17 January 2015 was our last show with Moh
Yesterday was the end of an era. Moh told us all before Christmas that after the recording of the 'Swimming' EP he wanted to take a break from music altogether. It's all amicable, but it did come as a shock, something it's going to take a while to work through and process. We have been playing together for 14 years - first as The German Exchange, then as Hundred Handed (both with Ben 'Trelawney' Reynolds), and then the four of us as Tessellators. That's a big chunk of life.
It was fitting that our old friend Tommy Mack, who was one of the first people we met and played with back in The German Exchange days, invited us to play the release show for his current band White Ape's second EP at The Constitution in Camden.
The venue is great. This pub is unpretentious with a 'traditional' feel that isn't a conscious marketing gimmick. The beer garden overlooking the canal is lovely. The cellar bar and live music venue is cosy and welcoming. There are fairy lights and candles. The sound was good, maybe because we were all close enough together for it to feel like a practice session.
And the bands we all stellar and top company. It was particularly great to meet the fantastic Rot Jaws, and to reconnect with Tommy. The bill was expertly balanced, kicking off with the rock tempest of Arrows of Time, then we did our stuff, then Rot Jaws brought some The Ex-flavoured punk fury and righteous intelligence to proceedings, before White Ape nailed it with a heady, atmospheric and fresh brew of garage, British punk, Link Wray, early B52s, and Tommy's incredible charisma and the kind of lyrics you want to hear over and over again to fully appreciate them. Note I don't write about music much so I'm doing every band a disservice with my hackery.
How did we do? "Not bad!" as the saying goes. Personally it was one of my favourite shows in a long time. We played new stuff along with the best mix of old we could come up with. I think after 14 years we might have finally cracked this 'groove' thing. I bummed to have forgotten to bootleg the show. Set was:
Marina Bay Sands
Moutaineer (Red Admiral EP)
Windemere 505
Gravel Bed (O! Mighty Sea EP)
Pier 2 Pier
Tony Stark (Harvest of Sorrow)
We want to play at least 6 shows this year, so there's 5 to go. But they'll be without Moh, and it'll be a big challenge for me, Al & Beare to work out how to fill that hole.
It was a fitting live send-off for our brother. Next up - recording our masterpiece as a 4-piece!
^ apologies for the exclamation mark.
Dan