Wood Pigeons, Cukoos, Crickets, and A Hawaiian Lapsteel Guitar

So it was such a good weekend of music last week that I’ve only come down enough to write about it now, helped a little by the re-appearance of the sun over Cardiff (if you see anybody in what seems like a white latex suit around Cardiff by the way don’t be alarmed, that’s only me, I picked up some cheap sun protection in the shop that congeals like milk and have to take it back for a refund). Friday the 13th in Cwmparc’s old Parc Hall was such a relaxed and enjoyable night, with such an unlikely mix of music too. Lucky Delucci opened affairs there, and made me think again that they should really be there at the higher end of the Indietracks line-up and our best festivals this year, spraying their magically ebbing tunes, then London/Scotland's Prince Edward Island played a set of fiercely honed Pop a little like the ghost of The Delgados dancing with prime Apples in Stereo. They were robust pleasure, a captivating live act, keyboardist Faye with “Must Do Better” scrawled all over her face in myriad lines and drummer Jon a picture of passion, hitting away with his sticks in cartoon style as his hair bounced every which way like he was on a fairground ride.

Then came the weekend’s first dose of Flipron, and when they play it really is like being transported to a different planet, a planet where Tim Burton rules with Chuck Jones’s comic pen. It was a shame we could only get them a half hour set on the night, as, given an hour, they can really relax and work their magic, which encompasses singer Jesse Budd’s great stage manner and monologues as well as the music, but still that half hour was enough to remind what a special and unique band they are. It was the perfect setting for Flipron in Cwmparc. Outside all you could see were green mountains and the bright blue evening sky, and inside it was a bit like when the fairground arrived in town as a child, the band stealing our souls like brilliant rogue circus performers or lost poets.

Local band Cutting the Beef rounded off the night with a meaty showing of emo power, and nobody can possibly argue with an emo band that play Stereophonics covers and get people up dancing like mad, with a female drummer that hits like a piston… It was a real charmer of a night in Cwmparc. The next time Flipron come to these parts they want to go camping in the mountains, so there’ll likely be the sound of wood pigeons, cukoos, crickets, and a Hawaiian lapsteel guitar somewhere up there...

© Miwsig