#PaperDressVintage

[awesomeandpossum]

Seagulls from our gig in Paper Dress Vintage

[alexamorosdiary]

Paper Dress Vintage Yard Is GO!

Saturday 03/07/20

[gigsoupmusic]

Daddy Long Legs (24 Feb 2020)

Daddy Long Legs. We ain't fans of the spider variety, but when it comes to the ass-kickin' harmonica-blowin' foot-stompin' maraca-bashin' bluesy rock from Brooklyn, NY…. Bring 'em on!

You can't keep us away from Paper Dress Vintage for too long. In what has rapidly become our favourite small independent venue in London (see our recent review of Madonnatron, Opus Kink and others here), last night we were shakin' it all around again, though this time there was even less room than last. To think that they initially thought they only needed one night (the original date is tonight, Tuesday)! They could probably sell out every night from now till Easter if they wanted to. However, that wouldn't be fair on the lovely and patient people of Belfast, Derry and Dublin, who are to be the next lucky citizens to enjoy this outstanding import from across the pond.

The band took to the stage to raucous applause, as Brian Hurd lifted his harmonica to his lips. They kicked off with "Long John's Jump", the first track from their much-loved Blood from a Stone album from 2014, a fantastic intro for the uninitiated. Accompanied by his trusted bandmates Murat Aktürk on guitar and the crazy hirsute Josh Styles bashing his drums with a drumstick and a single maraca, everyone immediately started a-stompin' and a-jumpin' and a-spillin' their drinks and a-shoutin'…. No slow build-up here. It was high-octane from the get-go.

There then followed a couple of tracks from their latest album Lowdown Ways, which came out last May, followed by the actual track "Blood from a Stone" from the aforementioned eponymous album. The band then treated us to "Evil Eye", the track that closes their début album Evil Eye on You from 2012, one of our favourite tracks of theirs. Proper blues, which ends with one of the best harmonica performances we have seen recently. While Lowdown Ways is a fantastic album, we were so happy that we were getting more than our fair share of the early stuff too. A few more tracks from the new album followed, starting with "Winners' Circle", which isn't really bluesy enough for us. But it was when Josh started moving his drums towards the front of the stage that we knew that "Theme from Daddy Long Legs" (the opening track from Lowdown Ways) must be on next, so we got our camera ready. We have uploaded our video footage of it for you here, which we hope (we know!) you are going to enjoy. https://youtu.be/JZ6UySZ4duI This is the best song for us from the new album, it's so tribal and it showcases so many different elements of the band. A track written by all three band-members in collaboration with Jimmy Sutton (owner of Hi-Style Studio, which actually produced Lowdown Ways); this is a track that we hope will always remain in the band's live repertoire.

A few songs later we got another treat: their cover of the fantabulous song made famous by the Flamin' Groovies, "High Flyin' Baby". It was one of our favourite renditions of the evening, and one where Brian could put down the harmonica and get to show off a bit on slide guitar. We had originally seen footage of them playing this at last year's Montréal Jazz Festival, but we have to say that they played it even better here, and we loved the little pause in the middle that they did, which they didn't do in Canada. It's a track that has a lot of foot-stompin' in the final third and gets faster and faster. But it's that slide guitar, an instrument on which normally Murat takes the lead in his faultless open-tuned style, that really worked us up into a frenzy. While we love the original Flamin' Groovies version, there is always room for a cover version, especially one as good as this.

Then it was back to some more early stuff, starting with a real hillbilly classic of theirs, "Shackin' Up", which got us hot and sweaty, followed by a lot of stompin' and clappin' from both the audience and the band during "Big Road Blues" from Blood from a Stone. Then, Brian put the harmonica to his lips again and made the sound of a choo-choo train, in a way that only he can. Yep, we were getting at last the first track from their very first album, "Death Train Blues", that Muddy Waters-tinged beauty which reminded us why we fell in love with them all those years ago.

