As soon as I walked in to Plug I knew it was going to be a
different vibe than most of the nights I’ve spent in that venue. Guys wearing
blazers, middle aged men adorned with leather jackets, those older couples you
know who love to go to just about any gig in town. This is all contributed to
me very quickly realising that with the exception of a son who came with his
dad, I was the youngest individual there at 21 and it wasn’t even close. I
believe there are two reasons for this:
·
The first being that Dutch Uncles sound has
clear influences from Talking Heads and other luminaries from the 80s, thus
allowing the older fans to relive their youth.
·
And secondly that Dutch Uncles have a slightly
avant-garde sound and a Gen X-er would have you know that us #millennials
aren’t like the avant-garde art-punks of yesteryear (which is obviously not
true, they just don’t know where to look!).
This resulted in a chilled out vibe throughout the setlist,
nobody was throwing their bodies into each other and there was actually room to
dance comfortably, shock! This does elucidate the fact however that this band
very clearly did not sell out the venue and there can’t have been much more
than 100 people in attendance.
This smaller crowd didn’t stop frontman Duncan Wallis from
delivering an energetic set and engaging crowd interactions throughout the
night. His dancing during songs could be described as a cross between David
Brent and Carlton from Fresh Prince, it was certainly something to witness and
fit the atypical rhythmic structure of Dutch Uncles tunes. The gender-ambiguous
vocals were also impressive to experience in the flesh and Wallis didn’t flinch
as his voice traversed through a sweeping range of vocals. Wallis could also
have an effective side-gig as a stand-up comedian, jokes about a Greggs left on
his piano, David Carradine’s interesting
cause of death, and many others all received uproarious laughter. The comedy
was often times black; just like the clothes the band were wearing; and it was
a hit.
Their musicality was also good. All the band members were on
point throughout the night and were often playing multiple instruments,
switching between them during songs at painfully exact moments as to not miss a
beat. It was almost as if watching a routine that had been relentlessly bashed
into their brains by a military drill sergeant. The results were fruitful, the
xylophone back and forth between Wallis and lead guitarist Pete Broadhead on
‘Threads’ was hypnotic and had audience members in an almost trance like state.
Whilst this band is currently on their fifth album, they’re
still struggling to find their audience. The lack of tickets sold and the fact
that I saw somebody looking at their Wikipedia page during the gig just goes to
show that they are not a band who is in the lexicon of the general public. This
lack of knowledge contributed to a lacklustre crowd who didn’t have much of a
rapport with the band and it didn’t help that the band played for what felt
like a very long, protracted 80 minutes. Whilst tracks like “Oh Yeah” and the
title track of the new album “Big Balloon” did get warm responses, many a song
garnered no reaction.
A slot at the upcoming BBC 6 Music festival should introduce these guys to more people which is nothing less than they deserve but sadly their frenetic, avant-garde music and relatable lyrics couldn’t help them overcome a lacklustre crowd and overblown setlist.
More info about Dutch Uncles ad their current tour can be
found here: http://dutchuncles.co.uk/