Gigs

Gig Review: Mike Park + Sundowner + Rivers + Sam Russo

Venue: Portland Arms, Cambridge
Date: 5 March 2008

Punk music has a long history of jaded, angry individuals simply itching to tear down the walls of bureaucracy. Tonight, punk is stripped down to its bare bones; just one man and his guitar and, it just so happens, a room-full of like-minded individuals sharing the same uncluttered, yet ultimately bleak, world-view.

The whole evening is succinctly summed-up by one face in the crowd who comments on Sam Russo’s tramp-like appearance and careless, acoustic, style – “Like a busker, only good”, he shouts prompting smiles. There’s even a smile from Sam himself. He whips through various tales of drunken debauchery standing at floor level, raw and unencumbered by electrics, simply refusing to mount the stage. It allows him to look the crowd level in the eye as compatriots, not look down upon them as devotees. ‘Hell Bus’ gets a cheer and ‘St. John’s Bar’ prompts a sing-a-long. There’s plenty of out-of-tune guitar abuse and when a string snaps it’s violently ripped out without so much as a break in song. What he lacks in finesse he makes up for with a hale and hearty vocal, cracked and rich.

Rivers turns out to be Justin Crane, AKA Jazz, the lead singer of local rock heroes Right Turn Clyde. He wires up a semi-acoustic and sings through a mic to give all a good shot of hearing his roughened, warming vocal. It’s not quite as endearing an approach but at least we’re more prepared for it. There’s a sense that some of his set could do with a whole pile of backing instruments but the best ones bustle with attitude. One song that he introduces he’s clearly unsure of how it will work but it turns out to be the highlight.

Sundowner’s Chris McCaughan is unencumbered by his backing band tonight. He’s sporting two wicked veins, either side of his head, and a great beaming grin. He opens with ‘The Sea Of Lights’ and instantly his lilting mid-American accent and rapid strumming style transfix the crowd. So much so that when he finished he comments on how eerily quiet it is out front – “Kinda like doing a gig for my Dad” he laughs. Yes, it’s easy to warm to this spiky-haired mischief-maker. He constantly keeps his new-found rapport with the crowd going between songs, keen for feedback, and lets us know how much fun this tour has been so far. As the second string of the night goes with a ping during ‘My Boatless Booze Cruise’ he happily borrows Mike’s guitar. It’s just another example of how relaxed tonight’s gig is – it’s just a group of friends all headed in the same direction. He ends neatly on ‘Audio Geography’ with the lyrics “Chinatown, killing time” and our thoughts turn to the headline act as we applaud him from the stage.

Mike Park the legendary Korean punk activist, who just happens to successfully run his own record label as well as his own peace-promoting foundation, has moved on from playing with bands and is flying solo tonight. It’s immediately apparent that he’s on a mission to promote awareness as his first two tracks are accompanied by a projected slideshow of anti-racism images and world injustices. His crystal-clear vocals cut through the air enabling those who’ve never heard him before to get just how cutting his lyrics are. His fantastic cover of ‘A New England’ gets the biggest cheer of the night and prompts almost total crowd participation. As Sundowner had done before him he’s heavy on the political speeches, expressing his utter disillusionment with the latest twist in the race for the American presidency. Quite whether the crowd care as much remains unclear. There’s time enough for the bitter back-story behind ‘I’m In Love With A Girl Named Spike’ but before we know it he’s playing his last song and posing for a faked photo with the crowd – apparently one of this tour’s little in-jokes.

I’m left with a slightly anti-climactic feeling, having expected so much, but there is also a part of me that’s happy to have been here tonight - a comrade-in-arms to a group of talented individuals who once hid behind the safety net of a backing group but are now comfortable enough playing their hearts out solo. This way their voices won’t be as easy to ignore.

For fans of: The Bruce Lee Band, The Lawrence Arms, Billy Bragg
Band links = Sam Russo / Sundowner / Mike Park

Sam Russo photo courtesy of Luke Truman

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