The clues have been hiding in plain sight in my posts throughout the week, but here are my thoughts on last Sunday's excursion and second (of four) gigs this month. No spoilers to say early on that it was a magical experience.
I had to look through my patchy and incomplete record of gigs I've been to (far too few) to reveal that I last visited the Exchange on Friday 7th March 2014 to see Trans, Bernard Butler's experimental psychedelic band who released the Red and Green EPs around that time and nothing else since as far as I can tell.
Aside from being glad that it's still here at all, it was reassuring to find that little has changed at the Exchange. It's a cosy venue, tucked behind The Stag & Hounds pub in Old Market, with a 250-capacity main room and 60-capacity basement for gigs.
Ellen Beth Abdi has toured and recorded with A Certain Ratio and I enthused about a couple of live sessions a couple of weekends ago. Those handful of songs were breathtaking but it was something else altogether to experience it in an intimate live setting.
A genuinely lovely person with a humble stage presence and engaging between-song chat and background to the songs, all of that pales into comparison when Ellen starts to sing. Sampling herself live and building up layer and layer of vocals, the whole process is mesmerising. Yet this is no artifice: opening song The Bad Dream ends up sounding like a chorus of angels; the modulating voices transporting the listener somewhere else entirely whilst you remain aware of your presence in the room. Who needs mind-altering substances when you have a singer with the power to do this?!
The set comprised six or seven songs, including a few from the online sessions covered in my previous post: the spine-tingling beautiful Sad Chord as well as Who Is The World Made For, the "likely" lead single from the soon-to-come debut album.
I was very happy to hear Ellen's stunning cover of Rae & Christian's Spellbound, revealing in the introduction that she was obsessed with Veba's vocals on this song as a teenager. I think Ellen's done the song proud. She also performed what I thought was Kick Off Your Shoes, although I'm sure it was introduced here as Problem Child.
There were also a couple of new songs, Thickskinpeel and Kingsway Bouquet, the latter also the name of the marmalade for sale on Ellen's merch stand. Yes, marmalade. And a 'twofer' offer as well. I'm not sure if the marmalade inspired the song name or vice versa, but I can say from direct experience that both were very, very good. I should add before Trading Standards weigh in, that the preserve is made by Ellen's aunty not her!
I got to speak to Ellen at the merch stand after her set and again after A Certain Ratio's performance. Sensibly, I saved the marmalade purchase until the end. I've never tried dancing at a gig with a jar of marmalade in my hand before and, at 53 years old, probably not the time to start.
Ellen was also running a raffle throughout the tour. The sole winner will get a USB stick featuring demos, remixes and album previews. Whether I'm the lucky one or not, if the raffle proceeds help to keep Ellen recording and performing, it will be worth it. Ellen has not actually released any music for sale yet but you can rest assured that I'll be queuing for the album when it's available and shouting about it here.
How on earth was A Certain Ratio going to follow that up? Well, they may not have had the marmalade but they were jam hot, for sure.
For this gig, ACR is a four-piece comprising founder members Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald 'DoJo' Johnson, with Viv Griffin predominantly on bass but like Martin and Donald, prone to the occasional instrument swap throughout the set.
Like Ellen Beth Abdi, Viv is a graduate of The Royal Northern College of Music, both former students of Matt Steele, who has also performed with ACR. Viv is also one half of Beck Pocket, who featured in this morning's post. On stage with three seasoned and consummate professionals, Viv was well up for the challenge to say the least and the next 90 minutes or so were a sheer joy.
I've not seen A Certain Ratio live in concert before, so the set was a perfect introduction. The first half was a straight run through of their current album, It All Comes Down To This, which harks back to their earlier, snappy post-punk sound without ever sounding nostalgic or bereft of ideas. Too many highlights to mention, but the opening title track, Bitten By A Lizard and Estate Kings (sung by Donald) were especially good. Suddenly, it's the tenth and final song, a homage to Dorothy Parker and less than 45 minutes in, it's all done.
With barely a pause for breath, ACR then launch into the 'greatest hits' second half and it's classic after classic. I don't think Winter Hill quite stretches to the near-13 minutes of the album version but it quickly locks into a groove and keeps going and going, before shimmering and stuttering into Do The Du.
The first of two covers then, with ACR's version of Houses In Motion by Talking Heads. This was originally demoed in 1980, intended for Grace Jones. Somehow, that never came to pass and a couple of versions languished in the vaults until (re)discovered for 2019's acr:box set. And what a great thing that was, otherwise we might never have had the experience of seeing and hearing it performed live.
The other cover - Shack Up by Banbarra - came as the penultimate song ("we're too old to go off stage and come back to do encores!"), though arguably ACR so inhabit the song that it's easy to forget that they didn't write and record it first.
The Big E aka Won't Stop Loving You gets an especially rapturous reception, particularly when Jez dedicates the song to the much-missed Denise Johnson, who was such an integral part of the band for three decades until her untimely passing in 2020.
The performance closes with an incredible version of 1982 single Knife Slits Water. There's a final swap, Martin sitting at the drums again and Donald coming front of stage.
"Hey!" Donald exclaims, pointing to an audience member at the front to his left. "This guy's either been taking the world's longest selfie or he's been filming the entire gig!"
"Just put it down," Donald asks, "just for one song. Be in the moment."
"Leave him alone," Jez replies, "that might be his thing."
But you can understand Donald's point.
The quality of my photos shouts "amateur!" as it's pretty clear that I was literally lifting my phone briefly, pointing and pressing, and hoping for the best. Nothing can match the wonder of seeing, hearing and feeling the music being performed a few feet away and I knew I'd never get the chance to experience this again.
Luckily, I got to be there with fellow gig enthusiast Mike so at least I know that I didn't imagine the whole thing!
If I had the money and no other commitments, I'd have quite happily hurtled up the motorway to catch A Certain Ratio and Ellen Beth Abdi tonight for the last date of their tour at New Century Hall in Manchester. If you do, then tickets are still available. Ellen's on at 7.55pm so don't be late and bring some extra cash for the merch!
In my usual fashion, I've created a Dubhed Selection of ACR's fabulous set. For obvious reasons, I haven't included the first ten songs - go and buy the album instead - but I have created an hour-long selection of the "bonafide classics" second half. A few alternative versions and remixes woven to create an hour-long set to get you in the mood to groove.
1) All Comes Down to This
2) Keep it Real
3) We All Need
4) Surfer Ticket
5) Bitten By A Lizard
6) God Knows
7) Out From Under
8) Estate Kings
9) Where You Coming From
10) Dorothy Says
11) Winter Hill (To Each..., 1981)
12) Do The Du (Casse) (The Graveyard And The Ballroom, 1980)
13) The Fox (Album Version) (To Each..., 1981)
14) Houses In Motion (Demo Version 1, 1980) (Cover of Talking Heads) (acr:box, 2019)
15) Touch (Album Version) (I'd Like To See You Again, 1982)
16) Berlin (Cosmodelica Remix By Colleen Murphy) (Loco Remezclada, 2021)
17) SAMO (Werkha Remix By Tom Leah) (2023 EP, 2023)
18) The Big E (Album Version) (Good Together, 1989)
19) Good Together (Album Version) (acr:mcr, 1990)
20) Shack Up (Man) (Cover of Banbarra) (Shack Up Remixes (Unreleased DJ Promo 12"), 1990)
21) Knife Slits Water (12" Version) (Knife Slits Water/Kether Hot Knives EP, 1982)
...Loving You (1:07:35) (KF) (Mega)
And if all this talk of marmalade has whet your appetite, you can find out all about it here.
