Into Live Music: His Lordship

They say to be in the eye of the storm is the last place you might want to be, but that’s where I and others in the sold out Edinburgh crowd found ourselves the other night. And boy, was it a fuckin’ blast!! His Lordship brought their unique brand of rock’n’roll and garage punkabilly to the inner sanctum of Cabaret Voltaire. Someone might want to check the structure, the joists, the foundations because the band literally brought the venue to its knees with their no holds barred sonic assault. 

 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there really isn’t anything to beat a three-piece band that comprises drums, bass and guitar/vocals, is there? Set up, plug in and off they go, it’s really that simple. Or is it? Of course it’s not. You need stage presence, the tunes and an innate, almost telepathic understanding. His Lordship has all of that.

The metronomic I Live In The City kicked things off at breakneck speed, the bar set and while the pace occasionally slowed (very occasionally), the majesty of the music never wavered. 

 

 

Early on, singer/guitarist James Walbourne introduced the track Jackie Works For The NHS, noting that it was about his friend Jackie who indeed works for the NHS. Pausing, he added “Fuck the Tories” which was of course as well received as it should be. The Gene Vincent inspired rockabilly grooves of Rock Fall Echo Dustfollowed swiftly, nicely teeing up a cover of The Way I Walk which was (and people will know how much I covet The Cramps version) the most beautiful, sleezy, blues filled take on the song I’ve heard. Walbourne’s guitar cut like shards of glass and drummer Kristoffer Sonne at one point stood up a la Slim Jim Phantom to pound the life out of the drums while Dave Page’s unerring bass held it all together. Sublime. 

 

Buzzkill hinted at The Vapors Turning Japanese with a Sparks style vocal while The Repenter was a ballad of badass rock’n’roll, Walbourne’s guitar eking out sounds that were both off the scale and deftly played. 

 

Walbourne of course played with The Pogues, so he recalled memories, talking with Shane MacGowan about old rock and roll records before introducing a new track, the instrumental Farewell Paddy. The spotlight on the band was a luminous green and somewhere, somehow, you just knew…

 

 

Forget Grohl, Bonham, Moon et cetera, the drumming on Cat Call is ridiculous. Granted, I can’t get deep on paradiddles or syncopation but I do know this, Sonne drums with passion, power and poise. 

 

The encore was a (pardon the pun) red hot version of Red Hot, originally recorded in 1955 by Billy “The Kid” Emerson. It’s rockabilly manna with an edge that was impossible to bottle. 

 

His Lordship epitomizes everything that is right with music. A band that leaves nothing at the door, all in attitude and an array of tracks that demand to be heard. 

 

For more on His Lordship, head to their website here.