Here we are back at Bannermans for rising French rocker Lucie Sue on her first UK headline tour for last year’s album, Battlestation. First up, though, we have touring support from Facepalm, a young three-piece from Leeds.
The band open up with “Rock & A Hard Place”, a real fast-paced, drum-driven pounder of a song. It’s a nice start with its early grunge vibes—think early L7 meets early Foo Fighters. The band have a nice selection of songs in their setlist tonight, including the likes of “Hell For Leather”, which is a slower but no less intense rocker, and “Taste What’s Left”, which had me thinking about early Nirvana with its guitar work and vocals alongside the pounding drums and bass.
The band even throw in a great Foo Fighters cover of “Stacked Actors” which really suited their style and made me realise why I’d picked up on that vibe earlier. Nice stuff. The band power through a short but very enjoyable set tonight, ending with their single “The Birds Aren’t Fucking Real” – a grunge-fuelled rocker with some tasty riffs and a killer backbeat from the rhythm section. I really enjoyed their set and can see them moving up the ladder in the not-too-distant future.
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Now for the main event. Lucie Sue opens with a triple shot from the new album, starting with the title track “Battlestation”. It’s got some serious Faith No More vibes and is a fabulous start to the show. This is followed by “Bachat Bouloud”, a riff-infused killer of a song that pounds along like L7 on speed, before the heavy “Hush” ends the opening salvo.
We get a couple from the first album, including the title track “To Sing in French”, which is a slow, groove-laden song with hints of Alice in Chains about it. We also get the bouncy, bass-driven “Lick Your Teeth”, which has an almost hypnotic vibe that gets your body moving with its guitar grooves. Quality stuff.
The band played the new album almost in its entirety tonight, including the fun-titled “I Will Shit Where You Sleep”. It’s another slow grunge groove where the vocals and guitar were giving me those early 90s vibes again; I loved this one live. We also got a bit of a birthday song with a difference in “Burn Your Candles”, featuring a fabulous chorus and some tasty guitar work. Meanwhile, the pounding “The Famous Last Words” just cruises along with another killer chorus section that gets you bouncing along.
As we near the end, we get “Ride the Wired Wild Tiger” – not an easy title to sing back to the band, but a real rocker with some great guitar work. Think Girlschool on steroids; it was a firm favourite of mine tonight. The band end a fabulous night with “Reckless”, a real groove-heavy track with a guitar melody that reminded me a bit of Siouxsie and the Banshees with a touch of modern Girlschool thrown in.
I absolutely loved Lucie Sue tonight. I doubt she’ll be on stages this small for much longer, so catch her when you can – you won’t be disappointed.
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Pics by Gary Cooper
