Hot Club De Paris @ King Tuts 24/06/2010
Written by admin on June 29th, 2010
Tonight’s gig at King Tuts headlined by Liverpool’s very own Hot club de Paris was a welcomed musical island among the sea of world cup fever.
As soon as the venue was open I headed upstairs to catch the support acts. First on the bill was The Banter Thiefs, who are a cheeky four piece from Motherwell. Notwithstanding this bands blatant disregard for band name grammar, they are an honest and no nonsense act with guitar pop songs about their lives in north Lanarkshire. Second up was Glasgow’s own Shimmer who surprisingly for a support act drew the largest crowd of the night. The reason for this soon became clear as the band announced that it was their last gig ever. And with closer inspection of the audience, it was apparent that it was busy because it was filled mainly by the band member’s extended family. By the end of Shimmer’s set I was glad it was their last gig. The world does not need another vacuous navel gazing carbon copy of Matchbox 20. No thanks; you can keep it.
It wasn’t until a quarter to eleven that HCDP took to the stage. The Tut’s crowd had dwindled from the heady heights of Shimmer, but there was a buzz about the place and a sense of expectation that this band better be good. This three-piece scouser outfit didn’t disappoint. Straightaway they sounded a class above what had come before. They are band that are pop rock personified but yet don’t fall into the formulaic meritocracy that so often befalls most British bands.
There were no skinny jeans or trilbies here; just three irreverent lads playing out of their skins and treating the audience to some rock n’ roll. Songs such as ‘Fuck You, The Truth’ personified this band’s attitude and ‘I’m Not In love And Neither Are You’ paid homage to the influence of Big Country on their music.
Currently, HCDP are touring their two EP’s released in 2010, ‘With Days Like This As Cheap As Chewing Gum, Why Would Anyone Want To Work’ and ‘The Rise And Inevitable Fall Of The High School Suicide Cluster Band’.
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Words/Pics: Alan Dunlop
