Shonen Knife & The Kut
Bedford Esquires – 30/04/2023
You can always gauge the quality of a support act by the numbers they attract; there’ll always be a few slackers who only rock up for the headliners, but tonight’s openers have pulled in a sizeable crowd. With an album that charted at number one in the UK Rock Albums Chart, plus a successful tour with Electric Six in the bag, it seems that The Kut are standing on the cusp of greatness. They’re a force of nature who sweep across the stage like a tornado, and that’s thanks in no small part to a powerhouse drummer who attacks the skins like the reincarnation of Animal (from The Muppet Show). However, this trio lock in tightly to deliver a set full of fan favourites such as ‘If Looks Could Kill’ and ‘I Want You Maniac’. Their amphetamine-fuelled set is brought to a conclusion by ‘And 1 More…’ before they depart as they arrived; in a ball of sonic fury.
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Who’d have thought that a band whose main concerns were candy and cute animals would’ve had a shelf life of more than four minutes? Yet, Osaka’s Shonen Knife are touring to mark their 40th anniversary (celebrations delayed a year by the global pandemic) and they’ve prepared a special career-spanning set in honour of this auspicious occasion. As the notes to intro tape ‘Mango Juice’ fill the air a tangible tension builds to an unbearable level, before the band appear and break the spell with ‘Konnichiwa’, and the “Kurt Cobain effect” is in full force this evening. When the Nirvana frontman first saw Shonen Knife his hysteria verged on Beatlemania, and the Knife are having a similar impact on the studs-and-acne brigade tonight. Hardened punks are turned weak-kneed by songs such as ‘Pop Tune’ and ‘I Am A Cat’ and the good vibes radiate between crowd and stage.
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When attending a Shonen Knife gig you might get a strange feeling of déjà vu; ‘Banana Chips’ totally pilfers The Ramones’ ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’, while the bass line that introduces ‘Nice Day’ is lifted straight from The Jam’s ‘The Eton Rifles’. Yet, such is the chutzpah with which Shonen Knife perform that those details don’t matter; they roll Motown, ‘60s beat, ‘70s rock, and punk into one perfect package, but their modus is more homage than nefarious copycatting. There’s plenty on offer here for the casual fan, and for the hardcore they pull a few surprises out their musical bag in the shape of ‘Lazybone’ and ‘Devil House’. Encores are demanded, and the band are happy to oblige delivering ‘Sushi Bar Song’ and, attesting to their biggest influence, an energetic ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, a cover that would make Joey Ramone and the boys proud. It brings down the curtain down in truly raucous fashion, and if anyone was depressed at the start of the gig, they sure aren’t now.
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Review and photos by Peter Dennis