The Room / Irene & The Disappointments – Carnival Brewing Company, Liverpool – Friday 26th April 2024
Our trip to Liverpool last week was timed to take the chance to see the Room perform in their home city, but before the show I finally crossed the threshold of the legendary Eric’s.
Combining the two things created an interesting juxtaposition.
The Room actually performed at the original club but aren’t that interested in the old times at all, to the extent that only a quarter of their current set predates the current line-up. As a result they recapture the spirit of the original venue in a way that the modern Eric’s is completely incapable of doing.
It’s fair to say that the building on the site is now essentially a theme pub. The old basement venue is long gone and the current pub is instead at street level. Sure, memorabilia of the old venue is the main feature of the room, and there’s loads of interesting posters, fliers and photographs and even a couple of small murals to reflect the era from 1976-1980.
It all looks respectful, yet look closer and the photos aren’t Eric’s period specific, many clearly date from later on – for example Echo & the Bunnymen with Pete, the Reward-era Teardrop Explodes line-up and the Sex Pistols with Sid. There’s also a handful of gold or silver discs on the wall but closer inspection reveals that they have nothing to do with Eric’s at all – what relevance are Queen to the Liverpool post-punk scene?
And most damningly, whilst there is live music, there’s no attempt to even approximate the spirit of a club that reflected a time of genuine excitement and innovation. Instead we were greeted by a solo singer performing covers which had, you’ve guessed it, absolutely fuck all all to do with Liverpool.
So it’s a cash-in and not a very subtle one either since the building is linked to various other establishments including a Beatles theme pub.
Staying long enough only for a swift pint, we headed off for something to eat before the Room show which took place in the unusual circumstances of a brewery tap-room.
As detailed elsewhere on here, the band have been active again for two or three years now and this was our second chance to see them after the show with Red Guitars in Glasgow in September.
There wasn’t a specific reason for this show in that the excellent ‘Restless Fate’ album has been out now for over a year and its follow-up won’t arrive until later in 2024.
As a result the set was along similar lines to last year’s but there was some rotation amongst the new songs with the inclusion of ‘Bull In The Doorway’ and even a new tune to finish.
The ‘Restless Fate’ material came over well again pivoting mainly around Darren Brown’s guitar.
The arrangements tended to follow those on the record which meant that “Sleepless’ and ‘Crying Face’ had a good kick to them. ‘Dust Motes’ though was taken at a slightly brisker pace than the record, with Clive Jones’s drums clattering the song along.
The limited amount of old material worked well too, with the likes of ‘New Dreams For Old’ and ‘Things Have Learnt To Walk …’ providing a nice counter-point to the more claustrophobic and denser material from the new record.
The best thing on the night though might have been the new song, ‘The Teller’.
On this one, there was a sense of the band opening out the sound from the last record and the result was more expansive with Ethan Kyme’s organ driving the song. In support Darren’s guitar chimed rather than riffed allowing Dave Jackson’s vocals to soar over the backing in a way that called to mind earlier incarnations of the band. It was an impressive way to finish and promises much for the next record.
Support came from Irene & The Disappointments who turned out to be a singer/guitarist and a guitarist who were backed by a laptop and neither were called Irene.
They delivered an accessible, melodic set which was thoroughly enjoyable even if their stage patter is very self deprecating. Like the Room later on they finished with a new song from their forthcoming fourth album although for me the highlight was probably the hooky ‘Marcel’. An excellent opener.
In conclusion and, as you would expect, the show was way more satisfying than the theme pub. Irene & the Disappointments were a nice discovery whilst the Room demonstrated that they continue to explore what their sound can be. They may be getting on with things quietly in the background but that doesn’t mean that they’re not worthy of a wider audience.
The Room play the recently opened Rough Trade Liverpool with Mike Mooney on Saturday 18th May . [Tickets]
The Room Setlist