The set officially ended with their version of the Link Wray classic "Fire and Brimstone", which has been covered by Nick Cave and countless others, but of course Daddy Long Legs put their own special stamp (and stomp!) to it. We knew there had to be an encore. The band would not have been allowed out of Hackney without obliging. We weren't, however, expecting such a long one. One of the (many) highlights of the evening was at this point, when Brian got off the stage and made his way into the middle of the crowd, with his harmonica, and started playing along with the band, to a song we were unfamiliar with but which we think was called "Call the Doctor" (correct us in the comments below if we got this wrong). Credit must go out to the fantastic sound engineering tonight. There was not a single bit of feedback, every sound could be heard clearly and everything was balanced excellently – even when Brian unexpectedly ran amok into the moshpit.

Their final encore song was a classic. As soon we heard Brian growl 'brrrrrrrrrrr' through the outstanding speaker-system, there appeared a wave of recognition upon the faces of everyone who was in attendance. We were going to be treated to "Motorcycle Madness", another great track from that marvellous Blood from a Stone album, a song that often doesn't get played at their sets any more so this was well and truly an unexpected treat. We love this paean to the free-wheelin' life of the biker, espousing the philosophy that 'we don't care if we live or die'. It's a rebellious song, and a perfect end to the proceedings. There couldn't really be any other track from the trio's back-catalogue to follow that. The night was over, and everyone slowly dispersed into the cold London air, happy that they had been lucky enough to bag themselves entry to the hottest ticket in town.

If you were fortunate enough to buy tickets for tonight's second helping at Paper Dress Vintage… my, are you in for a treat! If not, then perhaps it's time to check out whether there are any cheap flights across the Irish Sea, because after February they are heading back over the ol' U.S. of A., and who knows when you'll next get the chance to see them again here on your doorstep. You'll only have yourselves to blame. Read the full article

[folklore1]

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One of two fantastic support acts for the @jaye.bartell show at @paperdressvintage this mon the 5th Feb. Check out the wondrous @k_mcclement & @joolsowen doing their sweet thing .. @wegottickets - http://www.wegottickets.com/event/422304 @hackneyvenues @hackneylife_ @lifeinhackney @hackneypeddler @hackneyresident #hackney #hackneygigs #londongigs #uktour #jayebartell #kristinmcclement #benedictbenjamin #folkloregig #paperdressvintage (at Paper Dress Vintage)

[travel-dance-blog1]

It’s been a while since I last wrote anything. I have been very busy with a new job. Some of my recent travels have been here on the UK. I have spent a few days in *London*. which is what I will talk about today.

This will be my first mention of *dance* in this blog. I got the London on the Monday evening and stayed with a friend who lives by Boston Manor. I stayed here because the following morning I had a Disneyland audition, I find its always cheaper to stay with a friend and avoid peak train tickets. This audition was at Pineapple, a lot of auditions and classes are held here. You can find pineapple between Covent Garden and Leicester Square station. 7 Langley Street. You can find lots of auditions posted on a board in the cafe in pineapple. 

After my audition I met some friends it Borough Market in central London and we went for a drink and food in one of London’s oldest pubs, George. The food was great and the atmosphere was also nice. We then walked to the Tower Bridge and saw it lit up at night, it was really pretty, it’s a 10 minute walk from Borough Market. Once we walked across the bridge we continued walking in the direction of Big Ben. passing London Bridge, Tower of London, The bridge from Harry Potter and the order of the pheonix, The London eye, Westminster Abbey, arriving at Big Ben, Which is currently under construction. You can’t really see it at the moment and the bell won’t chime for 4 years. Just a heads up. We stayed in an air bnb in Peckham.

The following morning I had another audition at Pineapple, Peel. Then had lunch at a pub in Leicester Square, found some good tickets to see An American in Paris. I then walked with my friend to Trafalgar Square, we walked around Nelsons Column to find some information. thee usual couple of police cars went by with there lights and sirens, closely followed by another 15, 2 bikes and 2 fire engines. Down the road had been an accident, it was like an action film. We had a couple of hours spare so we went and had a look at the *Harry Potter* section in Primark, Oxford Street.  and of course all the Disney merchandise. It turned out our theatre was next to Primark so this worked out pretty well and we then went to see the show, which was incredible! So much talent. This comes out of the West End beginning of January.

My friend is visiting from America so I’d planned a fun packed few days. Things you can do in Bicester: Bicester Village, a designer outlet shopping village. Vue cinema, we went to see ‘Murder on the orient express’ which was very good.  Bicester leisure centre. Launton club, comedy night.  These were the things we got up to.

