Music / Reviews
Office party with The Hoosiers
Indie-pop band The Hoosiers played a small, quirky gig at the Bristol Post office building on Wednesday morning. Adding to the exclusiveness of the one-off event, the gig was organised by the newspaper, with fans asked to email their what’s on writer Craig Jones for a place.
Bristol24/7 suspected that our staff would not be welcome behind enemy lines on Temple Way but cunningly, someone friendly (me) was put on the guest list after editor Mike Norton initially refused us entry. The cheeky scamp.
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In the Ikea-meets-Google office space of DeskLodge, a shared office space three floors above where the Post news hounds hammer out their stories, the Hoosiers took their place on a makeshift stage. The inside-out style of the office included garden furniture, benches, fake grass, bunting, fairy lights and what looked like a brick house belonging to the three little pigs.
Unsurprisingly, there was no sense of anticipation or crazed fans while we were waiting for the band to arrive. When the band eventually turned up around 20 minutes late they recalled that Guns and Roses were normally two hours late – a bold comparison made by the lead vocalist Irwin Sparkes, seen strumming his guitar later in lunging and squatting motions on the fake garden decking.
As the gig kicked off, the office staff began to gather outside the garden fence, quite literally. This was noticed by the band who warmly invited them to sit down on the fake grass. They are a down to earth and friendly bunch. It was probably a good move to begin the performance with Worried About Ray from their 2007 number one album The Trick to Life, as this confirmed to the audience that they were who they said they were. Frankly, it has been a while since they have done anything of note.
A dispute arose among the band about the name of the next track to be played, but it was resolved in short time with the general consensus that the song was called The Wheels Fell Off. Jokes were made about forgetfulness and Sparkes retorted: “Really? It creeps up on you, like age.”
Perhaps the bare bones production was taken a bit too far. The acoustic approach involved a wind piano played by Sam Swallow. It looked as though he was eating a children’s toy for the entirety of the performance. Alan Sharland’s man-banging-wooden-box role was not completely clear to me. It was as though his two mates formed a band and poor Alan didn’t want to be left out.
These types of publicity stunts always have a purpose. On this occasion, to promote the release of the Hoosiers’ new album The Secret Service and the announcement of a UK tour. Their next gig is on Saturday at Club Vision in Weston-super-Mare. Now there’s a band going places.
Looking to go to a gig not in an office? Check out Bristol24/7‘s comprehensive music listings.