Gig - Turning Green

If you haven’t seen the Brighton band Turning Green, we strongly recommend you do so, if you like watching original, funky, melodic, occasionally distonic, down-and-dirty live music, and don’t mind getting a bit sweaty in the process. They are starting off a week-long UK tour in the Lansdown this weekend, which will see them travel on to Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Bath. “This promises to be a big year for us,” says Sam Walker, their drummer, a Lewes lad. “Word of mouth is going round about us, and we are starting to pack out our regular venues, in places like the Komedia in Brighton, and the Dublin Castle in Camden Town.” The band have recently remastered their brilliant album ‘What Have We Done’ (you can buy it in Rick’s Discs) and are now concentrating on gigging to try to make the breakthrough they deserve. “We’re at our best as a live band,” says Sam. “That’s where all our energy comes across.”

You certainly feel they are on the cusp of something big. There’s a possibility of playing Glastonbury this year, and a European summer tour on the cards. A few labels are sniffing round them; you’ll often see A&R types at their gigs. They’ve even made a set of t-shirts. I ask Sam to describe the band's sound. “Dirty, grooving, rock ‘n’ rolling, shark-baiting, surreal… yeah,” he says. He fails to mention that their wicked tunes hang around in your head for days. Whisper it quietly, but they could just be massive. In the meantime, if you haven’t done so already, check out their unique sound. AL