MuddiBrooke are, as we’ve said on the site before, a superb band. And it’s when they play live that you most see it.
They thrive onstage and not even a dreary Sunday night in Warwickshire is going to stop them. Brooke and her little gang (and the bond between them is clear) were in the same room just about three and a half months ago opening for Black Star Riders and the set they play is the same. That’s not just in terms of songs either – and the new track “Float”, which is being released in the Spring – is a cracker, but rather also in terms of quality.
It comes from the fact, surely, that this is a band that appears to write from the heart. “Liverpool Guy”, “ADHD” and others benefit from that and it’s kind of ironic, that they have a song called “Fake It” when everything about the Derby-based trio seems to scream authenticity.
When they play what amounts to their anthem “You Don’t Own Me” only two conclusions remain. First, all the best to anyone who tried to tell them what to do, and second, they’ve got something, have MuddiBrooke that suggests they can go a long way.
I tweeted something light-hearted last night (and it’ll always be Twitter to me) when The Virginmarys came onstage. “I can’t go a whole year without seeing my boys” I wrote, and yet the more I thought about it, the truer it became.
The Virginmarys are a brilliant band. They are literally – because they are now a two-piece – and figuratively, because they are so much more raw, a very different band than they were when the debut came out a decade ago, but my goodness, their evolution is a sight to see.
Here, they deliver just about the most relentless 70 minutes you’ll see. From “Meds” – a recent single – onwards, they’re even by their standards, cathartic here.
‘Into Dust” – a personal favourite – sounds even more indignant here and “Sweet Loretta” takes on a new dimension on stage.
“NYC” screams its way to the Atlantic, and “Lies Lies Lies” is positively visceral.
Drummer Danny attacks his kit like he’s got a vendetta against it, and he bangs the crap out of his bell on “Running For My Life” and all the energy that’s in singer Ally comes over in “Free To Do Whatever They Say”.
“Killer” is a special song, and, if it’s possible, it takes things up a notch. “Motherless Land” and their de facto mission statement “Look Out For My Brother” carry it on, but it ends with a pair from that debut. “Just A Ride” and “Bang Bang Bang” have lost none of their quality, even when played through the prism of 2023’s The Virginmarys.
As ever, there’s no encore (these boys aren’t rock stars even if they’ve just done a couple of months with Sisters Of Mercy) instead Ally says to the crowd: “You can have all the streams in the world, but it this sense of community in this room that keeps us going”. And why wouldn’t you want to be reminded of that every 12 months?
