Hebden Bridge – Trades Club – DAMO SUZUKI + THE WINDOW RIGHT + COOL PIANO ROLL – Saturday 31st July 2010

The first Was Ist Das? event since the site relaunched….who else but Damo Suzuki and where else but in our new hometown of Hebden.

Joining Damo for the first part of his set were local spacerockers CIA who include Ian Hinton-Smith among their number.

After a set with CIA, members of the support bands Cool Piano Roll & The Window Right joined in, with Andrew Liles of Nurse With Wound later joining the fray.

Damo Suzuki & C.I.A. from Was Ist Das? on Vimeo.

An amusing review posted online at the Word magazine’s website

When:
Saturday July 31st
Where:
Hebden Bridge Trades Club
Comments:
What to expect from this? Former Can frontman supported by two local post-rock bands, for basically an extended jam session. Just before the ridiculously young Cool Piano Roll (no piano) kick things off with a pulsating wall of sound, we spot Damo sitting by the side of the room. One warm handshake later, and feeling 15 again, am hugely impressed by the openers. Am already a fan of The Window Right, but CPR edge it on the night. Then it’s time for the main man, initially with four new musicians. Damo cups the microphone in both hands and then starts “singing”; not using lyrics as such, but more using his voice to complement the sounds the others are producing. It soon becomes clear that he is the catalyst for the musical inventions of the others, keeping things moving during wholesale changes of musicians and five guitarists are on stage for most of it. He only stops twice in a two-hour set. It could have been dreadful, but it isn’t – it is glorious and it is triumphant.
The Audience:
Given that the main attraction is a 60 year-old Japanese hippy and that this is Hebden Bridge, it’s surprising how normal most of the audience looked. Age range 20-60; all having a great night. Loads of dodgy dancing in evidence. Nobody cares.
Food & Drink:
Warned off usual bitter by companion, but Oakham Ales’ Inferno at £2.50 a pint saves the day.
It Made Me Think…:
At £7 a ticket and a crowd of 150, no wonder Damo can’t retire yet; and the lads from Cool Piano Roll are never going to attract the chicks playing that kind of music!