The dreich autumnal late September weather matches the mood as a small smattering of goths gather in Scotland’s capital at the end of a sad week for the genre, with the news of the sudden break-up of the UK’s best young goth act Social Youth Cult followed by that of the tragic death of Das Ich’s Bruno Kramm at the age of fifty-eight.
The venue for this gig is the latest addition to the many small-capacity basement rooms catering to the cottage industry end of the musical entertainment market, The People’s Leisure Club, the name of which alone has surely attracted tonight’s headliner and gig organiser, Byronic Sex & Exile, the alter ego of one-man band Joel Heyes, one of the genre’s most politically active performers who keeps alive the post-punk revolutionary spirit which was a crucial (but sadly rarely present these days) strand of goth’s very foundations.
Byronic Sex & Exile on stage at People’s Leisure Club, Edinburgh
Other key aspects which enabled the essentially very different acts now regarded as the founding fathers of the movement to be grouped together under one flag were an understanding of the importance of both dramatic performance and of providing a sense of community for those ostracised by mainstream society in an age where the concepts of “safe spaces” and “inclusion” had yet to be defined, and no current act exemplifies these key two aspects more than the evening’s opening performer, Jan Doyle Band.
Performing as usual in Edinburgh in striking solo fully ‘gothed-up’ mode, JDB sets the scene in the dimly-lit venue with a series of slower, more introspective pieces with live guitar backing, creating a real sense of atmosphere culminating in the spellbinding afterhours vibe of Getting Near with its unique and engaging mathcore time signature.
Jan Doyle Band performing They at People’s Leisure Club, Edinburgh
The second half of the performance picks up the pace with more deathrock influenced numbers like They and Dance Down The Moon, allowing the impressively-clad performer to cavort and totter more freely and effectively around the low stage, culminating in a flamboyant if faithful rendition of Christian Death’s early six-chord classic Spiritual Cramp.
Jan Doyle Band performing Spiritual Cramp at People’s Leisure Club, Edinburgh
Whether performing solo in goth mode or with a band in neo-futurist Bowiesque attire, a Jan Doyle Band gig is always a veritable full-on performance event, and it comes as no surprise that they have been headhunted to appear at a Spanish festival shortly.
Following Jan Doyle Band on stage must be a daunting experience, but Fife’s 13 Tombs positively revel in their extended forty-five minute timeslot, showcasing the full range of their garage punk gothabilly deathrock sound in a set which features many of the songs on their recent coloured vinyl début LP. Brothers Mark (vocals) and Al (guitar) rattle through a maximum goth’n’roll set at breakneck pace, with pauses between songs so short that even The Ramones would find them a little brief. Slower songs like Deep Dark Water, referencing “Aleister Crowley, Jimmy Page and Nessie” (and presumably Boleskine House) gave greater scope to the duo’s musicianship and songwriting skills, whilst maintaining the spooky garage rock vibe.
13 Tombs performing Dehydrating at People’s Leisure Club, Edinburgh
A lifetime’s fascination with horror b-movie culture diffused through the music of the likes of the Misfits and The Cramps is distilled in the band’s lyrics and overall sound, which is energetically performed with some of the fastest fretwork this side of P Paul Fenech, before they end as usual with a riotous Monkey Pus, a song in the fine verité storytelling tradition of other punky tales of woe like Jilted John, Where’s Me Jumper? and Caught By The Fuzz.
Byronic Sex & Exile’s performance was similarly well-paced, beginning with a few “goth bangers” (Nothing But Lead, 114 and Vathek) with his spacey Pink Floyd-esque guitar sound creating a cinematically epic sound. The focus switched to pure drama during the middle section of the set, with the customary swordplay during Death Or Joy, followed by a very moving version of Jacobin, and his setting of Lord Byron’s The Giaour (introduced as “a song about murder, lust, revenge, vampires…what I call Thursdays”!!).
Byronic Sex & Exile performing Jacobin at People’s Leisure Club, Edinburgh
It’s back to the bangers for the end of the set, with Vampire Guitars and Grave Is In the Heart getting the audience moving at last, before a stomp through the revised version of Bella Ciao from the acclaimed recent EP Dauntless Zeal and the traditional finale Leviathan to round off an excellent evening of high quality contemporary goth.
The BS&E set was however punctuated by comments about the elephant in the room, or rather the lack of said elephants, in that the gig had attracted less than half the number of punters that had seen the same line-up of bands almost exactly a year previously, in a venue under half a mile away. As a result, all three acts will have lost money on the gig, with the two travelling Yorkshire acts’ losses likely to run well into three figures, leading to questions as to whether this particular gothic game is still worth the somewhat expensive candle. Joel Heyes was open about the unpalatable truth that BS&E gigs are judged primarily on the number of punters he can attract, but it is equally true that gigs like this one are the beating heart of the goth scene and help to keep it alive, forging links between performers and attendees, and on a purely musical level the gig was an unqualified success, with all three acts producing the best performances I have yet seen from them.
Byronic Sex & Exile Bandcamp link
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