On Valentines weekend last month, Radio Europa played a
secret gig at an unused quarry in Swansea.
Like the raves of the early 90s, those in the know that wanted to know
were present. Around 30 people turned up
and a great time was had by all.
Last night, Radio Europa played another secret gig on Mother’s
Day. Again, a surprising amount of
people had followed the duo on social media and eventually congregated under a
flyover on the A56 in East Lancashire.
Several turned up a few songs in after waiting at the wrong location,
maybe more didn’t make it but another 40 or so guessed correctly.
Two celebrities were spotted in the crowd, both associated
with Manchester bands and although they kept themselves to themselves it was obvious
who they were.
So what of Radio Europa, and why the fuss about them? Well if you were there last night you’ll
know. The gut-churning crunched sounds
and unorthodox blips and bleeps blend perfectly with the spoken words. Spoken words which are less than complimentary
about the state of the nation and never seem to be afraid to trample on a few
toes.
Last year’s debut album, Rise Of The Gutterzz Press And The
Death Of Modern Thought edged its way into the Top 100 albums of the year
compiled by Louder Than War and was described as simply ‘Genius’ and it’s easy
to see why. Radio Europa are keeping
themselves to themselves and creating a buzz around the ones that ‘get’ their
sound.
One pre-show instruction was to bring flowers (Mother’s Day)
and many did. Some had them in a Morrissey
style hanging out of their pockets, some exchanged them in good humour amongst
each other. There was a prevailing
feeling of solidarity and togetherness as the duo pumped out track after track
rarely engaging with each other and only sporadically looking up at the crowd.
Sirens screamed overhead to the amusement of many, shouting
“we’re here!” and although rain and sleet threatened, the cover of the flyover
kept everyone almost dry.
As was the case in Swansea, Lancashire spoken word artist
Equinox made an appearance. Allegedly
the mastermind behind the A56 gig location he again performed Josephine which
will appear on the new Radio Europa album, and teased the audience with a few
other excerpts from his obviously extensive catalogue. The trio then combined forces in an amusing
version of the classic Route 66, instead substituting the Highway places with
the names of Lancashire and Cheshire town names.
In brightly coloured bobble hats resembling the green and red
of traffic lights, the Europa lads also dipped into the recent EP, Feral Is As Feral
Does So Yeah Up Your Chuff and gave advanced listens of material from their new
album which should see the light of day in April. It’s all stirring stuff, and if you can
imagine a meeting point between Mark Stewart and Stephen Jones then you won’t
be far away.
They may not be ready for ‘real’ venues yet, but in many
ways they are completely at one with the ad-hoc appearances that they are currently
giving. As the duo left stage to the
gnarling sound of their instrumentation still playing from their laptops, they
made their way over to several flasks and served tea to some of the now buzzing onlookers.
As the music came to a close, the red-hatted of the two took
a sip from his plastic cup and, as steam rose into the night sky exclaimed in a
thick Welsh accent: “They’re fucking good aren’t they?”
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