The Lovely Eggs All-Dayer: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

The Lovely Eggs take over the Brudenell Social Club for a day of 20th anniversary celebrations. Andy Brown joins the party for Louder Than War.

In an unexpected plot twist, the sun has made a rare appearance in West Yorkshire, just in time for the arrival The Lovely Eggs. To celebrate 20 eggstraordinary years, the psychedelic punk duo have cooked up an all-day eggstravaganza brimful of music, poetry and – if we’re lucky – a little bit of bingo. Oh, they do know how to spoil us. This isn’t The Brudenell Social Club anymore… this is Eggland.

It’s only half three in the afternoon but we’re soon thrust into the spirit of a Saturday night with the arrival of Polite Bureaux. The Bradford-born band kick things off with a punk-goes-clubbing banger full of filthy guitars and head-bobbing bass. Singer – and professional afternoon raver – Joseph Smith leads the charge with some profanity-laden provocations. I haven’t been awake all that long so this is exactly what the doctor ordered.

It can be a double-edged sword getting the opening spot on an all-dayer but the dance-punk 4-piece isn’t holding anything back. Except Your Skint sounds like the apocalypse while a song dedicated to the M606 may just be the second-best song I’ve ever heard about a motorway (I mean, nothing beats John Shuttleworth). Other highlights include the nostalgic electro-poetry of Bradford and the pissed-off Pulp of Broken Biscuits.

Next up, we’re caught in the path of a psychedelic, electro-punk tidal wave courtesy of AK/ DK. Killer synth riffs and thunderous drums propel us into the late afternoon as the crowd nod along in hypnotised approval. Just when you think the duo can’t possibly go any harder, they crank up the intensity with some heavy and beautifully synchronised double drums. Both members gleefully lost in the thoroughly ecstatic bombardment of sound.

In a bid to take things up a notch, the duo invites Thick Richard to the stage. “No rehearsals, no soundcheck, no mercy,” the poet warns us before they launch into the apathy-baiting mega-rant Nobody Shouts (it’s so good I buy the 7” at the merch stall, on which Richard lovingly inscribes the words ‘fuck you’). By the end of the set, there’s blood on one of the keyboards. Sweat, blood and bangers. What more do you want?

Now, it can’t be the easiest of gigs reading poetry to a Saturday night crowd but – and I can’t stress this enough – Violet Malice owns the stage from the very moment she steps out. With her poker face firmly affixed, Malice dryly drawls every filthy word and uncensored thought. Wordsworth would never dare.

Every stanza is packed with sarcasm, innuendo and an uncomfortable amount of detail. Offal, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the inappropriate use of a fire escape… it’s all here. It’s funny, obscene and obscenely funny. The poem she created for a fans partner – on their request – is abominably brilliant. Suffice to say, we’re in the palm of her hands.

In a twist that would only happen at a Lovely Eggs all-dayer, we all get to play a little bit of bingo hosted by a hilariously reluctant Thick Richard and the Eggs very own Holly Ross. There’s even a rather generous hamper to win via the vegetarian meat free raffle. Now that’s entertainment.

After endearing themselves to the crowd via an impromptu soundcheck sing-along, it’s time for a set from The Bug Club. Despite the buzz I’m unfamiliar with the band’s oeuvre, yet from the start the trio’s chemistry is absolutely magnetic. The kind of indie pop charm meets rock ‘n’ roll swagger that reminds me of The Wave Pictures. Seriously, where have I been all this time?

Highlights include the over-excited giddiness of Twirling In The Middle, a song about looking a bit like James Bond and the smart, melancholic pop of Appropriate Emotions, which bassist Tilly Harris describes as the closet the band has to a ballad. I hear someone whistling Best Looking Strangers In The Cemetery in the toilet shortly after the set. Always a compliment. What a great introduction.

“I’ve come to do some horrible, shouty fucking poetry for you,” Thick Richard explains before breaking into a poem dedicated to, “all the dickheads.” Said poem includes a rather memorable put-down as he talks about someone that, “makes your racist uncle sound like fucking Confucius.” Try pulling that one out at the next family gathering. Every poem is furious, foul-mouthed and incredibly funny.

Amongst various family favourites, we get the death obsessed genius of The New Voodoo Funeral Blues and a rather disgusting – yet educational – poem called The Night Of The Long Egg. If all this wasn’t enough, he’s also brought along a slightly unnerving puppet of Gregg Wallace. Well, it is nearly Halloween. It all ends with a cheery little poem about imminent nuclear apocalypse.

“Oh, the pleasure/ Oh, the pain/ Just to go on tour with you again,” sings The Lovely Eggs vocalist Holly Ross as she makes her way on stage. It’s a little melancholy song called Minibus that feels entirely apt for tonight’s celebration; marking – as it does – 20 years of travelling around the country in a little white van. Mere moments later and Ross – accompanied by drummer, husband and general partner in crime – David Blackwell are tearing into some fuzz-laden psych-punk.

Over the years, the duo have built a DIY empire of egg and tonight’s anniversary is a bit of a milestone for band and fan alike. I remember singing along to Fuck It in the old games room at this very venue many moons ago and – as a newly indoctrinated devotee – feeling like this was the start of something extremely eggceptional (apologies but egg-based puns are pretty much compulsory at this point). Tonight feels like all those years whisked into one; an indie psych-punk omelette, if you will.

The duo delves deep into their bag of tricks with a setlist that goes from psych-punk barn-burners to anthemic outsider anthems and indie pop oddities. People Are Twats – one of the first songs I heard by the band – never fails to raise a smile while the mighty Magic Onion is as exhilarating as ever. Have You Ever Heard A Digital Accordion is an utter joy and has to be one of the finest questions asked via a pop song. It also happens to be the sole reason that I’ve read Richard Brautigan.

At one point, Ross talks about how the band do their own admin and tells us about an unusual email she received from a fan called Alan. Said email contained the – apparently rare – image of a crab resting upon some bracket fungi. She proceeds to hand the photo out into the crowd; who then take it upon themselves to start chanting “Alan”. Being a Lovely Eggs fan really is like being part of a strange but very cool club. I bet there’s diddly-squat about crab and fungi related emails at a Guns & Roses gig.

The likes of Big Sea and I Just Want Someone To Fall In Love With show the bands knack for a big-hearted indie anthem while Fuck It remains one of the most reassuring and cathartic singalongs in existence. It’s easy to forget just how many cult indie anthems this duo have produced and as the life-affirming tones of Wiggy Giggy reverberate through the crowd – unlocking previously embargoed reserves of serotonin – the world feels like a better place. Happy anniversary, you wonderful Eggs!

Main photo: Darren Andrews

The Lovely Eggs can be found on their website, Facebook, Instagram and Bandcamp

Listen to music by The Bug Club, AK/DK and Polite Bureaux on Bandcamp

Find Thick Richard and Violet Malice on Instagram

All words by Andy Brown. You can visit his author profile and read more of his reviews for Louder Than War HERE

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