On Saturday 27th April the whim-induced Giant Syndicate, a band led by legendary Fire Records Alumni Howe Gelb (Giant Sand), Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses) and Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate), tore down the Earth Theatre in Hackney to celebrate 40 years of Fire Records, and bring down the curtain on a 10 hour, multi-act, psychedelic extravaganza, hosted by Stewart Lee and curated by the label boss James Nicholls.
“We should call it the Giant Dream” said Howe Gelb once all the posters had been printed and tickets were on sale, but in many ways it was just that!
A psychedelic haze filled the Earth Theatre as we presented 14 of our acts to a packed, sold out, attentive audience to celebrate 40 years of the label, most of which have been spent in Hackney. The now-fully-restored Earth Theatre was itself derelict for 40 years, a concept that was lost on almost everyone but who cares? Long time fan and occasional collaborator, and peerless host, Stewart Lee sang Happy Birthday while staff old-and-new raided the backstage for beers. A good time was had by all. A video reel of archival music videos played between the bands and Chris from Innerstrings carried the whole night with mind blowing projections, even if the cameramen occasionally stepped in front of them as Chris Carr helped himself to another bottle of wine.
But what of the acts themselves? The accomplished Josephine Foster temporarily discarded the psych-folk of old for a trip into dark-wave ambience and imported bands like Immaterial Possession (From Athens in Georgia) and Monde UFO (from California), commanded the large stage as if they had been doing it for years, while Bas Jan and Islet always feel at home in places like this. It’s criminal it doesn’t happen often enough. Film composer/genius Graham Reynolds connected the daytime and evening bills with liminal luminescence before a show-stopping collaboration with Italian musician Marta Del Grandi, topped only by her set that followed. Somewhere in between this members of the Dream Syndicate surely put on the best mid-afternoon matinee performance of the last four decades, which included a wonderful duet with Jane Weaver. Of the headliners there is no voice in music that can fill a room quite like Kristin Hersh, and Giant Sand returned to both form, and their first London show in years, with eccentric and emotional effect.
All performing artists:
The Giant Syndicate
Giant Sand
Kristin Hersh
(Members of) The Dream Syndicate
Josephine Foster
Vanishing Twin
Islet
Graham Reynolds
Marta Del Grandi
Monde UFO
BAS JAN
Immaterial Possession
Jane Weaver (DJ Set)
Hosted by Stewart Lee and curated by label boss James Nicholls
Projections by Innerstrings
Photos by Anete Lapsa
Vibes by Mr Gordo