The following day I took him into Oxford, starting off at Blenheim Palace, we took a walk around the gardens and then in the palace itself. If you buy a ticket you can convert it into a years annual pass that day so you can go as many times in that year as you want. I got a hot chocolate from the cafe, I would suggest you make sure it’s stirred! Mine was not. We then took the bus into Oxford City centre, got some lunch, then started the treasure trail I brought from online, this is a fun way to see the city, unfortunately we didn’t get to finish it was we ran out of time but it was good fun. you definitely have to be aware of your surroundings. We then went to the Oxford round table fireworks, again pre booked and paid for online. It was their 50th anniversary. The fireworks was great and the display was directly in front of a full moon on a clear night.  The only thing I think they could have done was play some music with the fireworks.  It definitely makes it better. Next we went for dinner at Bella Italia, if you have a taste card you can get 50% off or 2 for 1 main meals. the lasagne was really good!

On Guy Fawkes day we went to Bristol, you have to centre where all the shops are but we went for a walk down the docks. it’s a really nice walk here up and down the canal, the atmosphere is like old London.  That’s the feeling I got. Here we had lunch at Pizza Express (taste card) I always go for the doughballs and American pizza. this is my all time favourite pizza. On the drive home the moon was beautiful, it looked so big and had a slight orange tinge to it. 

It was back to London for me. the last day with my friend. we had fish and chips from a chip shop in Baker Street. I still feel he didn’t get the full fish and chip experience. but it was nice. there was also the *Sherlock Holmes* pub round the corner. and the Sherlock Holmes museum is close by too.  We then made our way to east London via Oxford Street to see the christmas lights, to see some live music (a friend of a friends) at the Paper Dress Vintage they were amazing! we then made our way back to the air bnb which, this time, was by Parsons Green.

the next morning we went to the airport said our goodbyes. I then went to Oxford Street and did some shopping.

Pictures above; A table of human shoulder bones inside Blenheim Palace, expedition; Live music from the Queens guards for Remembrance Day; Bristol.

[heavyheartmusic]

TONIGHT we're at @paperdressvintage supporting the mighty @hawkbandofficial // doors 7.30 // Heavy Heart 8.30 // HAWK 9.15 // see ya there! @the_local_london @vetarecords 📷: @eyesclosedblog #london #livemusic #paperdressvintage #hackney #onstage #fendertelecaster (at Paper Dress Vintage)

[rbentertainment]

#RBEmusicShowcase @alyaelouissi.official 🎤 #paperDressVintage #londonmusicscene #knowledge #livepa #londongigs #london @b3tvchannel #b3tvchannel #nofilter OFFICIAL PICTURES link ON BIO cc @nam_radio @ringovision @muesique @musichouruk @drooble (at R.B.Entertainment Limited)

[rudebonemusic]

🕴🏾⬆️Way up ⬆️ thanks @uksblackrose 4 coming on stage 🎵🎤🎵#RBEmusicShowcase @rbentuk #Rudebone #afrobeats #dancehallmusic #energetic #WayUp #high #galala thanks @adrianboltar for 📸 #paperDressVintage #Londongigs catch me today 22nd July at @honourablermd #beachParty #clactonBeach (at R.B.Entertainment Limited)

[runningonyoungblood]

Fab Four. #bloxxband #paperdressvintage #london #band #alternative #excuseme (at Paper Dress Vintage)

[sarafedimusic]

//My band @electricenemy is headlining on the 19th @paperdressvintage in Hackney// //Little tip i drink G&T// . . #electricenemy #bassplayer #paperdressvintagehackney #ginandtonic #trabenbass #newpost #newrockmusic (presso Paper Dress Vintage) https://www.instagram.com/p/B47-kXyhYxc/?igshid=okh3s3xkyv8x

[royabrehl]

Excellent times on Saturday - big love to Alexis for asking me to play at your party (hope you enjoyed it as much as I did) and to @hm_silversmoke for putting me up, and lovely to catch up with peeps I’ve not seen for ages 💜 Also @paperdressvintage is an awesome place ✨ https://www.instagram.com/p/CflljZGgAKR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[power-stones]

Poster for the second edition of TWEAK at @paperdressvintage Live electronix and experimental sounds. #tweakthat #music #poster #sixquid

[gigsoupmusic]

Honeyglaze, Opus Kink, The Caress, Madonnatron. (30 Jan 2020)

London has her fair share of quirky music venues, but you couldn't get much quirkier than Paper Dress Vintage: clothes shop by day, music venue extraordinaire by night.

