Another night out in June… Another gig, another Radiohead tribute group. The Bends..

This was a random find while browsing Skiddle for the Bowie tickets… Following seeing another Radiohead related performance a few months ago at the Camp n Furnace with JK I remembered we had both said “live music” and “Radiohead” equals “I’m there”, so during an opportune moment on the Bowie night out I happened to mention this Radiohead tribute group. Next thing I hear is that JK has booked two tickets – Excellent!

So going into tonight there was a few things I knew… That this performance of Radiohead’s “The Bends” album in full was the first time that this group had performed this to an audience, that the album would be played in full with a few extra crowd pleasers after the main set and that the night started after 8:30pm on a Wednesday night in June. That was about it. Going in, neither of us knew the name of the group performing. As it turns out, the group have called themselves “The Bends”… But they were unsure on their name and they would take a ‘democratic vote’ based upon the noise of the audience… The choices were “The Bends” or “The Fake Plastics”… until just before some guy in the audience shouted out “Radiodad”. It was perfection… But the group were having none of it. The crowd decided on “The Bends”.

Planet Telex is the first track on “The Bends” album and the first track that the group played tonight. It is a hard song to start with and you could hear the nerves during the first few bars, but as I don’t have the balls to get up on a stage and belt out a classic such as this, I really cannot fault the band. Instruments and Percussion were on point. At times there were five of the six members of the group playing guitars on stage! One of the guitarists was also providing backing vocals as well as playing the Keyboard (sometimes all three during the same song). By the time the first track was over and they moved directly into “The Bends” the nerves were gone and the group were developing a commanding stage presence. Applause came in strong between each track and all I can really say is that they were all on point throughout.

The members of the group are older (all but one of them Dad’s) [we think], and I feel this came across in the performance they gave. It was confident and as active as Radiohead are or were at the time of this album release. The drummer was seriously good as was the guy on the base guitar. He was really getting into things later on. One of the lead guitarists was unfortunately hidden a little in the far corner at the back. When he should have been up front with some of the riffs he was performing. I feel the drums could have been moved forward too. (If I ever get to have a band, or be in a band, the drummer is going up front, with guitars and keyboards alongside. Talent up front and me at the back, or in a corner.

Personal highlights for me were “(Nice Dream)”, “Just” and “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”, but they played the rest of the well known hits from the album really well, transitioning smoothly from the rocky tones of “Blackstar” into slower, quieter songs such as “Fake Plastic Trees”, “High & Dry” and “Bulletproof… I wish I was”. For a venue the size of District the lighting and stage layout was good and much more than expected for that venue style. District is another converted warehouse style venue, with the entrance at the side of the stage. The room opens up with seating on one side and stools on the other. towards the back there is another corner table and the bar is on the left. A decent selection of drinks were available and the staff was friendly and efficient. At the back of the venue, there was a roll up shutter which lead to a small outdoor area which was left open throughout the gig, providing fresh air and giving the venue a feeling of space that you don’t always get.

When we arrived around 8:20pm there was a group of people at the bar, and the rest of the venue was quiet but by the time the group took to the stage around 9:15pm the crowd had gathered and filled the main part of the space in front of the stage. That said we could still see fine from the side were we were, opposite the bar. The crowd was singing along with the band and there were plenty of ‘woops’ and applause after each song. Plenty of feet tapping too. Dancing at a Radiohead themed gig… – Well the two tributes I have seen this year, there’s a little but not much, and if I can remember that far back, when I saw Radiohead in the big top in Warrington all those years ago, I don’t think there was much movement then either… It just seems to be what’s done or not done at a Radiohead gig.

Both JK and I left saying we were glad we went and would go see them perform again, so “The Bends” have got themselves some new fans and should be really proud of the performance they gave tonight. Excellent gig, good venue too. I would love to link to their Facebook / Instagram or other social media pages, but they literally decided their name during the gig, and searching those platforms result in a lot of ‘groups’ called “The Bends”… Hopefully we will get to see them again sometime.