MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
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A veritable trip to the 1980s Grebo scene
GBOA
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production that panders – if inadvertently – to Western prejudice against China
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a history that excavates the enormous role played by agricultural workers in recent times
ALEX HALL recommends a book that places empirical evidence at the heart of understanding racism
Gaye Bykers on Acid
100 Club
SAMPLES aplenty, psychedelic riffs, sly lyrics, wizard like guitarists and selling their soul to rock ‘n’ roll, this Bykers gig at the 100 Club is a veritable trip to the 1980s Grebo scene, but also a testament to how much fun the four piece were and are.
Kicking off with a sample of the film intro from A Clockwork Orange, the band launch into TV Cabbage and are immediately in their groove. That’s all the more impressive as they have a stand in guitarist Tom Stanley subbing for Tokyo-based founder member Tony Byker whose guitar licks are suitably psychedelic and hard to emulate. Tom excels.
There follows a 17-song set that veers from standard indie punk to thrash metal and dance rock that brings to mind a clash of music genres, but all go down well with the committed fan base.
Stand-out treats include Shoulders, written as a tribute to the fans that followed the band from gig to gig and Zen Express which takes 1960s guitar riffs and crosses them with a punk edge.
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