Music / Review
Review: Space Cassette, Sawmills – ‘A robot, a mushroom and an alien walk into a bar…”
“Greetings humanoids. We have come to earth to investigate and we’ve decided we like it. We’re into it”.
Henge, a quartet of musical extraterrestrials (excepting one token wizardy human on synth), are unleashing their signature brand of old school rave-inspired ‘cosmic dross’ to a roomful of ecstatic aliens, robots and transdimensional beings.
Ravers went all-out with costumes on a sci-fi theme – photo: @lws.lws.lws
The band, tonight’s headliners, have made a name for themselves with their blend of theatrical character building and quirky songs featuring heavy bass and beats, all on an alien theme.
It’s the perfect silly escapism and has earned them a devoted cult following of fans that love dress-up and dancing in equal measure.
It was clear from the get-go that the crowd were here to dance – photo: Ursula Billington
While Henge take the stage at a relatively early 8.30pm, though, this is a day rave and there’s plenty to be seen before then.
Age of Glass are the opening live act, delivering plenty of melodrama backed by a disco beat.
In the last ten years the Mancunian trio have morphed from funky prog to Henge-lite, though it’s safe to say they were the originators of the synth-driven space-rock the latter have made their own given they started life half a decade earlier.
Age of Glass deliver futuristic electronic synth-pop with a disco beat – photo: Ursula Billington
The janky microtonal riffage of Angine de Poutine strike as another retrospective reference point. Today’s viral acts can so rarely take the trophy for coming first.
Lead vocalist Rory Charles is larger than life and the industrial space offers up a suitably otherworldly backdrop – photo: Ursula Billington
The trio are a dazzling bunch, bass/synth player in a long pink dress and backless Moroccan sandals, the drummer a Kossack x Wee Willy Winky hybrid and vocalist Rory Charles resplendent in flowing turquoise skirt, sequined jacket, a neck ruff and pointy cap.
There are lots of dream-sequence breakdowns, broken fairground ride segues, expansive vocals, emotive korg and ecstatic rising chords that give life to the crowd.
One acoustic guitar-led number, preceded by Charles’ indignant screams of “Where are the beanbags?! Bring out the beanbags m’fucker!!”, has a decidedly 60s neo-folk feel before quickly switching up with heavy synth and beats to an out-and-out dance banger, each drop preceded by an evil scientist wall of white noise. Those beanbags were obsolete after all.
These dancing robots got knocked down, but they got up again – photo: Ursula Billington
Age of Glass are regulars at Space Cassette parties, as are many on today’s bill. The promoters specialise in live electronic sci-fi raves, though this is the first they’ve held in Bristol which seems like missing a trick because boy, is there an audience for it.
Sawmills, the Jam Jar’s sister ‘catch-it-while-you-can’ venue that is a mix of in and outdoor rustic warehouse spaces by the River Frome in St Jude’s provides the perfect backdrop for this gathering of happy-go-lucky oddballs here to combine splashes of Saturday afternoon sunshine with hours of dancing.
Sawmills has a mix of in and outdoor spaces, as well as a comfy sofa area – photo: @lws.lws.lws
Their next soundtrack is Liverpool art pop band-come-sample queens Stealing Sheep who have taken residence in the spaceship DJ booth.
Kitted out in bright pink inflatable ‘blob’ suits and haunting expressionless face masks, their look is reminiscent of Bjork’s Venice Biennale DJ spot and their sound flecked with neo-soul, contemporary r’n’b and autotuned pop, set to industrial beats.
Stealing Sheep started life as an art-pop trio and have branched out into DJing – photo: @lws.lws.lws
As much as closing with MIA’s Bamboo Banga is a smart way to end on a high, the duo are dramatically upstaged by Henge vocalist Matthew C. Whitaker appearing, grinning wildly.
Starry-eyed fans whisper in his ear and can’t believe their luck at being on the dancefloor with their hero.
The Henge frontman caused a stir when he appeared on the dancefloor to have a bop to Stealing Sheep – photo: Ursula Billington
Astute use of flip-flop stage programming means no waiting between acts who prepare on one stage while attention is focused on the other. It’s a slick day with all the fat trimmed, providing non-stop dancing for those that want it and longer sets to get immersed or dip in and out of at will.
The crowd is starting to gather in force as IDM royalty 808 State launch into a live modular set of their pioneering acid house-techno sound on the mainstage.
It’s a suitably squelchy set with all the bleep-blorps above relentlessly hard-hitting atonal Madchester bass.
Graham Massey and others started 808 State in 1987 and they went on to pioneer new sounds and have multiple hits – photo: Ursula Billington
Graham Massey, the only original member still touring today, pulls out his soprano sax for megahit Pacific State, an 11-week chart-topper in 1989, to much excitement.
It’s a beautifully mixed crowd and older ravers, perhaps remembering this from the first time round, sway at the front with eyes closed and palms outstretched in nostalgic revery.
Pacific State, with its live saxophone, is a standout in the set – photo: Ursula Billington
It’s a different crowd that steps up to the booth, though, as junglist Haaji Ka Halva takes over, blasting out a mix of dancehall, gltichy bhangra and jungle rhythms.
With a squeaky helium-voice amplified through a fairy wand mic she demands dancers don blob suits and a few staunch ravers dutifully pick up and put them on for a hearty five minutes of hilarity before the heat gets too much and the suits are removed.
The crowd are up for it but putting up with the restrictive blob suits for more than five minutes is too much to ask from people that just.want.to.dance – photo: Ursula Billington
“Ravelings” suitably warmed up, it’s time for the main act. Henge do not disappoint.
Beginning with their rapture for earth – though Whitaker, aka Zpor, later admits it’s only in the “top 13” planets they have visited – they romp through songs about human evolution, homo sapiens brains and the wonders of the universe.
The packed room goes wild when Henge finally take to the stage – photo: Ursula Billington
Their motivational song to inspire climate action is a hit, with the full room exploding at its close. Have we finally hit on the way to engage people with the climate emergency?
A pair of fly agaric dancers with mushroom heads and fringed white bodies add yet another surreal element to the psychedelic vision onstage.
Dancing fly agarics add to Henge’s surreal stage presence – photo: @lws.lws.lws
Across the room beings rave, bop, head bang and crowd surf. Arms are up in ecstasy, dancers throwing themselves about with abandon, losing inhibitions, revelling in the silliness.
The band say their overarching mission is to share ‘cosmic dross’, what they call their intergalactic euphoria-inducing music, to help clear the mind of sadness.
From the overjoyed faces at Sawmills today it’s clear that their interplanetary outreach mission is proving a great success.
These lovely beings, who travelled from Devon and elsewhere to celebrate a birthday at Sawmills, had nothing but compliments for the venue and event – photo: Ursula Billington
Main image: Ursula Billington
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