Gaye Bykers On Acid - Bournemouth

Support from punk rock supergroup Eddie Roxy & The Adjacent Kings 

GBOA

Situated in what might be described as a bit of an industrial wasteland on a backstreet in Digbeth, Birmingham, the Wagon & Horses may not be in the most salubrious of locations – but this pub-cum-live music venue is a real gem. I’ve long known about the place but never got round to seeing a gig there… until now – the second night of a long-overdue Gaye Bykers On Acid reunion, organised by Dysfunctional Bungle & The Barnboppers Collective in conjunction with Mute Elephant Promotions. Understandably enough there’s a distinct psychedelic flavour to tonight’s line-up, but where the Bykers’ catalogue of delights veers more towards a head-on acid punk end of the psychedelic spectrum, the two opening acts charter a more space-rock psych trajectory with a soupcon of electronica and prog deviation thrown in to boot.

Since the Gaye Bykers’ reunion was officially announced back in February, the Electric Banana tour has been eagerly anticipated by many of their old fans and new ones alike. The Bykers haven’t played together on stage in nearly 26 years apart from the first date of the tour the previous night in Nottingham, and even then they’d only had a few rehearsals together in Leicester in the run-up to that. Any misgivings people might have that the Bykers wouldn’t be prepared enough are quickly dispelled. From the moment they hit the stage and launch into their opening number, ‘T.V. Cabbage’, it’s apparent that the passage of time hasn’t dulled their passion or stolen their thunder. Against a synapse snapping video backdrop and dazzling lightshow they proceed to tear through a back-catalogue spanning set, including many old favourites, much to the delight of the crowd. ‘Delirium’ follows hot on the heels of ‘T’V. Cabbage’, whilst the two singles – the Black Sabbath/James Brown funk/soul hybrid ‘Git Down’ and ‘All Hung Up’ from their much maligned debut album, go down particularly well. It really is time that the Drill Your Own Hole album was given the critical rehabilitation it really deserves!

The Bykers’ second album, Stewed To The Gills, is often regarded as their best. So it’s hardly surprising that it’s most heavily represented in the set tonight – with the likes of ‘It Is Are You?’, ‘Shoulders’, ‘Better Off Dedd’ and ‘MAD’ all figuring here. ‘Hot Thing’, the only single from the album is also played, as is its b-side, the thrashtastic American Valley Girl bating ‘Rad Dude’. Three numbers from Cancer Planet Mission are aired - the highlight being ‘Whatever Happened To Malcolm?’

The inclusion of some less obvious choices also provides a pleasant surprise. The rarely ever played live ‘After Suck There’s Blow’ wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Happy Mondays’ Thrills, Pills & Bellyaches album, despite the Bykers’ original version pre-dating that by four years! Then there’s ‘S.P.A.C.E.’ the dance-oriented number that was ostensibly the Bykers’ last ever single, even if it was released under the PFX pseudonym. Their last album Pernicious Nonsense, also released as PFX, is still underrated, and also underrepresented here. But a storming version of the Sister Sledge sampling ‘Disinformation Rise And Shine’ more than makes up for this.

If anything, the Bykers are now tighter than ever and perform with an urgency and maturity they could never really hoped to have maintained nearly thirty years ago given the excesses of some of their recreational proclivities back then. And even if ‘Everythang’s Groovy’ appears to be a little lacklustre at first (at least to these ears), it soon gets into its stride and reminds us how and where the Bykers’ Rich Deakin 2016