Music > Live Reviews

Part Chimp + Other Lady + Lady Di

The Adrian Flux Waterfront

07/07/19

Having spent all day with a bunged up ear, I am hoping for some loud – make that seriously LOUD – entertainment to shift that blockage.

First up is LADY DI. I have seen Norwich’s favourite electro-pop-industrial-rock slackers Mega Emotion a fair few times but this is the first time that I have seen this side project from Lisa (bass/vocals), Jan (drums/vocals) and Iain (vocals/guitar). And I have to say, I like their take on grungey rock. Bringing to mind the likesof the Posies and Dinosaur Jr, the band seem more confident and to be enjoying themselves more than they do as Mega Emotion. Good stuff, I just wish Iain wasn’t ill seemingly every time I see him perform...

The last time that I saw OTHER HALF, I said that I would definitely catch them again as soon as I could. Well, circumstances have dictated that this is the first chance I have had to see Cal (vocals/guitar), Sophie (bass/vocals) and Alfie (drums) since they supported A Wilhelm Scream at this very venue just over a year ago. I don’t see them that frequently but I love them every time I do and they just keep getting better o better. This is loud and brutal but there is a beauty here too. Like the Pixies at both their best and heaviest, Other Half are perhaps one of Norwich’s best kept secret. Totally cathartic and yet utterly joyful, this ranks as one of the best sets I have seen this year. Check ‘em out at the Punk Rock Stars In Their Eyes (performing as At The Drive In) here on 13th July. Better yet, see them as themselves.

I have waited the best part of 16 years to see PART CHIMP, ever since I first heard debut album Chart Pimp. When they split amicably in 2011, I thought it would never happen. Having reformed in 2016, Tim Cedar (vocals/guitar), Jon Hamilton (drums), Joe McLaughlin (bass) and Iain Hinchliffe (guitar) do not disappoint. This is one of the heaviest sets I have ever witnessed. Motörhead? Metallica? Slayer? Pah! Mere lightweights. Even Sunn 0)))) are given a run for their money in the heaviness stakes. But, like Other Half earlier, it isn’t just about brutality and there is a strange beauty here. Mentioning songs is perhaps pointless. This isn’t about songs as such. It is about riffs, feeling and groove and, when they really get going, there can be few bands that can groove with such intensity.

On pretty much any other night, Part Chimp would have blown anyone else off stage. As it is, it is Other Half that impress me the most. Still, Part Chimp are superb and anyone that likes their music heavy and loud should check them out.

The only complaint I have is that my bloody ear is still bunged up. If that didn’t clear it, nothing will...