As The Humble Reviewer heads over to Huddersfield to a gig which was scheduled to take place at Parish, but is now taking place at Parish Temporary Takeover on the site of the old Brewdog, I reflect on the fact that the very first gig that I shot, properly (if not necessarily professionally), was The Blue Orchids, fronted by none other than one Martin Bramah! So, some two and a half years later, there’s a certain sense of completing the circle (NOT the one involved with circling around Huddersfield desperately looking for somewhere to park) as I prepare to embark on the next two and a half, plus many more to come, hopefully!
Dubliner Keeley Moss (vocals and guitar), Lukey Foxtrot (bass) and Andrew Paresi (drums) collectively also known as KEELEY continue to vigorously tour their second album, “Beautiful, Mysterious” which chronicles the brutal murder of teenage German backpacker Inga Hauser in Northern Ireland back in 1988 (should you wish to learn more, you could do worse than to start here.
The final three songs of tonight’s set come from Beautiful Mysterious, but tonight, they choose to open with four new tracks – set opener “Hungry for The Prize” launches us into a dreamy, shoegaze-y thirty minutes, which although quite different from what tonight’s crowd of predominantly – ahem – gentlemen of a certain age are probably expecting to hear, generates the right amount of interest from the outset. The song weaves intricately, combining elements of “Rock & Roll Star” and “Dear Prudence” and much more in between, but taking a much more psychedelic route along the way.
Keeley introduces her bandmates, giving Mr Paresi his appropriate credit as having drummed for Morrissey. Having informed us that their third album will be with us some time later this year, “Crossing Lands” is a little more upbeat and indie than its predecessor, but with a powerful driving bassline nonetheless – I hear shades of Joy Division’s “Dead Souls” lurking here, but that’s probably because I’m very old. I wonder if any other members of the crowd hear it too – probably not – never mind.
Lukey takes over crowd interaction duties at this point, telling us how nice it is to be back in Huddersfield (they played Parish back in December) and how they just managed to resist throwing Molotov Cocktails at Halifax Conservative Club earlier in the day. Probably a good thing, otherwise House of All might well have been scrabbling round for another opener tonight.
“Big Brown Eyes” is another new song, only recently debuted on this tour in Brighton. Shoes very much need to be gazed at this point as the tempo dips – it certainly sounds like there are several more people on stage at this point, and it’s a testament to Keeley and Lukey (and probably a few pedals, to be fair), along with Andrew, keeping it all under control stage right that they manage to create such a full sound in what is a relatively large venue.
Uppercase KEELEY are nothing if not hardworking, and after the gig, lowercase Keeley tells me that they’re hoping to perform a hundred gigs during 2025, which is no mean feat, given the many challenges currently facing the grassroots music scene.
There is but a smattering of hands that goes up when Keeley asks us how many of us have seen them before, but given the musical divergence between them and House of All, it’s hardly surprising, so Keeley goes to great lengths to thank labelmates House of All for having them on their tour. That notwithstanding, it seems that there are folk here tonight who have travelled from as far afield as London, Bristol, and even North Wales to see them, so they’re clearly doing SOMETHING right.
Lukey’s bass on the last of tonight’s new songs, “London Underground” has just a FEW elements of, Transmission” about it – or maybe it’s just MY ears. Keeley has a rich, powerful voice which floats effortlessly up to the rafters, delivering a high that has nothing illegal about it at all.
“We’ll go anywhere that’ll have us”, he announces, and to be fair, who wouldn’t? “Galloway Princess” (the name of the Stranraer/Belfast Ferry on which Inga Hauser took her last fateful voyage) has echoes of Public Service Broadcasting’s, “Spitfire Bird” in its chord progressions and is both insistent and motorik in its delivery. Andrew Paresi drums furiously from his corner, his contribution a testament to a long and illustrious career on the stool.
“Inga Hauser” is haunting and poignant in its story and delivery, Keeley’s swirling guitar and mournful vocals telling the tale of a teenager who set out from home never to return, and whose murder remains a mystery to this day, so it’s fitting that she at least has someone to keep her torch alight in the shape of this authentic and dedicated little outfit.
KEELEY’s set closes with the cheekily-titled (and dedicated to none other than Your Humble Reviewer, thank you very much), “Trans-Europe 18” – a more perfect track for driving down a motorway at night I have yet to hear (I’m even going to throw in the term, “Kaleidoscopic” – so there.
There’s been no filler in any of tonight’s songs – they’re perfectly-constructed three-to-four-minute slices of psychedelia, in a genre where you might expect them to be unnecessarily padded out to twice that length or more. Should you make an effort to see KEELEY? – yes, you absolutely should, and if they manage to hit their hundred gig target (with more unconfirmed slots in the pipeline), you really have no excuse not to.
