It’s a cold, cold Saturday evening and there is snow in the air. We could be tucked up in the warm, but we are on a boat, the fantastic music venue Thekla, an old cargo ship moored in the Mud Dock area of Bristol’s Floating Harbour and we are about to experience one of my nights of this year in the company of the incredible Skinny Lister.
First up was Tom Jenkins, hot on the heels of his late November new album release ‘It comes in the morning, it hangs in the evening sky’, this singer songwriter’s follow up to his 2019 solo debut ‘Misery in comfort’. Without the full band, Tom’s stripped down approach and strong, strong vocals reverberated around Thekla. The crowd were in early, even with the England vs France football game on, and they were treated to a brilliant set of songs from the talented Welshman. He has an incredible voice and the early arrivers enjoyed the more gentle start to tonight’s festivities.
Next up was Berries with their blend of all of the best bits of grunge and math rock, wrapped up in whole load of catchy melodies. They have had a busy 2022, with the release of their album ‘How we Function’, and tours of Germany with The Subways, fantastic sets at Kendall Calling and 2000 Trees Festivals, Frank Turner support slots, including Lost Evenings V in Berlin, Jim Bob (Carter USM) and Skinny Lister to finish the year. With a line-up change recently to contend with, (drummer Lucie left in September), they haven’t missed a beat and tonight’s set was flat out rocking tunes from start to finish. For only a 3 piece, the sound is big and the articulate guitar playing from singer guitarist Holly is phenomenally backed up by Lauren’s bass. The tunes are catchy and crowd bounced up and down to tracks new and old. Holly has a great rapport with the crowd and you can see them growing and developing as a band. I can’t wait to see what comes next for this excellent band.
And then, with the stage cleared it was time for the main act. Skinny Lister themselves have had some line-up changes recently with a new drummer (Tim Hillsdon) replacing Thom Mills and the departure of Sam ‘Mule’ Brace on guitar (and vocals, and mandolin, and concertina!) but from the first bars of ‘Wanted’... “There’s money on your head, you’re a wanted face...” it was no change to that full on Skinny Lister style. With dropping down to a 5 piece, there seemed a little more space on stage for everyone to do their thing, and Thekla is hardly the biggest of stages, and that meant Max and Lorna bouncing around and Scott spinning that double bass to his hearts content.
The guys have so many stories and most of them end up as songs involving fighting (badly), drinking and their travels. I was amazed that this was their first time at Thekla and there seemed a genuine joy of being on a boat. And this just fed the atmosphere, as the full house drew the energy from the stage from the front to the back of the room. Thekla is never the friend of the photographer, although better than the dark old days (literally dark!), the lack of light on the main protagonists means we really have to work for a decent shot. The stage lighting on the whole though tonight was magnificent and totally contributed to building the atmosphere and showing off the band and music to its fullest.
The legendary Party George (Lorna and Max’s dad) even got up on stage and sung a song, much to the joy of the fevered crowd. By the time we hit ‘John Kanaka’ time, the crowd were ready. They joined in every word and the ‘too rye aye’s’ were as loud as I have ever heard, Dan even commented “That was PERFECT”. And it was. News of a new album were greeted by a loud roar from the crowd.
While things slowed down for the wonderful ‘Bonny Away’, Lorna explained how the song was written for her and Dan’s daughter, Bonny, and how it genuinely calms her down before bed, a job her mum was performing tonight and they were hopeful to hear news of a sleeping baby to allow for a couple of post gig beers before bed. ‘Trouble on Oxford Street’ ended the main set before a short encore of ‘Hamburg Drunk’ (about Party George (!)) and ‘Six Whiskies’ closed the evening.
The slightly skinnier Skinny Lister, live, are a force to be reckoned with. The songs are incredible and the atmosphere on the good ship Thekla, on a freezing night in December was spectacular. The sold out crowd went home very happy (as long as they weren’t England football fans) and unanimous in their view that if you are going to see some shanty punk, then there is no better place to see it than on a boat and having Skinny Lister at the helm!
Words and Pictures GM Gig Photography