Mello Out.

This evening Decadence in Berlin will be making their second live outing of 2012, returning to Mello Mello in Liverpool where we last played back in 2010. Since our last visit, this awesome independent cafe/venue/art space was under threat of closure by Liverpool City Council, but due to the hardwork of dedicated individuals passionate about music and the arts the venue has been saved, and so it should. We love playing Liverpool, possibly my favourite city ever to play in, so we will be playing our hardest tonight just for you and for a truely class venue which exists for all the right reasons.

Tonight it's a free show organised by the lovely Free Rock & Roll gang, who we've got a lot of love for, and we will be on stage around 10.15pm. Would be good to see some friendly Liverpudlian faces, especially those we haven't seen since our last visit to the city!

Also on the bill are Bolshy and The Wasters.

Captured in a photograph

A very kind gent by the name of Adrian took some photos of us playing at Free Rock & Roll the other night. Take a look at them over on our facebook page here or, alternatively, visit his myspace page and look at some of his other shots whilst you're at it.

They call me Mello Mello

not our crowd, but it was a bit like this!

Had a really great time in Liverpool last night. I can honestly say out of everywhere we have played, Liverpool has been the best city to perform in. The crowd are always responsive and let you know what they thought. There were some familiar faces who had come down to watch which was nice too. Mello Mello is a small cafe/venue pretty much centre of the city and had a really good vibe. By looks of the menu and the range of drinks on offer the venue is proudly independent, serving organic food and drink, serving up homecooked vegetarian and vegan cuisine. Wish I had been able to get there a bit earlier to sample some of it.

We were on first, and went on stage just before 10pm. The place was pretty much packed which was fantastic and we played a very good set which we were all happy with. Everyone we spoke to seemed to be equally supportive, which was fab. One gent went as far as to describe our energy and sound as being like "XTC meets The Skids" which I rather liked... although I doubt it is an accurate description of us in reality!

I was very impressed by the bands we played with last night also, both of whom were Liverpool groups. It makes you realise how depressingly bland most of the music produced in the midlands is when you see these acts who are making interesting and fun music without worrying about falling into any percieved genre. After us was Lisa Locks & The Precious Boys (myspace), which featured Lisa of Bexy Sitch who I was reliably informed by one of the punters (who, coincidentaly, was at our last Liverpool gig) were an amazing group who have now split up into several high calibre groups. I was impressed by Lisa's distinctive guitar style, and musically was put in mind of both Altered Images and Sonic Youth with a hint of the Cocteau Twins for good measure, which I am sure you will agree is an unusual but arousing combination, and it certainly works.

Lovecraft (myspace), the headline act, were a 9 piece which meant the small stage was crammed to capacity. The Free Rock & Roll Pocket Philosophy pamphlet describes them as "Edwardian class English eccentric popsters stalked by the ghost of Vivian Stanshell." I think it's interesting that they mention Stanshall, as the group were eccentric in every sense. However, like Stanshall, there didn't seem to be anything forced about the group: they were just being themselves - and they were deliriously exciting. The had a rockabilly vibe, with a good shot of the macarbe, think Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster but a little more lighthearted - their frontman Craig reminded me a little of Art Brut's Eddie Argos. His general delivery and between song banter was amusing and engaging. All in all, it was a fantastic night of music, and the only downside was having the trek home afterwards and getting lost in Liverpool which seems to be a maze of redeveloped streets which sat-navs just don't know about.

Thanks goes out to Pete Bentham for inviting us to come down and play at Free Rock & Roll, it's a real honour that he gives us the opportunity to play to an interested crowd away from home turf. He has our continued support in all his future endevours and his ongoing mission to provide free rock and roll for all. If you want to find out more about it and Liverpool's great underground music scene check out myspace.com/freerockandroll

