Gig - Turning Green

Brighton band Turning Green are playing at the Lansdown again. Their previous concerts there have been exhilarating affairs, full of raw energy and virtuoso improvisation. Checking out the inventive four-piece’s website, we are surprised to find our last preview, from February, quoted back at us. “Listening to Turning Green, you think you’ve caught a snatch of something familiar. Wasn’t that XTC? Steve Severin’s guitar? Miles Davis? The Beatles? Johnnie Lydon? The Pixies? Each reference is fleeting, before you realise you were probably mistaken. This isn’t like Oasis’ studied and plagiaristic pop sampling: this is eclectic mayhem, surreal memories thrown together in a jazzy, funky, indie jumble, experimental pop with surreal lyrics surprising you at every turn. It’s dissonant; then it’s melodic. You want to sing along, even if you don’t know the words….”

Just before deadline we get a call from the band’s singer and drummer Sam. He tells us why the band keep coming back to the Lansdown. “It’s the best little pub atmosphere we’ve played in,” he says. “The crowd is unpretentious and enthusiastic and it’s wicked to play in front of them. We’ve played in plenty of big venues but nothing beats being on the pub floor with people dancing all around you and spilling beer all over you. There’s no bullshit.” Here’s some advice, if you like your music sophisticated, live and energetic. Check Turning Green out, before you have to pay large quantities of money to do so. AL