Red Guitars
Night & Day, Manchester - 4th September 2023
Every band that ever there was appears to have reformed over the past few years, many to good effect with new music being created, fired-up live shows being performed and great communication taking place with their fanbases, old and new. Some others, of course, have been colossal disasters with the musicians clearly only there because they smelt the opportunity of making a few quid to put towards their looming retirements. Red Guitars were not one of the bands we thought of as favourites to re-group. Singer Jerry Kidd had departed in 1984 leaving his bandmates to struggle on for a couple of years and it always seemed unlikely we would hear from them again. However, with the fortieth anniversay of the legendary 'Good Technology' single looming (and we use that term deliberately - this was a genuine indie classic), it was a pleasant surprise to discover that not only had the band got back together to re-work this fabulous song, they had a new tour lined up as well.
The last time we had seen Red Guitars was back in 1984. In fact a couple of us interviewed them for UKC Radio before they played a gig at the University of Kent. It was a session that stayed in my mind because the band came into the interview low on cigarettes and went on to smoke a whole new packet of Silk Cut I had foolishly brought into the room. (Of course it was quite fitting that I had cigarettes that were low in tar.) At the end of the interview drummer Matt Higgins thanked me for the cigarettes and promised to pay me back. With a shrug. We all knew he hadn't really meant it. But the world is a strange place and the chance had now arrived to see if Red Guitars were going to be true to their word.
My other abiding memory of the interview was that it got caught up in student political obsessing over the band's name. Perhaps this was understandable. Thatcher was at work injecting her venom into society and most of us were living in the Kentish pit villages which would soon be broken forever. The band's name hinted at socialist views and a hatred of what was happening to the country. It was taken too far in this interview, though, and very little was being discussed about music. Somebody (I can't remember who) said that they had wanted to call the band by a different name and when I asked what that was, replied, "Transparent As Your Eyes". In truth, that would not have been a bad name for the group as it sums up nicely the vision they have. Red Guitars won't be fooled. They can see through deception and lies and their songs cut to the quick. And they are not just about politics. This is a band who saw environmental disasters building around them in real time. A band who spoke out before others were even awake. The new video for 'Good Technology' was built over the old, quite brilliantly done, reaffirming that nothing has changed and the world is moving ever closer to destruction.
Yet Red Guitars were a band who could celebrate as well as warn. For every 'Good Technology' and 'Fact' there was a 'Marimba Jive' and a 'Heartbeat Go!' There were colourful influences from South America and the Caribbean at work to balance the somewhat greyer shades of home. Indeed it was the one thing we used to worry about back in the 1980s. They had great songs, cutting lyrics and a guitar sound to die for, but were their tastes too eclectic to hold an indie audience who rarely strayed out into the sun? In the cold light of day it seemed like a good question. In the live arena, however, every doubt was blown away.
Having seen many band reformations we can genuinely say that very few have been as enjoyable, edifying and heart-warming as Red Guitars were in Manchester. We always say that if you are going to be in band then look like you are in a band, and the Red Guitars looked fabulous. Obviously they were older, but they were dressed to the nines and, really importantly, they all had fabulous shoes, with Jerry's red suede numbers particularly splendid.
Sadly Jerry's blond mullet had gone and the singer looked a little reticent at the start of the gig, attaching a computer pad to the mic stand, presumaby to be able to read off the song lyrics. He began quietly, but was soon deeply into proceedings, dancing around the stage and singing powerfully. There were no stage nerves for bassist Lou Howard, who bounced around from the start with a huge smile on her face and spent the whole evening laughing and joking with lead guitarist Hallam Lewis, the man with the guitar that can turn you inside out. Hallam played brilliantly, and sang backing vocals effectively, ably supported by rhythm guitarist John Rowley, who occasionally made use of a stool, but who also got so into proceedings he appeared to forget it was there. There was an additional guitarist at the back; we didn't catch his name but he played a valiant part in helping to produce the big big sound that filled the fairly compact venue. Drummer Matt Higgins was virtually invisible from our viewpoint as the stage was narrow, deep and crowded but you could hear him playing and the sheer variety of patterns he laid down was indicative of exactly how varied this band's sound is. The best moments were when Lou played her fretless bass, adding a whole new dimension of rumble, which framed the cutting guitars so neatly. The songs simply sounded immense. 'Fact', the single that first showed that Red Guitars had more than one great song in them, had us singing along wildly. 'Steeltown' both cut and bounced with its reggae feel and of course 'Good Technology' made the hairs stand up on the back of our necks. The band played for an hour and half, squeezing in every familiar old track and infusing the set with new numbers that sounded so good and to which the band were obviously committed.
All good signs that the story is not going to end here. They received a great reception and appeared delighted; it was incrediby well deserved. This was a terrific evening, one of the best of the year. We managed to chat a little with Lou and Hallam after the gig. They never paid me back. So it will be forty years soon that Red Guitars have owed me, but if they keep performing like this, then I won't be fretting too much.