To celebrate Independent Venue Week, Paper Dress Vintage teamed up with Egyptian Elbows to bring a musical extravaganza that will not be forgotten any time soon. Last night's headline act was Madonnatron, but we were so happy that we got there early to enjoy the three (yes, three!) support acts. One in particular brought the house down. More about them later. The evening began with a charming little band from London called Honeyglaze (photo, below), comprised of Anouska Sokolow (vocals, guitar), Tim (bass) and Yuri (drums). At times reminiscent of Welsh indie darling Cate Le Bon, Anouska fronted what proved to be a solid and most enjoyable set.

The one thing you can say about Anouska is her diction when singing is impeccable. You can hear every single word, and her songs really tell a story. This is a band with something to say.

Tim also has a fine voice on him, and the penultimate song of the evening was, in our opinion, the stand-out tune. Called "Gyllyngvase", this song was one of Tim's own compositions, and was named after the popular beach in Falmouth. It had us tapping our toes and smiling.

The final song, "Childish Things", this time with Anouska back on vocals, was also most enjoyable and had us wanting more. However, with three more bands to come on, time was of the essence. Honeyglaze are a new band (formed just a few months ago), and we are sure we will be hearing more about them in months to come.

We hinted at the beginning of this review that one of the support bands was really, really special. We will keep you in suspense no longer. Opus Kink (above) were, quite simply, amazing. A six-piece tour-de-force from Brighton, fronted by Angus Rogers, a tall cheeky-looking young Derren Brown lookalike, plus a trumpeter, sax player and the usual keyboards, guitars and drums.

Opus Kink were such fun to watch on stage. Angus was up and down like the proverbial yo-yo, in an absolute frenzy of energy, which rubbed off on the crowd, who by then had completely filled the small but perfectly formed dance area in front of the stage. It was amazing that he did not once knock over any of the other band-members or their equipment as he swung around with abandon.

What was also really fun about Opus Kink was the diversity in the styles they played. Occasionally Angus appeared to be channelling the late, great Jake Black from Alabama 3, almost preaching his lyrics to us like the Very Reverend D.Wayne Love himself, at times putting on a slight American twang.

But yet this was a very British-sounding band, occasionally even reminding us of The Specials in their heyday. Sometimes they even sounded a little bit like Talking Heads. But then Angus, ever the joker, introduced his next sound in what sounded like very convincing Swedish (but which, we are told, was just gobbledy-gook). This was for us our favourite song of the whole evening, a very interesting number called "Better Be Good". It had a bit of everything, occasionally quite tribal, some of the preaching-style singing we touched upon earlier, but then it got quite funky, the brass instruments were manumitted, and the whole rhythm completely changed. And changed constantly throughout the song, it has to be said. Fantastic.

The band eventually played "Mosquito", a song they have recently released on a double-A side and which was produced by none other than Liam Watson and Tim Bulleyment. We did our best at trying to get near the front to record this on video. While not as crazily diverse as "Better Be Good", it demonstrates well the fun that was had on stage and, towards the end, Angus even gave out some Frank Black-style screaming. Here is our video footage: https://youtu.be/CPxcvnwt93M Following a couple of less memorable tracks, the band finished on an absolute high. "Doin' it Myself" was probably the most rock'n'roll and most dancey song of their set, and showed off just how tight they are as musicians. The audience erupted in applause afterwards.

Once Opus Kink had finished, a good third of the audience seemed to either leave or migrate to the smoking garden downstairs, which led us to believe the band had brought a lot of the Brighton cognoscenti with them. Next up was a very British band called The Caress (below), a five-piece outfit from London with a few singles to their name already.

This was pop in its purest sense. With three guitars and one bass, one would be forgiven for expecting a very guitar-heavy sound, but actually it was a very smooth, melodic and at times quite atmospheric set, the highlight being their beautiful song "Why Don't We Take A Walk By The Sea".

