Liverpool’s Camp n Furnace was the venue for tonight’s gig. Seeing The Untold Orchestra playing a selection of Radiohead covers with a guest singer was what was on offer for the evening. I had company tonight in the form of another Radiohead fan, so I didn’t have the usual levels of anxiety when entering the venue. We arrived before 8pm which was the slated start time for the event, and upon arrival we tried to enter.. the wrong venue. It’s all very confusing down there… Camp n Furnace has it’s name on the wall but it’s only one of the many units and venues down in the Baltic Quarter.
My guest for tonight also picked me up from home, so I was not faced with the sweaty walk to the bus stop, and wait for the irregular bus services into town on a Friday night. We got in the venue and got a drink from the bar, buy the time we did that there was a small queue forming for entry into the gig itself. Our tickets were scanned and then we were given a wristband (which of course I am still wearing now). We found a table near to the front and sat down, before discovering a pillar right in our viewpoint, so we quickly moved to the front row. The seating in the Camp n Furnace is communal seating. Long tables and benches that sit many many people. It was great to get a space at the front. For a while our table was filled by just us, till nearer the start of the gig a young woman named Amy and her Mother joined the table. They introduced themselves and we started having a laugh. A while later another couple joined too and the table behind us filled up and soon after the whole venue.
It was full and busy, but not to the point where you couldn’t walk around / have space etc. It was approaching 9pm and they still hadn’t started, then they all appeared on the stage just after 9pm. They then proceeded to have a bit of a meeting up there on the stage before they finally started playing. It wasn’t the 8pm till midnight that they advertised, but it was around 9pm till 11pm, with a break in the middle. But the music was on point and the vocals too. There was three vocalists in the end. Who I presume is the lead singer of The Untold Orchestra, a blonde girl and a guy sitting at the piano who I swear could have been Lewis Hamilton. – He looked about as bored as Hamilton would look during some songs…
But mostly it was great. They played a wide selection of songs starting with the Radiohead Anthem of Creep. They played the classics… Just, Exit Music for a Film, No Surprises, Karma Police… then some other lesser known tracks such as Lucky from OK Computer. They saved Paranoid Android for the second half alongside Weird Fishes and Lift. Was surprised they didn’t play Idiotech or Street Spirit as known Radiohead anthems, but then how do you even go about choosing what songs to play at a Radiohead cover gig, there are so many! We had a few drinks during the show and the audience was loving it. Certainly Amy and her Mother were enjoying the show for sure!
They finished quite.. abruptly. They did come back to do a second half, but there was no… encore as such. When they left the stage, they were done. When they returned, they returned with their bags for their equip… INSTRUMENTS (shh Rob). So it definitely wasn’t the 8pm till midnight that they advertised, but, fair enough, they played well. They also.. play a lot of different music, different gigs etc. For example their next two gigs are David Bowie and Stevie Wonder… and I think we might be quite fancying the David Bowie one… But yes, they finished just on 11pm and we hung around for a little bit, hugged our table companions goodbye and same with the singer who was Sophie… somebody.. If I remember I will post it here.
Short write up this one, but the night out was good, the company and performance was good, and for what I paid, I am happy! Next up.. Bill Bailey!!
