Celebrate This Place – Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Dream Wife, Los Bitchos, The Bug Club, Cola & Lambrini Girls Tramshed, 20.05.23.
Independent live music festivals are rapidly becoming a staple of Cardiff’s culture, as venues come together in celebration of the community space that they provide. Aptly then, the title of the latest event to add its name to the roster of festivals that music lovers like me can’t help but buy tickets for, is called Celebrate This Place. A two-day occurrence, the first night took place in Clwb Ifor Bach and, from what I hear, was focussed on promoting the finest acts in the UK’s underground electronic, gothic, and ambient scenes, as artists like Acid Klaus and COFFIN featured. More intriguing to me though, is the second day, as the Tramshed hosts a number of acts spanning hardcore punk, to indie to psychedelia. In that sense, the weirdness defining this festival is still present today, but with a lot more distortion.
I arrive in time to see the end of Lambrini Girls (8) set – their frantic and vicious style of hardcore is influenced deeply by the Riot Grrrl aesthetic yet is one the Brighton trio make fully their own. Every aspect of their performance bristles with a kind of righteous, indignant anarcho-feminist fury, that lends power and authenticity to the deeply tongue-in-cheek songs. In the final moments of their time on stage they spell out their philosophy in no uncertain terms, bidding audience members to call out their friends and family over casual sexism and homophobia, acknowledging that those conversations are awkward but making clear it’s the only way we achieve lasting change.
Cola (7) are the next band to take the stage. Featuring band members previously of the Montreal quartet Ought, they continue on the moody, retro-infused indie path of their previous band, with quietly simmering melodies and sombre yet effective minimalism. There is little crowd interaction during their set, but each of the band members plays with a sense of preciseness that speaks to years of experience in making this kind of music. There’s a slow arrival of crowd members during their set, adding to the lively atmosphere in the venue.
The Bug Club (9) are one of the most renowned acts on the Cardiff independent circuit at this point. There are many people, including my group of friends, who are here to see them, and understandably so. Their music is brilliantly joyful, swaying between moments of subdued indie, and occasionally exploding into something altogether more vibrant. There’s a sense of excitement in the room during their performance as for the first time in the day there are lots of people singing together and dancing along. Even for someone like me who’s not as familiar with this band’s music as many here, this is a show that lends optimism and enthusiasm to the day.
By this point, The Tramshed is bursting with life – every act from here on out is guaranteed a lively and captive audience. It stands to reason then that the next band should be one of the most exciting and technically impressive acts of the day. It’s incredibly hard to describe what Los Bitchos (10) do without oversimplifying their sound. Almost entirely instrumental, the sound they command bears the technical intricacy of prog, the diverse sound palate of flamenco or Caribbean music, and the unhinged energy of punk rock. It’s incredibly danceable music, yet many here are anchored to the spot, deeply impressed with the cleverness on display. This is the sort of band I come to live music festivals to discover – ones which seem to be reimaging established styles, in a way that’s intriguing and unique.
Winning my personal award for stage presence tonight is Dream Wife (10). Bringing a ferocious energy to every second, they have the crowd in the palm of their hand from start to finish. During the intense anti-misogyny anthem of Leech, the crowd chant the refrain of “just have some fucking empathy” back at the band in unison. Meanwhile, songs like Orbit and Let’s Make Out stack tension before exploding into moments of pure viciousness, as the crowd react with the most vigour and dynamism seen yet. The show is also replete with powerful social-justice messaging that only adds to the infectiously empowering nature of the set. All the acts on today are so skilled and intriguing in their own ways that its hard to pick a favourite but if I had to choose a best act of the day, these reign supreme.
Finally, its time for the main act. I confess to a friend before their set that Psychedelic Porn Crumpets (9) name alone was a large part of what made me want to buy tickets to this gig. I am, however, pleased to report that the band utterly live up to awesome weirdness promised by their title. There’s not much time made for crowd interaction. However, with only one hour to impress, the band seem more than happy to let the music make an impact on its own. Indeed, that’s exactly what happens – as the Australian musicians charge through anthems like Hymn For A Droid and Found God In A Tomato, circle pits seem to engulf the crowd during the entirety of the set. Meanwhile, the musicianship the band demonstrate summons a sensation of journeying through a world that is wild and unfamiliar. That’s the magic of this music – you can dance and go crazy to its tempo or stand back lose yourself in its cerebral and immersive melodies.
Days like this demonstrate beautifully why our venues are worth celebrating. Both Clwb Ifor Bach and Tramshed have been placed under threat of closure in the past, and many spaces have not been so fortunate in evading such threats. Still, for those of us who value live music, hopefully we will get many more opportunities to celebrate these places in future!
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