Coveryard II

When: Thursday 14th March

Where: Tooting Tram and Social

Why: Because the first one was so good

Neither my flatmate nor I had ever been to Tooting before, which partly accounts for why upon exiting the tube station we let out shrieks of “A Wilkinson’s!” [her] and “A Primark!” [me]. The other part accounting for this is that we are easily impressed and don’t get out much. But it was a good start for Tooting and we wandered along to the Tramshed in a state of dreamy excitement and dazed pleasure (“I wonder if it’s nice, living in Tooting?”).

This was however our second Coveryard and knowing more or less what to expect, we were pretty excited. We got to the Tramshed early to secure a table (VERY wise considering how totally rammed it got later on) and a Mother Flipper burger for our dinner (@motherflipperuk), which was delicious and gave the pub a smoky barbecue-y air for a while, never gonna complain about that. I’m now a fan of the Tramshed as a pub – high ceilings and funky decs, with a good range of ales at the bar, including Doombar, a personal fave. It was as atmospheric as you could want for an innovative music night, especially with the tiled walls and curving tramshed ceiling which was good on the old acoustics front, and with candles glowing on all the tables, chandeliers glinting down on the orchestra and people perched on every conceivable surface in eager anticipation for the tunes.

Tramshed

I have to say, though, that as a venue I think the pub was totally different to and perhaps not as successful as last time’s church – I think it just encourages a more rowdy and congenial atmosphere which is a good thing unless you’re trying to actually hear the acts, which we obviously were. The choir had to struggle to make themselves heard up on the balcony, and there had to be some serious shushing of the crowd before basically every act, which was necessary and I’m glad they got shushed, but was a bit frustrating and school assembly-esque. I think the respectful, peaceful atmosphere of the church was more conducive to this kind of event. Also, the toilets were behind the stage and I bashed into a tuba on my way for a wee, which was embarrassing. 

First of the featured bands was Alaksa, who seemed to be a quietish girl and impossible to search for as there are loads of artists with her name… She was really good though, anyone with more info send it my way! Joyshop were impressively together, with their funky lounge stylings and cool cover of ‘Love will tear us apart’. The format of the evening was similar to last time, with the three main acts interspersed between a few covers by the ensemble and Georgina Hunt, whose cover of Breathe by Sean Paul and Blu Cantrell with a guest rapper was brilliant and invigorating and got everyone going – even the choir up on the balcony were having a bop. This was exactly what the crowd had needed right at the start of the evening to get them going and perhaps to command their attention, rather than it getting slightly lost in the middle of the sets.

DEMS

I’d been looking forward to Dems, and they didn’t disappoint. They perform like a real collective in a little clump of keyboards, and with very pleasing hats. Their originals are great but their cover of T2’s ‘Heartbroken’ was a total winner too. Sadly we had to leave before the end of their set thanks to the massive intervals in between each act, which left the evening dragging on slightly. Obviously part of the character of an evening like this is the DIY element of getting everyone ready, and you wouldn’t expect it to be super-slick, but some of the gaps between acts were way too long and I think didn’t help the rowdy audience’s attention span. Having such beautiful music before you is almost more frustrating when you’re having to ignore the total babble at the back of the pub, but I would blame this on location rather than the audience themselves, as there was a general air of massive appreciation and love for the acts.

Total credit to the organisers though, this is such a great concept for an evening and I'll keep coming back as long as they go. All in all it was a treat to fill my ears with such tunes, and my mouth with delish burgers and ale, and my eyes with fairy lights and nice bearded hipsters, but just make it a bit slicker next time (and bring back the ukuleles!). 

Brixpig x