KEELEY played: Hungry for The Prize, Crossing Lands, Big Brown Eyes, London Underground, Galloway Princess, Inga Hauser and Trans-Europe 18.
And so, to tonight’s headliners (and Tiny Global Productions labelmates), The House of All. As any fule/fan will tell you, the current lineup of Martin Bramah (vocals/guitar and sole survivor of the original lineup), Steve Hanley on bass, Paul Hanley (yes, they are) on drums, Si “Funky Si” Wolstencroft on more drums and Pete Greenaway on guitar.
All have featured in various Fall lineups at one time or another and, having survived the “scandal” of Martin daring to use the phrase, “A Fall family continuum”, much to the initial chagrin of Mark E. Smith’s family, they have delivered three tantalisingly unique albums that defy pigeonholing, in the shape of 2023 debut, “House of All”, 2024’s “Continuum” and 2025’s Valentine’s Day release, “House Of All Souls”, all of which feature to some degree in tonight’s mammoth 16 song set, which closes out their UK tour.
With an open invitation to other ex-Fall members to take part in the project (Mark Riley and Craig Scanlon so far having failed to take up the challenge), long-lost drummer Karl Burns also contributed to the latest album and guitarist Phil Lewis stands in for Pete on live dates, so whilst the lineup might well not be the revolving door of lineup that Mr Smith was constantly turning.
It does make for some interesting possibilities in the future, and whilst the band largely shy away from Fall covers, you can’t every rule one out completely, as with three albums now under their collective belts, it’s thankfully not a catalogue of work on which they need to fall (aha… Shut up – Ed.) back.
Set opener, “Aim Higher” continues the pounding motorik themes introduced by KEELEY earlier in the evening. There’s a collective sigh of pleasure from the crowd as new, yet strangely familiar sounds echo out from the stage, allowing them to relive the sights, sounds (and probably smells) of forty or fifty years ago whilst enjoying fresh new music.
Martin Bramah’s laconic delivery of, “Step we gaily, on we go, aim higher, aim higher” goes a long way to explain why he was The Fall’s original vocalist before somebody realised that he was a better guitarist than the man who replaced him on vocal duties. So, whilst there are bound to be influences in the music, The House of All are absolutely NO Fall tribute act – their music is challenging and unique. As the final chords ring out, there is clearly much love from tonight’s crowd, who have pushed a lot closer to the front.
“Off to a good start”, Mr Bramah remarks, as we launch into Continuum’s, “Cuckoo in The Nest”. Having two drummers beefs up the sound effectively with both Mr Wolstencroft and Mr Hanley pounding away accompanied by the minimalist guitarwork conjuring up memories of times past for the crowd, a large proportion of whom look alarmingly like me (well, not the ladies, obviously).
Although there’s some good-natured banter between band members, especially when Si Wolstencroft swears he can smell something burning behind him, this group of mates are a tightly knit professional unit with a job to do and they’re going to get in with it-ah. “Give him a mic!”, Martin says, good-naturedly, in the face of some persistent heckling from an audience member.
“Harlequin Duke” takes us back to the debut album, closely followed by album-mate “Dominus Ruinea” – there’s no let-up in the intensity for a second, with Martin’s deadpan vocals booming out over distorted guitarwork that makes you think they MUST have a keyboard or two up there too.
The spontaneity, randomness and sometimes downright cussedness of The Fall shines through on may of tonight’s tracks, and whilst all the band members are keen to embrace their heritage, House of All is definitely a project with its eye on the future, with whatever lineup and output that may consist of.
“O Dayspring” picks up the pace and if you screw up your eyes enough, whilst the eeriness of “Murmuration” is more than a little disconcerting, so much so, that you can just about see a gaggle of bingo masters breaking out at the back of the stage. I really shouldn’t keep throwing in random Fall references, but it’s safe to say that by this point, tonight’s crowd are totally wired, enjoying every last minute as both gig and tour draw to a close, drawing content from an already impressive discography, with hopefully more of the same to come.
To summarise, The House of All are conclusive proof that the passage of time is no blocker if you love what you do, and also happen to be rather good at it too. His family might still have reservations, but I’m pretty certain that the late great Mark E. Smith will be looking down on his colleagues who have very firmly Hit the North tonight with a vengeance (you’re fired. Again. Ed)
House Of All played: Aim Higher, Cuckoo in The Nest, The Devil’s House, A Creature Came Slinking, Harlequin Duke, Dominus Ruinea, O Dayspring, Queen of the Angels, An Apocryphal Dream, For This Be Glory, Murmuration, Born at Dawn and Dead at Sunset, Infamous Immoral Sister, Oh What Is Love Made For, Tempest and Storm and The Good Englishman.
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