“It’s like mainlining pure love” says Punktuation Editor-in-Chief Ruth, after revelling in two unique shows with her favourite Ska-Punks!
There are very few bands who would commit to playing their entire back catalogue over two nights in London, particularly when they’ve literally just flown home from LA, straight off the back of recording their fourth album.. However, Bar Stool Preachers are not like most bands – as their growing legions of fans will tell you! I’m proud to say I’m one of them, having first picked up on this extraordinary band back in 2019, six months after they’d released their second album, ‘Grazie Governo’. Their music and cheerful updates were also a massive help in getting me through lockdown.
The Bar Stool Preachers have, since their inception in 2015 with their first song ’One Fool Down’ (“sometimes I think it’s the best song we’ve ever written” says frontman TJ McFaull, of the debut song penned by himself and bass player Bungle), inspired and garnered a worldwide community. Fans travelled in from several countries to be there for this “never to be repeated” experience at London’s legendary 100 Club – which was sold out for both gigs.
Opening proceedings on each evening were the excellent Voodoo Radio, a band we champion here at Punktuation, and deservedly so. Father Tony Cook plays a mean guitar, while daughter Paige Cook keeps the beat and dazzles us all with her excellent voice. They soon held the crowd captivated with their pop-punk songs and stories of growing up in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria; ‘Slag Bank’ and ‘Ice Cream Man’; love triangles ‘Turn Out The Light’; and tainted love ‘She’s So Toxic’. Look out for this entertaining and hard-working pair playing venues and festivals across the length and breadth of the UK!
The Preachers began Friday by playing every track from their first album, 2016’s ‘Blatant Propaganda’, in order. I’d already assured TJ that we’d forgive him if he forgot any of the words – after all, he’d just spent the last few weeks recording entirely new songs – but TJ was determined to do his absolute best! “I’ve got a drinking game planned!” he grinned, during our quick pre-show chat. And sure enough, he unveiled the ‘fuck-up chart’, stuck to the back wall of the stage, where each band member could record their number of mistakes. Keyboard player Alex Hay took charge of the pen, while drummer Alex Smith applied his full focus (as the newest recruit) to ensure he kept his score down. This is typical BSP humour and naturally inspired a fair bit of good-natured on-stage banter throughout the gig!
Despite their honesty (particularly from rhythm guitarist Tom Gibbs) in admitting to a few jazz chords and forgotten words, they put on a genuinely fantastic and moving performance, and it was wonderful to hear songs they’d never played live before, or for a long time, such as ‘Battleworn’, ‘Good News’, ‘Friend Or Foe’ and ‘Ballad of the M1’. Everyone agreed that ‘Sleep No More’ deserves a regular place in the set list from now on! I was stoked to hear a favourite of mine, ‘Own Worst Enemy’, live again:
First album concluded (to the relief of some of the band!), we were expecting the Preachers to launch into a few tracks from their third album ‘Above The Static’ – but before that we were treated to the live premiere of a BRAND NEW song from album #4 – ‘Heart Beat’:
Onwards to album #3, my (current) favourite, and the first album to feature dynamite lead guitarist Karl Smith. Starting with the beautiful ‘All Turned Blue’, a cathartic sing-along for fans and band alike, the soul purging continued with ‘Prince Of Nothing’ (written about a person TJ doesn’t like very much!). The magnificent ‘Two Dog Night’ is a real favourite, with the most OTT guitar solo Karl can pull off! A song which means so much to so many, ‘Lighthouse Keeper’ gave the rest of the band a break, as an emotional TJ sang to Alex’s heavenly piano accompaniment, while we stood with tears in our eyes. Ending the set with ‘Flatlined’, another emotional song, the guys decided to finish the party with a bang, and played the marvellously upbeat ‘Bar Stool Preacher’ for a second time, to much frenzied dancing and cheers!
I couldn’t wait to return for part 2 on Saturday – but as I was covering part of another gig in Guildford, I sadly missed Voodoo Radio! Walking in just as Bar Stool Preachers launched into the title track from album #2, ‘Grazie Governo’, numbers seemed a tad down from the previous night. TJ alluded to this later in the set, as his dad’s band Cock Sparrer were playing up the road in Islington at the same time – the Preachers responded by playing their excellent cover of Sparrer’s ‘Suicide Girls’. Crowd favourites ‘8.6 Days (All The Broken Hearts)’, ‘Choose My Friends’ and ‘DLTDHYOTWO’ went down a storm, fans even more lively than the previous evening:
The remainder of ‘Grazie Governo’ was played with equal passion; songs written to make us think about our impact, to mourn our mistakes, and to challenge the powers-that-be. It was so special to hear every song from this album live at last! The impassioned ‘Since You’, written about missing someone following a beak-up, the powerful ‘Force Fed’, an ingenious anti-government rant, the beautiful and vulnerable ‘Raced Through Berlin’, and another favourite of mine ‘High Horse’, with its bouncy dub reggae acoustic guitar played by writer Gibbs.
A triumphant achievement – the huge grins around the room said it all – and we were back for the remaining songs from ‘Above The Static’, starting with its anthemic first release and track, ‘Call Me On The Way Home’. The band also threw in their two ‘lockdown songs’, which were released as a double A side to raise funds for the NHS during the pandemic; ‘When This World Ends’ and ‘State Of Emergency’. The rest of album #3 completed the set, the still-angry ‘Never Gonna Happen’, fan favourite ‘Don’t Die Today’ where we skanked like crazy, and the meaningful ‘Going Forwards’:
“Which song haven’t we played?” asked TJ; I correctly yelled out ‘Doorstep’ and was rewarded with the backdrop – a red flag with ‘Grazie Governo’ printed on it – something I shall treasure along with my signed event poster, a special item for those of us who attended both nights. Bar Stool Preachers shows are totally supportive and neurodiversity affirming, TJ was diagnosed ADHD as a child, and the rest of the band are various flavours of ‘neurospicy’. “Autistic and ADHD people are especially loved here” he affirmed. This is another reason why I adore this band so much, being neurodivergent and with a neurodivergent family myself, as there aren’t many spaces where we feel safe, much less fully welcomed! A roof-raising ‘Bar Stool Preacher’ ended Saturday’s show, all present completely uplifted by what we’d heard, with hearty congratulations heaped upon Team Tom (TJ & Gibbs), Team Karl (Bungle & Karl) and Team Alex (both of them!).
It’s refreshing and inspiring to meet six totally authentic dudes, who live and breathe their values, in a scene where there are some awful fake people. “Never look down on anyone, unless you’re giving them a hand up” sing the boys in ‘One Fool Down’ and “Take your hateful ideologies; we’ve heard it all before. When we cut you back, we can tell there’s only venom at your core. If you see gender, race or sexuality, as a threat, you should look inside, you’ve probably got something to hide, it’s the truth I bet. If colour’s your priority, you’re living in the dark. Screw your backwards agenda, this is coming from the heart” in ‘Don’t Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out’.
All I can say is my biggest THANK YOU to the Bar Stool Preachers for two gigs which I can say without hesitation have been the best in my experience! I know this event won’t be repeated, I still don’t know how they pulled it off through the jetlag and exhaustion they must have been fighting off, but I am so very grateful that they did. Big love x
Main Photo Credit: PER-ÅKE WÄRN
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