy opening straight into a pulsing, persistent performance of Black Belt, before taking things down a notch for Marz and It Doesn't Matter To Him, followed by a couple more songs from The Art Of The Lie. At some point, one of the stage crew has dashed onstage to drape a cape around John's shoulders.
It's A Bitch briefly ups the tempo and, after one person gets up in the aisle to John's right to groove along, more quickly mass...although oddly gravitating to that one area, to the extent that some audience members pick their way along the rows from the other side of the hall to join the throng.
After that brief blip of BPMs, there is a further lengthy sequence of downtempo songs, John taking a seat at the piano, back to the crowd, voice resonating all around us. It's one thing to hear the studio recordings of these songs or even view radio sessions and live performances online. None of that compares to being in the room, with real shivers-down-the-spine moments, hearing those words, the music - that voice - in real time.
I could single out the versions of Glacier or The Rusty Bull, though really there is not a single misplaced vocal or musical note, even when the live rendition takes the song some distance from the version I first heard on an album.
A trio of songs from The Art Of The Lie follows, all more than holding their own with the better known tunes. Although I don't need to remind myself that I am one of the few - if not the only - one in the room who is unfamiliar with the album as the audience frequently join in.
Maybe John's love of cussing provides a safe space for others to release all the expletives that they contain back in the 'real world'. Meek AF is another addition to that growing list of John's potty mouthed pop tunes, and Chicken Bones from Queen Of Denmark gets an airing shortly after, closing the show.
After a blink-and-you'll-miss-it break, John and the band are back on stage for a two-song encore. John's wearing a rich blue smock at this point and takes up at the piano again for the last 'new' song, Laura Lou.
The finale is - what else? - GMF, which is nothing less than fantastic. Two hours, eighteen songs and a ten year wait that finally, finally paid off in more ways than I could have imagined.
And yes, John Grant is the greatest motherfucker that I'm ever going to meet.
1) All That School For Nothing (Album Version) (2024)
2) Black Belt (Album Version) (2013)
3) Marz (Album Version) (2010)
4) It Doesn't Matter To Him (Single Version ft. Beth Orton) (2013)
5) It's A Bitch (Album Version) (2024)
6) Daddy (Album Version) (2024)
7) It's Easier (Album Version) (2010)
8) Is He Strange (KEXP Avast! Session) (2018)
9) Glacier (Strongroom Session) (2013)
10) Pale Green Ghosts (Nivolt Rmx) (2013)
11) Boy From Michigan (Album Version) (2021)
12) The Rusty Bull (Album Version) (2021)
13) Father (Album Version) (2024)
14) Meek AF (Album Version) (2024)
15) The Child Catcher (Album Version) (2024)
16) Chicken Bones (Album Version) (2010)
17) Laura Lou (Album Version) (2024)
18) GMF (Album Version) (2013)
2010: Queen Of Denmark: 3, 7, 16
2013: John Grant Gets Schooled EP: 4
2013: Pale Green Ghosts: 2, 18
2013: Pale Green Ghosts EP: 10
2013: Strongroom EP: 9
2018: KEXP Avast! Session EP: 8
2021: Boy From Michigan: 11, 12
2024: The Art Of The Lie: 1, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 17
Big special thanks to Mike for the headline picture of John onstage. I was so mesmerised by the entire show that I forgot to take a single photo!
It was a great gig! Still can't get over how good Big Special were too... can't really fault anything about the whole evening - Grant Is Great!
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