Part Chimp at The Luminaire
30th July 2010 – 5.20 pmI honestly thought he was kidding. I recognise Part Chimp hanging around in the audience, chatting and watching the support acts, and manage to have a quick chat with their drummer. The band are really friendly and John and I chat about naming their current album Thriller, releasing live recordings, and the number of bassists they've had. Three albums and three bassists, you're getting through them in a Spinal Tap-style, I say jokingly. 'Yeah, we're going on as a three-piece', John replies and chuckles. He goes to get set-up and then Part Chimp appear, as a three-piece. It looks like they really are having trouble keeping bass players around.
The band start the set with Trad, the raucous introduction to their current album exploding through the speakers. Part Chimp are loud even without a bass player. Perhaps they have cranked their amps up to eleven to compensate. But the sound doesn't seem to be missing anything, the guitars growling loudly and deeply. And after Trad we get thrown straight in to War Machine from second album I Am Come, which is probably played faster than the studio version, making the final, even quicker burst of energy at the end of the song exhilarating. Next is new song You Decide, a glimpse that Part Chimp are still moving forwards and creating, whilst Iron Pond shows that they haven't lost focus of their older material and that it is still as strong now as it was when first released.
The set continues bouncing between tracks from Thriller and I Am Come, with Today 2, Hello Bastards, and Sweet T all getting the audience bouncing or head-banging, depending on how much hair they have. The energy and loudness never relents, building up to the amazing crescendo of Starpiss, final track from the current album and a pounding wave of glorious aural masochism. Leaving the stage, Tim rests his ageing guitar down carefully against the amplifier, letting it resonate and sustain for the couple of minutes they take before returning for an encore of 30,000,000,000,000 People. One final fast song is played to stir the audience in to wanting more and Part Chimp leave the stage.
It must have been a couple of years since I last saw Part Chimp. I have missed a couple of gigs and not been able to make others, but tonight is a reminder of how incredible they are live. The studio albums are loud and powerful but it is nothing like seeing the band perform and having the music pummelled in to your body. This is why I like live music, because when performed well it is truly invigorating. I've got to see Part Chimp again.
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