For music obsessives, there’s no keener way of feeling the never-ending pull of time than seeing your favourite albums reach an anniversary. One minute, you’re smoking indoors with a £2.50 pint, and the next, you’re investing in a deluxe reissue of the soundtrack to those youthful exploits. This sensation feels stranger when it comes to The Go! Team’s genre-meshing debut, ‘Thunder, Lightning, Strike.’ It’s an album that still sounds so chaotic and fresh that the mere thought it’s just turned twenty feels a little absurd. Eager to see this modern classic performed in its entirety, CLASH headed down to Bristol’s The Marble Factory to see if the songs have as much staying power live.
Kicking things off was the feminist garage punk band The Baby Seals. The trio hail from Cambridgeshire, peddling a fun 90s-style racket, all Riot grrrl snarl, and snotty Cobain-styled riffs. They help fill the former gasworks, getting the crowd livened up despite tonight’s earlier start time. “We’re like the cupcake. Yummy but not the main event – hope you still enjoy it.”
Unpretentious, three-chord fun with some brilliantly pounding drum work. After a short break, the seven-piece Go! Team takes to the stage, and the party really gets started.
Anniversary shows, as a whole, are usually safe bets for both bands and fans. The attendees know what they will get, while the artist can bet on a receptive crowd and a well-tested setlist. The flip side is the danger of an artist delivering a show that’s too polished, perhaps even a little soulless at its worst. There was no danger of that from Ian Parton and company. From the opening blast of ‘Panther Dash,’ the band proved as exhilarating as ever. Never still for a moment, vocalist Ninja acted like the coolest P.E. teacher you’ve ever had, demanding as much energy back from the crowd.
Breath is barely taken before we’re treated to the act’s breakout song, ‘Ladyflash.’ Its strange mix of soul, rap, and tribal drums sends the crowd wild. Three minutes in, and The Marble Factory has the vibe of an encore, not the beginnings of a set. During ‘Get It Together,’ a middle-aged fan turns to CLASH with a big dumb grin on his face: ‘It’s always awesome. EVERY SINGLE TIME!’ Two thumbs up from the hardcore faithful, then. To be fair to him, it is. The album remains an electrifyingly fun time, and when performed with as much energy as it deserves, it’s nay impossible not to get sucked in.
The debut’s forty-minute runtime whizzes by, and before we knew it, the cinematic closer ‘Everyone’s A V.I.P. To Someone’ gets this writer feeling tearily nostalgic. It remains as wistful as ever. Not to shortchange anyone, the band follows up with a chunky encore, including certified bangers ‘Rolling Blackouts’ and ‘Mayday.’ With a good few Bristolians declaring it the best gig they’d seen all year, it’s fair to say it was mission-accomplished for these indie veterans.
‘Thunder, Lightning, Strike’ will always be the album that defines The Go! Team. This is in no way to suggest that the following material lacks quality, far from it. The album remains so beloved because, on release, it sounded like nothing else, and there’s nothing rarer than that in music.
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Words: Sam Walker-Smart
Photography: Rhys Dolman
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