Gig Review - Tunng

Tunng. The Scala. 25/10/06

Who: Tunng – one of the most interesting bands in England right now.

What do they sound like: The Wicker Man soundtrack meets Múm with a touch of the Books thrown in for good measure. Bizarrely rated as one of the Jewish Chronicle’s upcoming bands of 2006 due to the presence of Becky “I’ve got a Bar Mitzvah to go to” Jacobs on vocals, but Tunng are very much a Klezmer free zone.

Another gig Robin? Yes, three in five days. Also my third slice (lashing?) of Tunng in under a year. I’m just a bit evangelical about them and keeping dragging people off to see them. But yes aural fatigue was setting in.

Don’t forget the review criteria can be found a few posts below this one.

1. Coolness of crowd: 6/10 – Not very. All a bit studenty. Disappointing lack of facial hair in the audience.

2. Bob quotient: 3/10 – Generally a bit lame in the ladies hair department.

3. Annoyment factor: 3/10 – Much loud talking in my vicinity about, inter alia, accountancy, upcoming exams and where shall we go to play pool. Much smoking of particularly smelly fags. I seem to have received some stick for this category, but then was delighted to pick up a flyer for the Luminaire (my favourite stand up gig venue in London after the Scala) and noticed it says at the bottom “if you like to talk when the bands are on you’re not welcome here”. Bravo!

4. Sound quality: 7/10 – bit fuzzy in the vocals.

5. Comfort: 5/10 – there are some alcoves to sit in, but then you can’t see anything and the sound is not so great. I guess because I have seen Tunng so often, I was less fussed than normal about securing a good spot, and consequently didn’t have a great view of the right hand part of the stage.

6. Sexytime: 6/10 – a touch of free hippy love in the air.

7. Percussion / sound effect function: 10/10 – Tunng have it all. An electronics man wizzing off beats and samples and clicks and grunts. In truth he was a bit off his game/face, and mucked up some of his trigger points. A drummer with an array of obscure olde English percussive instruments, including what I believe is called a faggot. Plus drummer and Becky Jacobs both sported those little keyboard thingies with plastic tubes you put in your mouth.

Overall: 40/70 – perhaps a little low, but I think this reflects my theory that getting stuck in a noisy and unappreciative part of the crowd can really spoil one’s enjoyment. The gig was filmed for Channel 4 – I might review the “at home gig” if I can be bothered and compare the scores.

Optional categories

Merchandise: tremendous. Full range of cds for Tunng and supporting acts (who weren’t very good as it turned out). Tunng have the best range of T shirts of any band anywhere (see visuals below). Three different designs in multiple styles.

Gruff Rhys?: He wasn’t there

Visuals: fantastic. Seemless integration of cover art, t shirts, visuals, website. I have tracked down the artist responsible and will be reporting to you separately about her.