It was editing Sunil Singh’s review of the Blues Pills album Birthday that turned me on to this band. I always listen to the YouTube videos as I add them to the articles, and here was Blues Pills, a band that hooked me. Immediately, I put my name down for the Lafayette show. If the Friday night electrical issues on parts of London’s train network were causing problems, this seemed to affect the Pancras Square venue also.
Blues Pills – Daniel Romano’s Outfit
Lafayette, London – 11 October 2024
Words And Photography: Steve Ritchie
Mark Taylor got it right straight away. “Stop talking like a bleeding photographer,” he wrote on Facebook, adding a smiley face in answer to my moaning about the Lafayette lighting. But when you have Elin Larsson’s soulful vocals superbly backed by three super-talented musicians delivering songs of such wonderful quality, and you struggle to make out a face, then that makes me grumpy.
Blues Pills are not some miserable gothic band all draped in black.
Daniel Romano’s Outfit
It is probably not a Layafette problem, though. Daniel Romano’s Outfit opened the evening in fine style. In Ian Romano, they have a really cool drummer who really helps to fill the sound and push the band along.
Bathed in light, Daniel Romano leads from the front. It may be a lazy comparison, but there are mannerisms he makes on stage that hint at a Pete Townsend style. If the new album Too Hot to Sleep has a more punk/rock feel to it, then this fits in nicely.
But the three up front can really sing. Nerveless gets a massive cheer. Carson McHone is great, throwing in some aggressive tambourine and wonderful vocals. Carson dons a guitar and takes the lead vocal on one song. This comes across really well, and that slower ’70s vibe in the middle is awesome.
There are some great bass runs in these songs. There is no setlist on the stage, and I am not familiar with these songs. But Outfit is a band I will desperately be checking out, if only to find out the title of the second song they played tonight. That had a chord progression to die for.
Daniel Romano’s Outfit finishes on a boom. It was a set timed to exactly 30 minutes, with no fluff and no messing around. There were big cheers and a sizable queue at the merch table. Great stuff.
Blues Pills
Lafayette is pretty damn full tonight. This is my first visit, and I am impressed. It’s friendly all the way in. The stage is a good size, with the hall much wider than in length. You get a good view from either side, and the balcony looks like a formidable place to watch from.
There is no pit, but I manage to get to the front at one side of the stage. Chatting to a few people, there was excitement to see this band which was quite infectious. Blues Pills hit the stage and smash through Birthday and Don’t You Love It. It’s dark and dingy, though.
The lighting does not change for song three, so I move away from the front and point myself to the stage left at the back of the hall. Blues Pills throw out Bad Choices.
Live, the bass run from Kristoffer Schander is immense. I’m a massive fan of the classic three-piece, and Schander matches wonderfully with drummer André Kvarnström here. This leaves Zack Anderson to work his magic over the top. Anderson is stage right, and from where I stand, you can’t make out facial features, much less where his fingers are on his instrument.
Elin Larsson moves from side to side on the stage, encouraging and cajoling the punters. I write in my notes, “Why the fuck do they have to be bathed in shadows? I’d donate 50p to the meter. Who pays to watch shadows?”
Top Of The Sky follows. Elin asks for our lights out on the phones. We need something as the band are now bathed in murky blue. Mark Taylor was probably right. The crowd’s whistles after the “long way down” in the middle are really loud, and the cheers after the guitar break are goosebump-inducing.
“London, it’s great to be back,” Elin says. We are then into Bliss. This has some great guitar, and the balcony gets some tambourine-waving attention. It’s still dark but with a bit of yellow flash. There is a big guitar solo with a cool ’70s vibe, not that you can see much of Anderson.
A huge blast of back-lit white light meets the ending of the song. I blink. Thanks for that.
Proud Woman has the ladies whooping in the middle, while Low Road brings another awesome guitar solo alongside a great rumbling bass. An exquisite vocal runs towards a big end. Hands are in the air everywhere. This is huge.
Elin shares nice words for the Canadians supporting. “The sweetest people. So fucking good every night.” Like A Drug finds the silhouette on stage visually fitting with the style of the song as well as an eye-catching guitar solo. Piggyback Ride sounds epic live.
“Friday night. I love you, London,” Elin says. “I love you,” shouts one from the crowd. Despite my moaning, this is emotional. There is a real connection between band and punters. High Class Woman finds Elin delivering yet another high-class vocal. The guitar is atmospheric.
We do need more wah in our lives in these troubled times, I write in my notes. There are large claps; Elin is on the monitors again, demanding, “Come on, London.”
A loo break during Ain’t No Change, finds that the set is pumped through the speakers in there. It sounds immense. The reverb on the vocals is so cool. I did not get that effect in the hall. I write a reminder to check if they have a live album. On this loo based evidence, it would be a smash.
The intro to Black Smoke is intoxicating, and then bam. The tempo changes are something to experience live. The guitar solo is something like Ronnie James Dio’s Elf but on acid. There is a Hendrix-style end to the song. Someone remembers to hit the switch for some lights as the bass and drum shine, bringing the song to its close. This gets massive cheers.
“We have had a wonderful time here,” Elin says, pretending that this is the last song. There is an emotional tinge to Little Sun. “It’s dedicated to a friend who lost both parents in 12 hours in separate incidents. I was not there to help on the other side of the world. This song was written for her.”
It’s almost black on stage, with some fog for the atmosphere. Music has a visual element as well. When you hear the back story of this song, you can feel the emotion as well. The song builds to its crescendo, and you can see fuck all.
Blues Pills are straight back for the encore to a stage bathed in black and blue. “This means the world to us,” Elin says. There is a big thank you all around. I love Back On That Horse Again. That vocal in the chorus is something special.
“You know what to do, London,” Elin calls out, and we dutifully clap along to Bye Bye Birdy. Here, she jumps into the crowd. They have to turn the lights up so she can find her way back to the stage.
Before that, there is another guitar solo to die for. The electrical problems affecting the lights hit the guitar and it dies. This means a bass/drum finale, and both boys fill their boots in style. Elin is on the monitor, demanding our last saps of energy, and we are going wild. Anderson is back right at the end, and we get some more Wah.
“There are two kinds of people in this room, good and… this song is about the evil dude… the badass. Are you with me on this one?”
There is an emphatic yes as Devil Man comes to close the evening. There is light thrown on the balcony, and the faces of the punters up there catch my attention. They all have big smiles and mouths wide open singing along.
Coming out of the solo, it’s voice and guitar to such a level that it sounds like a dual guitar solo. That is some power coming out of someone in green silk trousers and a black silk shirt.
This is a triumphant finish. Elin gets the final “Devil Man” in with no backing to great cheers. Then it’s boom, and the band crashes into that final note.
It should be your mission in life to hear this band live at least once. That is an experience that is not to be missed. If you are in Manchester today, you know what to do.
