studio 9294 – Where is Phil now?

Sunday 12 March 2023 – London.

This will be the fourth gig I’ve been to in under month, incredible, and I missed two others that I planned to attend as well. I haven’t done this for a very long time and I’m enjoying it to. Hopefully this will continue as the year goes on.

I’ve been a fan of Teeth of the Sea for a few years, though had yet to see them live. The headline act, Oneida, I’d not heard of until recently; they’re an American band that have been around for over 20 years but didn’t popped into my radar until the 2022 LP ‘Success’, which is frankly fucking brilliant. With its mix of sing-a-long pop rock and psychedelic rock its one of my favourite LPs from 2022. They’re doing a short tour of the UK for the first time in years, and while Sunday isn’t my favourite day to go and see a couple of bands I decided this time it was worth it.

They were playing at Studio 9294 in Hackney Wick, which according to G*#gle Maps was under 25 minutes from home, if I timed the trains exactly right; which amazingly and completely by accident I did. We saw Hey Colossus at 9294 last year so I was prepared for a poorly lit venue, and I wasn’t let down either, it remains poorly lit.

Teeth of the Sea opened with a booming electronic track with bass straight out of the heaviest techno, the audience, especially those like me at the front, could feel more than hear the bass and drums. It seemed massively loud but with no ringing ears the following morning, thankfully I remembered ear plugs, it obviously wasn’t as loud as some shows I’ve been to recently. I recognised most of the tracks they played, but annoying can’t put names to songs.

They are a drumless instrumental trio with a trumpet player, albeit the trumpet is played through a myriad of effects. It was the trumpet that first attracted me to the band as it’s not an instrument that features highly in electronic psychedelica, in my experience anyway, but I really like they way they make it sound. I’m looking forward to the new album.

It was tough going getting decent photos, the light was terrible and I was stuck tight up against the stage by an enthusiastic crowd. I think the show was sold out, it was busy anyway.

Oneida are a five piece with two keyboard players, one also who occasionally plays bass, and they fully occupied the small stage. I thought they were great, a bit more engaging with the banter than Teeth of the Sea who didn’t say anything at all. I started off in front of the guitar players before moving to the opposite side of the stage later in the set. I would loved to have been in front of the drummer though, he was incredible. There were moments during their set when clean white light was on the stage and I managed to grab a couple of photos that didn’t need to be converted to black and white; if only Teeth of the Sea had the same!

They played quite a few songs off Success, including the 15 minute Paralyzed which was a set highlight.

I was too close to the stage to get a decent photo of the other guitarist, so here is a guitar.

For a Sunday night it was a great gig, well attended by a supportive audience. I had a good time; and I grabbed a gig poster too.

Friday 24 June 2022 – Hey Colossus with Kulk @ Studio 9294, Hackney Wick, London.

Hey Colossus have been a favourite band for a few years and I’ve been looking forward to seeing them again since they made a surprise appearance at The Piper in St Leonards way back in November 2019. A gig that turned out to be almost the last I attended pre-lockdown. This London show was originally scheduled as an album release party in 2020, was then postponed to 2021 and then further postponed to now. Life was not normal for most of 2020 and 2021 so it was an eager and expectant crowd that turned up to Studio 9294 in Hackney Wick to see them.

Noise/sludge/doom duo Kulk, I’m not entirely sure how to describe them, were the support act. They were OK, I mostly enjoyed their set, but they weren’t really my cup of tea, a bit too metal for my tastes.

Taking photos in the available light was a struggle, the band were mostly in darkness with very strong strip lighting behind them. I took a few photos with some difficulty and then gave up, these are the best of an average to poor bunch.

After some last minute monitor cable faffing Hey Colossus were welcomed to the stage by a loud and robust cheer from the audience. As a six piece they managed to survive reasonably intact over the pandemic period with only the drummer and one of the guitarists changing since I last saw them. They have been recording and performing for 16 years and lines-up changes are quite normal for them, the replacement guitarist has been a band member before. The main thing was they survived the pandemic, managed to rehearse even though they live all over the place, and it seems they have written some new songs as well.

Their 13^th LP, a double, “Dances/Curses” came out in November 2020 to critical acclaim and a number of represses, and was released on bass player, Joe’s new label Wrong Speed Records . I have two copies, not for any weird ‘playing one and keeping one mint’ reason, but because one got lost in the post for two months so I ordered another. They’re a small band, albeit with lots of members, and I didn’t want to the Royal Mail’s balls-up to be at their cost. I could afford it, though obviously I didn’t expect the first copy to turn up, which it did about two days after the second copy. Oh well. Wrong Speed have released quite a few recordings during and since lockdown, all have been by obscure artists, across a variety of genres and most have been excellent. I have a few…

The ten song set was, as you would expect, mostly made up of tracks from the new record, though they played a couple off the previous LP ‘Four Bibles’ which I appreciated as it is a great collection of songs. There was also a new song in the set, which seems to have been called B & G, possibly describing a two chord main riff, who knows?

The set closed with the 16 minutes track Trembling Rose from the new LP, a favourite of mine and by the enthusiastic reception from the crowd, it was a favourite of most others as well.

We really enjoyed the gig. Though like the Gnod gig I went to in May it was quite loud and a bit muddy it was difficult to hear individual instruments where we were standing. Ear plugs would have been good so I’ve ordered some for future gigs. My ears are getting old.

It was fab just getting out of the house of evening and doing something, and Hackney Wick isn’t a bad place to do it.

Tag: studio 9294

Oneida and Teeth of the Sea @ Studio 9294

Hey Colossus with Kulk @ Studio 9294