We were already aware of this particular song, having seen the excellent video on YouTube a while ago. The slow twangy guitar reminded us of the UK Surf version of Pixies' "Wave of Mutilation" – our second Pixies reference of the night! We will share with you The Caress's official video of the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-sRoXrx2Xc

Another song that we enjoyed was called "Bruiser", on which both of the main singers performed with gusto. This is another one they released on single and, although very short (about two and a half minutes) the bass was very Simon Gallup-esque in places.

Following a short break, the headline act were finally raring to go. Madonnatron have been around longer than the previous bands, having been rocking London since 2014 (indeed, they once graced the old Shoreditch Paper Dress stage many moons ago).

These three girls (and one guy) really can rock! While no one can say they are great musicians (and they would no doubt be the first to admit this), they can rock a venue like any other more accomplished band. They kicked straight off with "Be My Bitch", and it is palpably obvious why Liam Day at Trashmouth took them so earnestly under his wing. This is chaotic stuff that sounds great on stage; punk rock at its bitchiest. Respect!

Kudos also has to go out to the heavily-bearded chap in charge of the lighting last night. None of these Madonnatron photos here in this review have been edited or Photoshopped. No filters have been added; this is just straight-up what we saw. The lighting was, as you will appreciate, just perfect.

We would not normally include so many photos from the one act in our review, but we couldn't help it this time. Guitar/Keyboard-player Joanie looked like a supermodel last night, as we are sure you will agree.

Following a rendition of "Sucker Punch", the lead single from their Musica Alla Putanesca album, which has the unforgettable lyrics 'Flash your head with a Mary Antoinette / You eat a lot of cake for a little boy', the band rocked out with "Flesh Pond", a track with a guitar intro not disimilar to a certain James Bond theme (you know the one), albeit much dirtier.

Their stand-out track for us came next: "Liminal". This was actually the most psychedelic song that they played, and probably their most accomplished, musically-speaking. This time the bass player took to the microphones (we believe everyone except the drummer took over the vocals at some point during the set), while the rest of the band concentrated on making a very enjoyable swirling sound which ticked all the right boxes.

A tribute to the lovable character of Super Hans played by Matt King in the Peep Show sitcom, "Super Hands" was quite a sexy, sultry song. With lyrics like 'would you put your hands all over me', this was a departure from the Riot grrrl abandonment that had gone before. The lights tickled crazily all over the band, like the very hands they were singing about.

After a couple more tunes, the girls finished with "Headless Children", which was the opening track from their 2017 eponymous album, Madonnatron. We managed to capture the moment on video, which we would like to share with you here: https://youtu.be/1gQcNivdnqQ And then it was all over. Breathless from what we'd seen and heard, bedazzled by the awesome lighting and fantastic sound for which Paper Dress Vintage is getting a well-deserved reputation, and for which founder Steve Dix can feel justly proud, we made our way home, realising the mammoth task ahead of us: to somehow describe four completely different bands in a review that needs to be live by the following morning. We hope we have achieved our ambitions and that you enjoyed re-living the night with us. Read the full article

[abjectsband]

💛 Last night was rad! Thank you to @careertheband @attheloversclub and #sparklingduet for opening for us (killer sets all of them), @paperdressvintage and everyone that came down! 💛 NEXT GIGS: ⚡1st Sep @manchesterpsychfest , ⚡ 2nd Sep @100clublondon with @786woohoo , ⚡ 28th Sep Brighton @bitchcraftbtn and ⚡ 29th Sep @victoriadalston for @someweirdsinclub birthday ⚡ (en Paper Dress Vintage)

[folklore1]

July 12th @paperdressvintage .. @benedict_benjamin_songs #fullband + support from @k_mcclement #ticketsinbio 👆🏼@NewRootsEvents @LondonInStereo @hackneygazette @hackneylife #Hackney #hackneygig #ldngigs (at Paper Dress Vintage)

[mikegoodsoul]

And more of @fourteeno3 sounding supreme at @paperdressvintage right now... #LiveMusicLoveMusic #singersongwriter #Tethered #Hackney #hackneyresident