All Photos courtesy of Trevor Pake
I Believe in Scorpio Leisure
2024 continues to be a dick of a year for so many reasons, and yeah, my mood is more negative than positive at the moment. Ironically I started this blog as a way of managing my mental health and mood through writing about my favourite subject… but my output is worse than ever because I’ve slipped into old habits in managing, or should that be not managing, said mental health.
As I reached the end of another working week, my “peopling” quota for the week had reached critical mass, so on arriving at Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms I ditched my usual objective of being stage front and slipped quietly to the back of room with my pint of Tennents to enjoy the soothing and entrancing rhythms of Accident Machine, providing just the right balance of helping dissipate the stresses and anxieties of the week, and to build up the anticipation for the main event.
I’ve missed a few gigs this year due to a mix of being absolutely shattered and because social anxiety has been getting the better of me, but I was damn sure that I wasn’t going to miss out on this one, especially after hyping it to all and sundry… The DJs between bands helped lift the spirits too, with some soulful beats and post punk classics. It was perhaps a sign of how good the night was going to be when I heard the strains of Kitchen Person filtering through the room, one of my favourite tracks from the unsurpassable Associates.
I say unsurpassable, but Scorpio Leisure are making a case for top drawer status in my heart and soul. As the band took to the compact stage, Joseph Malik introduced them with some words that echo my sentiments exactly. I don’t believe in much. But I believe in Scorpio Leisure.
The band immediately brought a smile to my face as they kicked off their set with the closing track on Audio Pleasure, Driving, the song which was in fact the one which way back when triggered the ignition and accelerated my, let’s face it, enduring obsession with all things Scorpio Leisure.
As you’d expect from an album launch party, the whole of the album got an airing, with some of the songs receiving a live performance for the first time. The party atmosphere in the venue was palpable throughout, as was the heat… the room was like a sweatbox, but from a symbiotic perspective there was just as much heat emanating from the stage, as the band smouldered, displaying an alluring charismatic charm and igniting a veritable inferno in the venue.
The band were bolstered with guests throughout. They were joined for the first time at this gig by drummer Paul Dennington, an inspired addition which took their live sound to another level, giving them a powerful layered sound, with the legendary Malcolm Ross, one of the bands early collaborators also joining them for live favourite Running on the Spot and Serpentine.
The whole set had a feeling of celebration, despite the dark nature of some of the songs. The underlying feeling of threat on the stalkeresque Fanzine, with its repeated refrain of “I really like you” and the louche seething anger of Apology… Hettie’s tongue in cheek “the next albums going to be more cheery” comment raising a wry smile.
The performance of every single song they performed was pristine, Hettie’s howling st the end of the ferociously savage Feral Life bringing a dramatic edge, Mungo’s crunching riffs on Vibrate and Shake just one of the many absorbing textures, and of course Coco’s sublime bass lines throughout but particularly reverberating on the closing song from the album set, Serpentine underlining Hettie’s near Rapture like vocals.
Let’s face it, every single song they played was a highlight in what was one of the most accomplished sets I’ve seen them play. Perhaps it’s because of my own current personal state of mind, but one of the standouts of the set for me was the magnificent Don’t Get Pulled Under. The affecting shared vocals (Hettie: “thanks to Jill for being my voice of reason”) brought a shiver to my spine despite the sweltering conditions, an acknowledgment and recognition of the feelings of helplessness in the lyrics. “I worry about tomorrow, I worry about the next day…” but knowing deep down that things won’t always be that way. Utterly engaging and bewitching.
Playing the whole album wasn’t quite the end of the story. “The next two songs are from our second album” announced Hettie before they launched into their bawdily provocative tale of a dysfunctional relationship with an hint of a country vibe, “Sweet Harmony” … “I wanted your cock, you wanted my hole” before turning the tables “you called me a bitch, I called you a twat.” This extraordinary set by this most unique of bands closed in style with what could in all honesty be the story of Summer 2024, Rain…
This gig was exactly the tonic needed to revive the spirit and soul.
I Believe in Scorpio Leisure
Full Setlist:
- Driving
- Fanzine
- Parasite
- Feral Life
- Vibrate and Shake
- Apology
- Pulse Beat
- Don’t Get Pulled Under
- Running on the Spot
- Serpentine
- Sweet Harmony
- Rain