House Proud/Wild Circle @ The Ship Isis (Sunderland)
9/3/24
House Proud's debut headline gig occurred at The Ship Isis on the 9th of March.
After supporting the likes of Jam Tub, Heat Wrays and melter, it was now time for House Proud to enter the spotlight.
The Ship Isis sets a deep red mood. A large Vaux mirror hangs on the back wall of the venue. Two chandeliers hang from the ceiling. Pictures of Sunderland's past adorn the walls to one side; windows that look out upon St Mary's Boulevard, with the Stadium of Light in the distance, to the other. Carpeted floors feel comfortable on the feet.
On stage, there's a pedal board or two to go around. 'HP' is written on the bass drum in blue tape. Single golden star-shaped balloons with 'HP' in bold letters are swaying to the left and right of the stage. ‘HP’ written on the back of the hand is used as a signifier of ticket purchase.
Off the back of the release of their latest single, 'Three Lives of Antonia', Chris Hair & Wild Circle set their sights on supporting Sunderland's hottest prospects.
Chris Hair & Wild Circle - 20:15
“Move forwards. Join the wild circle.” are the first words uttered in order to close the gap between performer and spectator. Chris Hair, who wears a red jacket, has understood the Ship Isis' red room assignment.
“Thanks for coming out tonight. We are Wild Circle. This song's called 'Borders'.”
The Independent Venue Week banner that hangs behind the band - untethered at the bottom - breezes forwards. With a bass-heavy sound, Patrick Gosling provides the funk-fuelled feeling.
In the middle of 'Home Town', Partick and Ben Martin, of House Proud, switch instruments - Ben is now on bass, Patrick on drums. We have multi-instrumentalists on our hands. The pace of the track picks up.
“Cheers everyone. Swappage of the personnel there.” Chris acknowledges the swap.
“Time for a bit of keys.” Patrick has now played bass, drums and piano within a three or four song period. The piano adds a breeze to the reminiscent sounds of Wild Circle - somewhere in the realm of The War on Drugs. A soaring, washed-out guitar sound swells.
“This next one's our latest single 'Three Lives of Antonia'.” Chris Hair has a pretty feral way of playing guitar - free-flowing and, somehow, simultaneously jagged.
Patrick and Chris exchange a few words. “Pat needs a p***.” says the frontman. Patrick smiles and nods in approval. Patrick puts his flexibly fluid bass fingers on and pulls off an astonishing bass solo of sorts. “Pat with the bass solo while presumably still needing to p***.” Says the frontman. “I'm all good now. Ive wee'd meself.” says Patrick.
Wild Circle’s closing track, ‘Another World’, opens with a crazy guitar tone akin to a guitar choking on its own strings - Guy Newby really cranked up the crunk for this one. The band indulge in extending the song out as long as they can.
A superb start to the evening’s celebrations.
House Proud - 21:10
'gigantic' are a partner/sponsor on the Independent Venue Week banner. I think it more so alludes to the sounds of House Proud. Walls of noise get things underway.
An additional fourth member - strapped with a guitar - joins the band on stage to fulfil their sound. Another dynamic - another dimension - to pull upon.
The intro track is very Antics era Interpol on the guitar front - urban, dissonant and detached. With the variety in guitar tones across the two gigs, it's easy to understand why so many guitar pedals are on stage.
“Massive thank you for all coming out. My uncle has travelled all the way from Sweden to be here.” says Ben.
Rory, with his light blue bass, grungily slides the gig into 'Mothers Flowers'. Cole, on drums, is knackered after two tracks. He's vicious. His 'Heavy Lungs' t-shirt is a nice touch.
“Excellent that lads” approves a member in the crowd.
“Next up, we've a new one. We haven’t named it yet. It’s called 'Choices' because of all the possible choice of names.”
Ben and James shimmer and intertwine on guitar duties. “Id like to introduce the newest member of the band...... the balloons. Oh yeah. Sorry. This is James. Our new member.”
They smoothly enter into 'Barber' - the intro track to their debut 'Live' EP. The quirky and crystalline guitar makes way for the rest of the band to join - The Ship Isis throbs.
“This is a baptism of fire singing on my first gig.” says James, before they play another new track in ‘White Church Gate’. James has a very drawn out and powerful delivery. It sounds like the captain of a ship calling out orders - in the best way possible. It is The Ship Isis after all. Ben joins the crowd to view the band play, whilst still playing himself. He likes what he sees.
“My dad wanted to come. But he's looking after the dog.” remarks Ben.
“We'll turn around, because we can’t go out for an encore, and if you clap, we'll do two more songs.” The last two songs are both off of the Live EP – ‘A Perfect Body’ with ‘Dead Eagle’ to close on.
“Get the lights out.” The audience pull out their phone flashlights. “This is like Beyonce at the Stadium of Light man.” says Ben.
After twiddling with the guitar pedals, Ben enters the audience once more, and places the guitar on members of the audience to see what racket they can add to the sea of noise coming from the remaining members on stage. He then leaves the room, heads down the Ship Isis’ stairs, and, once back on stage, returns singing a rendition of 'Wonderwall' and Robbie Williams' 'Angels'. A light-hearted twist to top off the turbulent and moody sounds of House Proud.
“We've been House Proud..... and the balloons.”
With new material being weaved into their live sets, and new members being brought on board, the House Proud boys are cooking up some of the most refreshing music that the Sunderland scene, and the wider North East scene, has to offer.
Watch this space.
