The Lovely Eggs brought their ten-date tour to promote their new album Eggsistentialism to a close with a fast and furious show at New Century Hall in Manchester on Saturday night supported by Violet Malice and Loose Articles.
Locals Loose Articles open up the night for one of their biggest hometown stages so far ahead of their gargantuan support slot with Foo Fighters at Old Trafford next week and the July release of their debut album Scream If You Wanna Go Faster. They open with recent single Mr Manager and mix old singles like Buses and Snake with tracks from the album including their ode to shit sex versus a night out I’d Rather Have A Beer and surprisingly leaving out Kick Like A Girl. With Abbi now a permanent fixture behind the drums and a new keyboard player in tow their live sound has been almost unrecognisably fleshed out. Erin has taken on much more lead vocals too, particularly on the new songs and this provides them with a contrast they’ve not always had to Natalie’s more direct style. They leave with roars of appreciation ringing in their ears.
Violet Malice is a poet but not the sort you’d find gracing poetry circles. Absolutely unafraid to swear in almost every single sentence she takes aim at creeps and the most preposterous dating app lines used on her in Tinder Bender. Most laugh but there’s probably a few men squirming uncomfortably as well. King Charles’ infamous alleged comment to Camilla about wanting to be her tampon is dissected in her “most hated poem” into an extapolation of an imaginary phone sex conversation between the two of them. She holds most of the room despite being just one voice on stage because you’re never quite sure where her stories are going to go next and just how obscene they’ll become. Brilliant.
The Lovely Eggs are an institution round these parts. They may hail from Lancaster but it’s Manchester where they play their biggest shows. Their no bullshit no fake encores philosophy sits well with the thousand plus folk that fill up New Century for an hour and a quarter of adrenalin-fuelled head rushes of guitar, drums and Holly’s unmistakeable vocal delivery.
The big stage doesn’t faze them at all even though they’re so far apart up there that when Holly moves across for instrumental sections to let loose in front of David’s drum riser she almost doesn’t make it back to her mic. Yet their sound fills the room, big, bold and booming and when everyone in the room raises their arms to join in with the alternative national anthem Fuck It it really feels like a celebration of the underdog, the spirit of independence, fuelled by tinnies of cider, but with their son on tour with them. They tell of blown-up mini fridges and pranged vans earlier in the week and the community spirit that funded the £750 excess from the hire company. They playfully chastise the front rows for being like a morgue and invite anyone who wants to mosh forward, joke about putting MDMA into the aircon to get us going and join anyone who wants to meet them for a drink at the merch desk at the end.
Half the set is taken from Eggsistentialism meaning a few old favourites make way for the set, but the consistent quality means the likes of Death Grip Kids, Nothing/Everything and the superbly titled I Don’t Fucking Know What I’m Gunna Do more than hold their own alongside the classic Magic Onion, the aforementioned Fuck It, Wiggy Giggy, Don’t Look At Me (I Don’t Like It) and Dickhead. I Am Gaia changes the pace down a little and shows their willingness to experiment with their sound and they finish on a triumphant Meeting Friends At Night from the new record. Age and parenthood hasn’t mellowed them one bit on stage - they’re as unique, joyous and exciting as ever.
The Lovely Eggs' official website can be found here. They are also on Facebook and Twitter.
Violet Malice's website can be found here and she is also on Twitter.
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