Gig: Julie Christmas @ The Garage, London
Julie Christmas by Jonathan Dadds
Every once in a while you decide to go and check out an artist despite never having heard their music previously. Julie Christmas was someone who I heard rave reviews about after playing Roadburn Festival last year and a name I noticed on this year’s ArcTanGent lineup, so I was sure the music would be great, even if I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect.
Sugar Horse
Before getting to discover something new, however, I settle into The Garage for a band I’m very familiar with, Sugar Horse. For those of you who haven’t heard Sugar Horse previously my first suggestion would be wear some earplugs - they’re a band who move air. They’re masters of dynamics too - the near silent middle section of Shouting Judas at Bob Dylan goes down phenomenally with this crowd, not only did the applause not accidentally start early but there was total silence in the room as the vocals were whispered into the microphone. A stunning moment. It’s hard to assign a genre to the band’s sound with elements of post-rock, sludge, doom and shoegaze all working together to create something wondrous, complete with excellent titles.
Julie Christmas
It doesn’t take long for me to see why so many people were praising Julie Christmas’ set at Roadburn last year, the band sound incredible! Coming on stage to a drawn out droning note before breaking into a track from Christmas’ earlier band Battle of Mice. It goes from quiet to heavy in no time, Julie performing while wearing a dress and headpiece of neon lights which change colour as the music progresses. Eventually the headpiece is removed and, as the set continues you can see the emotion in the delivery. Some of the build ups in the song and the way the vocals are delivered it’s hard not to get swept into it. The rest of the band are incredible too, everything that’s meant to be heavy hit’s like a hammer but they can rein it in for the quieter parts.
The standout track of the set for me was The Ash, one of the guitars changed for a second bass playing absolutely filthy harmonics while Christmas sings cleanly over the top. I’ve had this track on repeat since leaving the gig and think it actually sounded heavier live, suiting the tone of the gig perfectly. It’s a lower tempo track but man does it hit hard! Just under an hour of music and a one track encore later and the band leave to another droning wall of feedback. I’m left blown away by the experience, both the music and the performance itself were incredible. It’s always a good feeling when you go to check out an artist you’ve never heard before and come away impressed but this was on another level - not only have I found a new band that are unmissable next time the opportunity arises but I’ve also got a back catalogue of both solo material and previous band material to get stuck into.
