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Here's
some pics I took at the University of London Union (ULU) of one of my favourite
indie groups, Echobelly. They've never been given the most positive of
coverage by the music press at times (a cynically trendy hack from the
'Melody Maker' once referred to them dismissively as "Britpop for 'Guardian'
readers"), but this didn't seem to stop a comfortably large crowd from
coming to see them perform at a London venue for the first time in nearly
four years, during which time they'd lost and then replaced band members
(one of whom was Debbie Smith, their mildly iconic guitarist with the Tintin
quiff), been dropped by their record label, taken their former acountant
to court for "cooking the books" in favour of bolstering his bank balance
(along with a few other bands he worked), and gone off on a pilgrimage to the
Himalayas, that obviously had an influence on the titles of songs from
the album they'd only recently just released, 'People Are Expensive' ('A Map
Is Not The Territory' and 'Kali Yunga' are two that spring to mind).
I didn't take pics of the first support act (some bloke with did a cover
of Prince's 'Sign O' The Times' with the classic "singer-songwriter accent"
- cod American, if you didn't know already), but I did take a snap of the
guitar that belonged to one of the members of Kid (I was so impressed by
their performance, I got a c.d. of theirs at the end of the concert), perched
as it was against one of the speakers nearby.
Eventually though, the time came for the main attraction to take to the stage to turn it out, and it has to be said that they certainly didn't disappoint that evening. Here's Sonya Madan (the band's voice), launching boldly into 'Sleeping Hitler', an old b-side taken from their first single, the 'Bellyache' e.p. from 1993 (the title track of which has perhaps the coolest didgeridoo intro on a record ever, in my opinion), as well as a feminist anthem called 'Give Her A Gun', which was also warmly received.
Glenn Johansson,
guitarist and Sonya's
songwriting partner
in typical pose.
Ruth, the new bassist
making her debut
live appearance with
the band, as well
as striking a pose
or two.
Sonya belts it out, as only she can.