Les Big Byrd

I've been a big fan of Les Big Byrd since catching them at the Liverpool Psych Fest back in 2014. They don't visit the UK often, so I was delighted to have the chance to see them twice in one day.

They made a valiant effort in their short set at Rough Trade East, but it's hard to enthuse a few lunchtime shoppers, even if they have a score of enthusiastic fans peppered amongst them. What they did manage to do was convince me that the 5 tracks from their recently released album 'Iran, Iraq, Ikea' had the same live potency as their earlier material.

Their evening set, rounding off the first night of the 2018 Punk Slime Ball at the Old Blue Last was a different story. From the first chord of set-opener Indus Waves, they were blistering, passionate and tight.

You don't have to read between the lines or know any Swedish to understand that I-I-I (as no-one is calling it) is front-man Jocke Ahlund's break-up album, and the rest of the set all came from there. The lyrics might be a bit on-the-nose at times, but if I was writing in a second language I wouldn't get much further than 'the pen of my aunt is in the garden'.

There is a passion and intensity about Les Big Byrd live that doesn't come across in their recorded work - or at least it only comes across for me once I've experienced the tracks performed live. Frans' Rickenbacker bass throbs away in lockstep with Nino's drums, while over these Konie's keyboards and Jocke's guitar weave around and between, one moment rocking out, the next swirling into a psychedelic cascade. I grinned my way through the set, feeling the relief and delight of someone whose high expectations have been more than met.

I hope it won't be another 4 years before we get to see Les Big Byrd in the UK again - but whenever it is, I'll make sure I'm there, and it will be well worth the wait.