Joanna Gruesome concert review
Scala in London, UK
Tue, 22 Sep 2015

Loved seeing Joanna gruesome!

I booked this gig when it was scheduled for April and with it being postponed until September, I ended up waiting around 5 months to see them. We turned up in time to watch both of the support acts, Primetime, and King of Cats. To be honest, I can't remember another show where the supports have not only been this poor, but really irritating too. Primetime could be considered low-fi or Riot Grrrl, but ultimately they were just a bunch of women who couldn't play, perform or write songs very well. I love bands like Erase Errata, Bikini Kill, and Sleater-Kinney, and am all for women in bands, but not when the only criteria needed for them to be on stage is the fact that they are women! King of Cats was a much better musician... at least he could actually play well, but admittedly my idea of a good performer is not an awkward guy who acts and sings like a four-year-old! This was excruciatingly bad! In fact, we would have been much better off going to the pub for a couple of hours and just turning up for Joanna Gruesome's set, at least this would have kept our spirits and enthusiasm up. Both supports played for around 30 minutes each (although admittedly it seemed much longer). Then it was Joanna Gruesome, finally. These did put on a decent show, they played with conviction and enthusiasm, although maybe came across as trying a little too hard rather than being natural. The songs are good and they played them well, but unfortunately something was missing. Maybe it was due to having just stood and watched the two exceptionally bad supports which totally brought our enthusiasm down, or maybe Joanna Gruesome just can't quite pull-off this sized venue, and more of a smaller pub-style venue would be better, who knows. But they did seem to start warming up as the set went on, and then they finished... literally 30 minutes after starting they went off, then came back on for a one-song encore and left again. A headlining set lasting 35 minutes! There was still 25 minutes left before the venue curfew, so why did they finish so early and play for such a short amount of time? They have two albums worth of tracks, and did play quite a bit off the first album, so I couldn't help but feel a little cheated by the shortness of their set, especially after the supports both played for almost as long each. My friend had seen Joanna Gruesome before, with the old line-up, and said that gig was amazing. But he also said the other bands on that previous bill were great too. I don't know whose choice it was to include these supports at this show, or who decided a headline act should only play for 35 minutes, but I think they need sacking and someone else to take over this promotion, as I doubt very much I'll ever bother going to see Joanna Gruesome again after this.