Touring with a full live band and presenting his 7th, Pictish Trail studio album; Life Slime, Johnny Lynch does not disappoint. Along with his many musical talents, he is effortlessly entertaining and amusing. The stage was rather full with the band Joe Cormack on guitar, Robyn Dawson on keys and violin, Susan Baird on bass and Iain Stewart on drums. There was a good mix of fans here with a warm feeling of connection.
The audience were introduced to two support acts; firstly, the cool Jenni Mac who entertained with intriguing lyrics and engaging hooks such as serrated beaked swans and the demise of fruit flies! Then OKO OKO, whose nostalgic folky harmonic sounds and clever use of interesting instruments were both a satisfying complement to what was in store.
Pictish Trail start powerfully with the high energy sounds of Melody Something from the Island Family album, followed by diving straight into the new album with Battery Pack, Hold It and Crystal Cave, whilst beckoning the audience forward to capture our focus. Pictish Trail has experimented with noise and lo-fi distorted vocal effect tools which seem almost intrinsic, but the new songs are very strong with lush, melodic vocals running throughout. The excellent Dead Connection track from the 2016 Future Echoes album punctuated the run of new tracks, along with some superb backing vocals.
Johnny Lynch can be animated with expressive movements and intense eyes. He flirts with the crowd and totally nails it. Playing with us he knowingly talks about us Geordies liking a pint of brown booze! There was an amusing issue with the mic stand, which Johnny took in his stride whilst cracking jokes, which had the audience eating out the palm of his hand! He engaged with us regularly, plugging the new album and the bulging merch stand with great humour. The tote bags are particularly ingenious!
Another Way, a favourite of mine from the new album, is slow with mesmerising potent lyrics and builds up with a great bridge. The track puts in mind a little like the sound of John Grant, but Johnny’s dulcet tones shine through gloriously.
It seems that during recent times, Pictish Trail has developed an uncanny obsession with ‘slime’ in all forms and connotations. He informs us there are lots of videos out there where people are touching and manipulating the stuff. Then much to the crowd’s joy and intrigue he produces a huge lump of it and moves through the audience until back on stage where he smothers his face with it, singing all the while! After that refreshing comical display, he starts singing wearing his showpiece – a huge head mask – which is like Frank Sidebottom’s hairy Pict cousin.
This brilliant show ended with the track Life Slime, the title of the new album. Johnny clearly demonstrates his unique style and clever depth of musicality. He personally greeted and spoke to everyone who stopped to say hello, with such humanity and a warm personality, it left me leaving for home with a cosy Ready Brek glow
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