SWX Bristol, Nov 23rd 2022
Pulsating modular synths, dynamic drum loops and punchy vocals permeated throughout SWX this wednesday. Beginning with support act SCALPING to prime the crowd for the night with their intense and relentless blend of heavy electronic music and guitars. With little to no vocals their music spoke for itself, piercing through the body. After what felt like a brief moment to recover, Working Men’s Club stepped onto stage and jumped straight into ‘Valleys’. Which is surprisingly the first track from their debut album which was released in 2020, although still a perfect opener to set the stage due to its hypnotizing rhythm and sweeping melodies spanned out over the space of about 7 minutes.
From this point onwards The band had the crowd completely lost in the sheer depth of their sound. Relying on heavy ambience from a 3d render of the bands logo glitching and turning in time to the music as a backdrop. Accompanied by strong flashing lights, the band were silhouetted for the majority of the time and paired with the fact there was absolutely no interaction between the band and the crowd, it formed a mysterious cloak over them, almost manipulating everyone to dive further into the music by stripping away that human connection. That being said frontman Syd Minsky-Sargeant still made his presence known. The stage became his own, dominantly moving around completely unconceited, adding to his raw and powerful vocals, becoming the voice that leads the crowd through unknown space.
A setlist of songs from both their Latest album ‘Fear Fear’ as well as their debut self titled album, they moved seamlessly from song to song as if the structure of the set had its own polyrhythm. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a gig with a fairly balanced age range that still had everyone moving, the combination of the music, visuals and lack of interaction between band and crowd managed to still form a connection with everyone. Maybe everyone was connected by the omnipotent industrial feeling of the electronic, synthpop and post-punk sound akin to the cogs of modern society? Working Men’s Club have successfully managed to bring that synth sound from the past, blending it with other genres for a modern outcome that fits into the current social and political climate, there’s without a doubt a place for Working Men’s Club in the current music scene.
Ending with their song ‘The Last One‘ (The final track from their latest album which nicely contrasts ‘Valleys’) they leave the stage. Not returning for an encore, people come back to reality, and if one thing is for sure, it’s that they’re definitely left longing for more.
@thebristolnomad / @bristolnomad_gigphotography
Role: Photographer / Reviewer / Interviewer
Chief, the one that bugs the team for team for their reviews and images. Creator and founder of The Bristol Gig Guide. Can usually be found swamped in admin or getting cramp kneeling at the front of a gig.
Available for: Gig Shoots, Gig Reviews, Photo Shoots, Album and Single cover shoots, Videography work, Interviews and Touring
First attended gig: Republica, circa 1996.
First gig shot: Hands Off Gretel, at The Louisiana!
Dream gig: Huge metalhead and my ultimate dream gig would be shooting my heroes Slipknot at a huge stadium gig, or as festival headliners. And to experience shooting a headline tour outside the UK
