With the recent closing of legendary venue “The Charlotte”, Leicester’s appeal as a stop-off on bands’ traditional tour circuit, if it wasn’t terrible before, is in danger of waning entirely. So it comes as a pleasant surprise then to see established acts such as Oldham trio Twisted Wheel (fresh from a whirl-wind 12 months that’s seen them supporting the likes of Oasis and Weller) choosing to play “The Music Café”.Support act The Chairmen, another pseudo-successful Leicestershire export , playing a well executed set of fan-favourites including “Twenty-Twenty Vision”,as well as newer material. Although well-received by the largely student-dominated crowd of pint-nursing twenty-somethings, the cow-bell waving fivesome were eventually forced to leave the stage after a disagreement between front-man Jonny Gavin and a few less than complimentary crowd-members, who seemed to have a problem (and with good reason!) with Gavin’s sense of humour. Because karate –kicking a spectator, consequently causing him to spill an entire pint, is by NO stretch of the imagination a good idea.
But half the time, nobody really goes to gigs for the support acts, and this of course was evident in that by the time Twisted Wheel took to the stage, the crowd had tripled in size. Front-man Johnny Brown’s calculated mixture of down-to-earth-northerness and Gallagher-esque swagger had all eyes captivated, as the band who are fast becoming one at the forefront of punk rock ‘n’ roll stormed through a set of classics including “She’s a Weapon”, “Oh What Have You Done”, “Bad Candy”, new single “We are Us” and Brown’s closing number, a beautifully raw acoustic rendition of “Bouncing Bomb”. Oozing energy and gritty, sweaty passion, Twisted Wheel succeeded in sending the beer-fuelled crowd wild, with eventual scuffles between security (who attempted to push the barrier back further, an action in total vain considering the quickness and force of the crowd in pushing it right back again, with some fans going so far as to grab the mic, invade the stage, and cause general chaos) and a crowd who simply wanted to get closer to the band that they’d paid a whole £7 to see.
If I’ve realised one thing, it’s that Leicester’s lack of decent gigs means that when a good’un does come along, the crowd goes crazy. And this was no different. What’s sad is that grotty, cramped, have-a-conversation-with-the-randomer-next-to-you gigs are a dying breed, and when security goes all out to restore order, the whole essence of live music is lost. Even so, a highly commendable performance by the band, and having now seen them twice (the first time being as Paul Weller’s support act last summer), I feel well qualified to say that they really are one of the best live acts around. Let’s hope our paths cross during festival season.
http://www.thejitty.com/articles/twistedwheelleicester
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