March 30th Quest at The Racket Club
The crowd, nicely warmed by the lyrical liveliness of Floyd-inspried Jimmy’s Big Tears, settled into their drinking shoes and commenced upon Quest’s final hurrah of the term - Quest Radio meets The Racket Club meets The Victoria.
Behind the wheels of steel, Grace Herbert, fresh out of Uncle Fester’s Attic to DJ. Compering on the night , Amy Newbury, lady of all things Brand Spanking. Up next were three piece All We Are from Liverpool who enticed the crowd with their perfect blend of moody, Shadows-esque guitar sounds and xx-infused chill wave. Their rendition of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Games’ was jaw-dropping, the perfect prequel to their single ‘Trainspotting’ which was debuted on Lauren Laverne’s BBC 6 Music show that very morning.
Safari, with their an animalistic take on indie, were next to launch into their set. Lead by two synths (We all play synth!) they proved a hit with the gathered onlookers and a worthy warm up to Queen Mary and Quest Radio favourites Texas Radio. Aaron Barber and Henry Bishop - the guitarist and bassist of Texas Radio - present the blues show on Quest and their knowledge of the music was on show tonight. Texas Radio provided an education on how to get down and dirty to gut wrenching blues with enigmatic front man Simon Haithwaite, prancing like a headmaster, schooling the crowd in shaking free and kicking loose. Have you heard of a little number called ‘Johnny B. Goode’? No, not until you heard Texas Radio have you heard ‘Johnny B. Goode’.
Texas Radio are no strangers to The Vic. Its walls have bore witness to their mastery of the blues a number of times. Queen Victoria, its namesake, ruled over the British Empire for 63 years. May Texas Radio rein over us for at least as long.
So, to The Temperance Movement to close proceedings. An exciting number formed between London and Glasgow, this suitably dishevelled outfit provided a loud, proud and raucous finale to the night. With all the swagger of The Faces they came delivering a tight set of spectacular hi-jinks, proper facial hair and good old fashioned Rock’n’Roll.
For a full set of photos stay tuned for a link to The Racket Club’s Facebook page and most importantly stay tuned to Quest. Over the final term we will be recording one off podcasts and hope to have interviews from the night available soon.
To all presenters leaving this year, you will be sorely missed. Your contributions have invaluable this year and we hope you will take a bit of Quest with you as you leave (figuratively - no pinching of the equipment). Socials and awards to come in the new term!
Until then, keep safe and keep Quest.
Words and Pictures by Oliver Tindall
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