There is a 60’s style house somewhere in Bristol that has somehow contrived to become a creative touchstone to all that live within its walls. With its large living room acting as a performance space, the inhabitants have begun to split off – musical atoms forming highly original acts of no particular genre. Bloom is the embodiment of these housemates’ collaborations, and the Wardrobe Theatre has helped to recreate the atmosphere in this collective’s living room – dishing up fun and friendship in spades, with raw musical ideas explored and presented. Special guests of Bloom are also invited along to perform.
Tonight was the second in a series of three such nights ending next month on 18th September. You will never have heard of any of the acts, you might Google them and think twice, but what you will not appreciate is what a magical evening these disparate artists can put on and how much the audience gets out of it. As at the last Bloom, there were three acts on the bill, this time ranging from the supremely eccentric to the profoundly adept.
The evening began with what sounded like a troupe of four or five musicians approaching from the darkness of the main entrance. This in fact turned out to be Cloudshoes, a lone artist playing at least four instruments at once while thumping out a rhythm with his bell-adorned feet.
You’ll never be able to pigeonhole Cloudshoes. He is so much his own free spirit. There is something of the sixties about him – a troubadour with stage props that included a wooden giraffe, animal skulls and an array of feathers and conker shells. His creative guitar playing was sometimes spoiled, I thought, by a too loud a delivery, and sometimes his vocals, sometimes delivered away from the mike didn’t carry. But there was an anarchic approach to his performance which kept us on out toes, and was some fine steel guitar playing and sometimes surprising vignettes on melodica.
Spindle Ensemble joined him on stage, and with their harp, vibraphone and violin, gave his riffing guitar a wonderful platform.
The Ensemble then took the middle part of the night. Formed of Daniel Inzani on Celtic harp, keyboards and accordion, Harriet Riley on vibes and marimba and Caelia Lunniss on violin, they preceded to demonstrate all that is wonderful about Bloom. They crafted beautifully layered landscapes of sound with enormous empathy for each other’s playing. Following their own highly original musical pathways – sometimes Balkan-sounding or even Chinese at times, Spindle Ensemble are a film-producers dream – their music exudes atmosphere which deserves commissioning.
Bloom wouldn’t be Bloom without something or someone so ‘off the wall’ to light up the night. Tonight it was the turn of special guest Paddy Steer, a 21st century one-man band from Manchester. Before the break we had been introduced to Paddy by the stand-in compere – an unassuming individual he seemed then, with a grey beard and wearing jeans. But unknown then to us, he was to metamorphose into what looked like a cross between a Greek Orthodox monk wearing ceremonial robes and Zog, the overlord of the cosmos!
Stationed in his ‘control centre’, Paddy launched into his impressive array of instruments and mixers, including drums, cymbals, bass pedals, xylophone and synth. Even his mobile was part of the act as the grandly attired Mancunian accessed a stored loop. First off – a wonderfully crazed, dance, rave-like number about road safely and traffic design. If my efforts to drive to Manchester Piccadilly station are anything to go by, I’d say Paddy is on the right lines with this one! Forget the words, we were all just enjoying the fruits of Paddy’s steampunk disco too much to hear anything meaningful.
Recalling he’d gone ‘into music’ after his wetsuit fell apart while potholing, Paddy took us on a wild musical ride that made the Chemical Brothers look tame. Audience members clutched their faces in disbelief or dissolved into silly happy grins, roaring at the end of every engine burst from the Padulator’s space machine.
Another extraordinary night to savour at the Wardrobe. ★★★★☆ Simon Bishop 27th August 2016
