“Er, sorry about this. Does anyone have a plectrum?” smirks Eoin Loveless. An understated way to start a show for sure, but he assures us “There’s no show without one!”
A Very Tall Man emerges from the back of the room clutching a guitar pick to save the day. “We promise to give it back after the show.” they assure him.
“What are we playing first?” asks brother Rory as Eoin fiddles with some hidden electronic device. “Autonomy!” he shouts over his shoulder. It’s going to be a very different show from the usual guitar theatrics as Drenge (billed tonight as Drenge Philharmonic) take us through a synthed-up re-imagination of their new album.
Never See the Signs is full of shimmering square waves, and there’s a lovely echo on Eoin’s vocals that lends a distinct Dave Gahan baritone to the singing. The Philharmonic gambit is a brave move for the band. Eoin stands centre stage almost in character: eyes closed and cloaked in a mackintosh. As the song closes he gently tugs his brother out of the shadows, explaining Rory’s been learning bass for the tour in lieu of the drum kit. “This is only the second time he’s been stood up at a gig. He’s already complaining of backache!”
No Flesh Road and When I Look Into Your Eyes come next, and this pairing is transmuted into synth jams most successfully. The former has a slow and sexy pulse and the latter a muscular groove and bassline holding it all together. During an instrumental section Eoin starts mucking with the set dressing and waving a light around like a wizard’s staff. As he sets down the lamp to sing the refrain his amateur dramatics get the better of him and he starts laughing uncontrollably, unable to sing his lines. He looks over at Rory – also pissing himself – and as the song ends everyone is smiling along with them. It’s refreshing to see the two brothers not taking themselves at all seriously and how confident and goofy they can be onstage.
“This next one’s about dancing in scary places.” Last year’s single This Dance is stripped to a nervy skittish beat that makes one wonder whether the band have been listening to The Eraser.
We Can Do What We Want is the only part of tonight’s performance not taken from the new album and is the most dramatic departure from the source material. While 2015’s original belts along with youthful energy, 2019’s update is far slower, with clunky hi-hats that sound like sleighbells, and guitar riffs swapped out for accordion synth patches. It’s certainly not an obvious production strategy but it works nonetheless. Eoin’s singing is intense and it is evident that he’s really into it, spitting out each line with his eyes shut tight and cheeks full of colour. At the song’s conclusion he stands back, hands thrust deep into the pockets of his coat, then rears back and screams at the ceiling.
“This is the last song.” A lady jumps on stage to perform a twitchy, jerky dance during album title track Strange Creatures. Eoin joins in and the pair spend the rest of the song throwing the stage dressing at Rory. We’re all having a grand old time of it.
Overall you can see the band have had fun tonight. They’ve enjoyed this more experimental take on their music, although they seem less assured that they’ve done a satisfactory job. Rory feels the need to apologise and says they’ll be back in a month and will be playing “normal music”.
Personally, I think they’re selling themselves short here. Any reticence on their part may be because they feel their fans are expecting hard-hitting garage rock rather than electro boys. For me, the performance really hit the mark and I hope it’s a sign of things to come.
Bands have to move forward and try new things*. There comes a point where you have to buy a synthesizer and an arpeggiator, and throw your computer out the window and make something real**. Drenge may not yet have sold their guitars and bought turntables, but I really hope their next album is full of this synth shit ‘cause I really enjoyed it.
It’s easily worth an EP. On neon pink vinyl. Come on, lads.
Setlist
AUTONOMY
NEVER SEE THE SIGNS
NO FLESH ROAD
WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR EYES
THIS DANCE
WE CAN DO WHAT WE WANT
STRANGE CREATURES
*Except for AC/DC, obviously.
** A Yaz record.
Photography by James Winstanley.