Out of Step

illustration by Abigail Mckenzie

It's seems very rare that I come across someone local that is doing anything remotely different to the same-old, same-old alternative nights that burn out and fade away faster than the NME's latest fad band. However, just when I think that all is lost, along comes Out of Step to provide a breath of fresh air on the stagnant Wolverhampton scene. Promoter Rich Cartwright has been doing a stellar job in creating not only a club night which embraces more experimental and lo-fi outfits rather than mainstream mainstays, but also acknowledges the work of local artists and writers who they work with in the design of their posters, various compilations and, most recently, the Out of Step zine. With plans to bring in up-and-coming buzz bands from out of town and even a tape cassette label, 2010 looks to be a promising year for Wolverhampton's independent scene. The club night runs monthly on the last monday of the month at Alchemy, a couple of doors down from the Old Little Civic. The next night is February 22nd and has a post-hardcore vibe going down with Advantage and Still Bust. Make sure to go support the night and pick up a copy of the current zine which can be found in various locations around the West Midland region (I found mine in The Victoria, Brum). If you do get a copy keep your eyes peeled for my three life changing records.

I can also confirm that we will be playing at Out of Step on April 26th with La La Vasquez, a lo-fi three-piece all-girl noise-pop group. I am looking forward to that immensely. Read more about them here.

You can find out more about Out of Step over at outofstepalchemy.blogspot.com/ or by clicking the link on the sidebar.

First gig of the decade

Tonight we are playing our first gig of the new decade at the new Little Civic (now known by the slightly shocking name, The Slade Rooms) in Wolverhampton. It's the first round of this years Battle of the Bands competition. Last year we came second in our heat which was nice - but meant we didn't get through to the second round. We would really like to get through this year, especially after our success in the Shropshire Star Battle of the Bands (where we came second in the whole competition), however with many of these things it will probably come down to how many people come through the door. So tonight, if you are at a loss for what to do pop on down and watch us play our little hearts out, we promise we will raise a smile.

In other news, I (Graham) checked out my Casio last night and was very happy to find it is still in working order after it pretty much died at our last show in Shrewsbury with Calebra just before Christmas. That was a fun gig, as everything that could go wrong did, I kissed a girl on the cheek (of the face, not ass) and the same girl stroked Lucy's hair (on her head, not pubic), we drew songs out of a hat, and we sang all of the verses in the wrong place on nearly every track. Hilarity indeed.

This weekend we are going to be playing the launch of a new alternative club night in Oakengates. We are playing with Damaged Gods (who look a bit nu metal) and there will also be a Decadence in Berlin DJ set sometime around midnight. It all kicks off around 9pm at Eden (once known as Minnesota Fats apparently) and it costs £5 on the door.

I'm currently working on a new track called 'Runners'. I will probably never finish it.

A beginning...

Hello, and welcome to the Decadence in Berlin blog. We probably won't write here much because we don't really know what to say. However there is a chance we may.

I've got a new toy, namely a MicroKorg synthesiser which I'm going to start writing new material with. It makes sounds like space and dying robots and is pretty much the most fun you can have with two hands apart from many other things which I won't mention here out of common decency. This will probably replace the ancient Casiotone keyboard that I've been using, although for the recording of 'I Am a Camera' I shall probably stick to the Casio, just because I wrote it on that poor old thing. Anyway, here's a little photo of the glorious noise machine.

Ah yes, recording. It looks like we may be doing that very soon, maybe next week. We hope to record a halfdozen tracks for an EP which we've tentively titled 'Setbacks'. But I'll write more about that in the future. Before then we've got a couple of gigs: tomorrow night (Monday 9th Feb) we are playing at Rasputin's in Wellington as part of the ScallyWags clubnight. We shall be playing with Inertia, the recently reformed PennyFamous, and the reworked Nylon Shark. On Wednesday night (11th) we will be down the road at The Haygate, Wellington, this time with Ricochet, Someone Else and Nylon Shark.

Last weeks Battle of the Bands at Wolverhampton went relitively well, with us coming second in our heat, and whilst this means we didn't get through into the second round we can still get into the final at the Civic Hall if we get enough people to get over to http://botb1.wolvescivic.co.uk/ and vote for us (HINT! HINT! HINT!). It doesn't take long and we will love you lots if you do spend a couple of minutes helping us out!

That's all I can think of at the moment, so I shall leave you with a nice photo of us looking rather spiffing after hearing we came second last Wednesday.

Warm emotions,
Graham x