GIG REVIEW – Bishopskin @ The Lexington (03.11.23)
28 November 2023
The band had come full circle, now selling out a venue they had played as a supporting act just a year before. This concert prominently showcased what makes the band so compelling to begin with as they fused their boundary pushing music with an unparalleled and beautifully anarchic performance style.
The supporting act this time around was Scarlet Woolf, an avant-garde gothic rock band who delivered a dynamic and energetic performance evocative of the pioneering female-led acts of the 1980s, such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and Kate Bush. As the audience began to fill up in anticipation of the headlining act, it was impossible to ignore the impressive versatility of the 5-part rock outfit, flitting between slow sorrowful laments to punchy post-punk bangers during their set. Angelic vocals and the passion of performance verging on female rage, allowed Scarlett Woolfe to hold the stage with a presence of their own, with bare feet tapping on the ground, a tone of zealous worship was set.
Steeped literally head to toe in religious metaphor and imagery, Tiger Nicholson arrived ready to preach each verse of their well-crafted setlist. As all nine members filled the stage, what was in front of you made it clear that you were about to experience a show like no other. Bishopskin embodied their music in their physical performance and style, allowing eclectic mediaeval to meet modern grunge. The layers of sound were even clearer live then in recording, allowing the audience to feel each individual through the ‘babble’ of the stage. We were no longer in a pub in Central London, but a local tavern filled with a buzzing atmosphere, standing there as a collection of souls and jigging feet.
Nicholsons performance in particular offered up an undiluted bohemian encounter for those watching. His wild and unpredictable energy manifested in a confluence of frantic dance moves and manic vocal renditions, eliciting an almost fanatical admiration from his onlookers as he both physically and metaphorically threw himself at their feet.
One highlight of the set for us must have been the performance of Mothers Steel Bike, as you could feel the collaborative ethos of the band in real time. They seamlessly brought together the band’s stunning vocal, percussive and instrumental abilities into a single spellbindingly cohesive offering.
Tabitha Avanzato gave an enthralling vocal performance throughout the show, complementing Tiger’s off the wall theatrics with a graceful delivery. Not to mention instrumental performances from Hana Miyagi and Tati Gutteridge on tracks like Stella Splendens and Midnight Sun, leaving the audience in awe. This was only made more impressive by the fact that Tati also was heavily pregnant at the time of the concert.
The gig ended of course in a finale of Stella Splendens, where energy levels were at their highest. Stripping down to the bare roots of Bishopskins performance, the band giggled on as Nicholson gave the encore all that he had. The audience left The Lexington that night knowing they had seen a very intimate show…
An experience too good to miss, our sources tell us to look out in the new year for another opportunity to get to witness Bishopskins’ bewitching peculiarity.
