– MOHO LIVE, MANCHESTER –
There’s a reet posh fancy tour bus outside Moho tonight because double headliners Nashville Pussy and Voivod are American and they can afford it. It begs only one question… why are all roadies fat guys in shorts???
There is no barrier in front of the stage tonight and the place is filling up nicely for a school night. WAYWARD CHILD are up first and deliver an enthusiastic set to an almost 80s rock soundtrack.
Rock is suddenly becoming very big again in our fair city, so I’m not really surprised the singer is a pretty young blonde, with a deep vocal flanked by the band, who look a bit like the cast from the IT crowd with equal the amount of stage presence.
The inevitable happens and the Rock Ballad is played ‘Nothing Here’, followed by a shocking declaration from the front woman, ‘MY FADGE!’ she shouts (my bad, it was actually ‘Knife Edge’ but what the hell), before the band proceed with the aforementioned song.
Their last is a bit un co-ordinated as they all turn to each other with that look that says, ‘was that meant to be you or me?’ as the song falls into disarray and their set ends. Still, they’ve not been around long, so we wish them well for their future and await the first of tonight’s double headlining acts.
The sound byte from ‘From Dusk Til Dawn’ featuring Cheech Marin comes over the PA, ‘All right, pussy, pussy, pussy! Come on in pussy lovers!’ Texas born NASHVILLE PUSSY take to the stage and begin immediately with a Ramones style intro drum beat before slamming their guitars down upon our ears.
Alongside the bearded, cowboy hat wearing singer, there is Brunette pussy (bass) and Sideshow Bob pussy (lead guitar) providing us all with something to feast our eyes upon while a full on rock show takes shape. ‘High As Hell’ sounds like the hairy cousin of Americas other weirdy beardy rock fellows ZZ Top.
Sideshow Bob Pussy is an exceptional fret manipulator that would make Saul Hudson (Sideshow Slash) die a little bit on the inside, producing an incredible solo whilst, and I’m really not kidding, doing a powerslide across the stage.
More rock n roll riffy goodness to songs such as ‘I’m so High I Gotta Look Down to See the Sky’, ‘Late Great USA’ and ‘Hate and Whiskey’ are teased out beneath masses of flailing hair and wailing fret boards.
Story teller Blaine, the bearded singer, tells us how he wrote a particular ditty named ‘Mother***kers ain’t None of Your Business’ after being arrested in Tennessee for doing nothing whatsoever other than being in possession of some illegal substances.
Bless. The band perform two original sounding covers of Ike and Tina’s ‘Nutbush City Limits’ and Slade’s ‘Why, Why, Why’ after introducing the band members to the audience (they have real names, but they’re not as good as the one’s I’ve given them).
The Pussys have been licking fret boards, shooting us with their basses and Sideshow Bob Pussy rocked so hard, she rocked her top off and was left stood in her bra. Everyone in the audience is really hyped, singing along to most of their songs. How do they even know who they are?! ‘You Manchester folk rock much harder than the Nottingham folk’, yeah we know!
After all that excitement I’m left wondering what Canadians VOIVOD could actually do to top what we’ve just seen, mind you, they’ve been touring together the whole way across Europe so they must have an ace card up their sleeve. Right? They have a menacingly heavy sound, very metal with a soupçon of Dead Kennedys, but not enough for me personally. #
They begin with their eponymous ‘Voivod’ and then launch into a tirade from ‘Nothing Face’. Occasionally speed metal, occasionally thrash, their mixed metal material nonetheless providing fans with a much needed injection of head blistering heavy metal.
