28th February 2015
Lola Colt
The Cookie
By Keith Jobey
There are a lot of good bands about. There are some great bands about. But every now and again a truly special band comes about. And one of those truly special bands rode into Leicester recently. Strolling along the High Street to an accompanying Ennio Morricone soundtrack, with a fist full of guitars, they kicked open the saloon doors of the Cookie, spat out some chewing tobacco and uttered the line ‘We’re Lola Colt’. Or so I imagine.
Photo Keith Jobey
But before we get to them we begin with Jesuscarfish. I’ll be honest, I missed them because I was over at the Musician catching Midcity. But I’m informed that they are rather good. The line-up is Maria, Jon, Mike, Christina and Veronica. A check on Facebook shows they provide dark noisy pop and a listen to on Soundcloud indicates that are definitely worth catching soon.
Next a band that knows how to select a support slot, Ex Comets. Having previously supported Amazing Snakeheads and appeared at the What Became Of Us Festival this is only the third gig for the We Three and the Death Rattle meet Codex Leicester combination. They add a couple of new songs into what is already a familiar set after so few gigs. A mark of how catchy their tunes are. Don’t miss their fourth gig at Leicester’s Handmade Festival in May.
So we come to the headline band, but first if I may, a little history. The Great Escape Festival in May 2014 left me with many happy memories, but none more than seeing Lola Colt play in one of the arches under the promenade. We nearly didn’t see them. It was getting late and we’d just watched Honeyblood play a lacklustre set. Then Lola Colt came in and began to set up. They had so much kit with them it took over the first ten feet on the floor in front of the narrow stage in the tunnel like venue. How long is this going to take to set up we thought. We could have given up but happily we didn’t. We stayed put and were blown away by what became our festival moment. Back in Leicester it was time to pester our promoter friends to get this band playing here. Nine months later, that pestering gave birth to the event; a joint venture between the Cookie and Magic Teapot promotions bringing the band to the Cookie on a Saturday night.
Photo Keith Jobey
Named after the eponymous Spaghetti Western, Lola Colt comprise of six members; Gun on vocals and guitar, Matt on guitar, James on guitar, Sinah on bass, Martin on drums and Kitty on keys and a host of other items. Hence all of the equipment mentioned earlier. Debut album Away From The Water came out October 2014, this effectively being the tour to support that album.
The band start with Rings Of Ghosts, the opening guitar notes resonating through the air and straight down my spine. This band offer so much; layered interchanging guitars, tribal drumbeats, Gun’s superb vocals and stage presence, Kitty’s rhythmic dancing as if receiving an electric shock in time to the beat. Sounding at times like Siouxsie and the Banshees while also fostering a tribal/western/psychedelic sound. It’s all great stuff.
The set comes to a close with the throbbing repetitive bass of Away From The Water, taking you into a seven minute trance. But that’s not quite it. As often happens at the Cookie when the crowd want more, the band are literally kept on stage. They oblige with one more song, Jaguar.
Afterwards the band appears at the merch desk where they happily chat and sign things, looking somewhat surprised by the attention. The crowd have certainly enjoyed this epic first appearance in Leicester, let’s hope the band have enjoyed it enough to choose to return… soon. Even if it is for a few dollars more!
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