The Very Things / The Castle & Falcon / Birmingham
I’m driving along the M42, heading to the Castle & Falcon in Birmingham for a gig, Spotify on, and a big grin on my stupid face. For this is no ordinary gig… and I’m a tiny bit more excited than usual.
Sometimes you see a performance on TV and it makes such a huge impact on you. I was like that the first time I saw IDLES perform. It was on ‘Later with Jools Holland’ and I saw them play the most chaotic and disfunction renditions of Never Trust a Man and Danny Nedelko. It was raw, it was brutal… it was unlike anything I’d seen before and I fell in love.
It was like that back in 1984. I can’t remember the TV show, but up popped the most unusual, psychedelic, crazy video I’d ever seen. I was 16 and was watching The Shend, stood in a shrubbery dressed in cravat and cape, singing about someone pruning the garden, and the garden fighting back ! Kit’s crazy, it’s ridiculous, it’s somehow brilliant. Welcome to the word of art-rockers The Very Things !
The Very Things were one of the biggest influences on teenage me. Never one to like the charts and mainstream music, I was drawn to artists such as Gary Numan, Cabaret Voltaire, Tangerine Dream – individuality and creativity.
I was hooked and saw them several times in Nottingham at Trent Poly Students Union and the Garage.
What’s so special about tonight ? Having split up in 1988, this is their first live performance since…… A million pounds wouldn’t stop me going !
So we’re back in Birmingham, where it all started all those years ago. The Castle & Falcon is a fantastic grass roots venue. The sound and lighting are excellent and there’s a real mix to the crowd. There’s a healthy mix of original ‘80’s fans back for more and younger folk, out for a gig and a good time. People had travelled from all over, I met someone else who had travelled from Nottingham, and someone else had flown in from Ireland specially for the show.
First up in support are The Leaking Machine from Birmingham a three piece consisting of Russell Burton (bass), Pete Geoghegan (guitar and vocals), Spencer Roberts (drums). Both Pete and Russell were members of C86 legends Mighty Mighty and Spencer from The Winnebago Orchestra. They released the album “Sound on Sound” in 2025.
The Leaking Machine (sounds like a classic Numan song title) have a delightful way of painting a scene with their lyrics, which have genuinely good singalong chorus sections. Their sound is crisp and tight, the guitar riffs and licks, crisp and clear almost surf-like in places, such as on When Time Passed Slow.
The pace changes throughout, slowing and adding a moody edge on Saharan Sand On Cars (what a fantastic title !). The Love Lawn has a delightful, fresh feel to it, harking back to a kind of ‘60’s psychedelic feel.
They end the set with Chocolate and Cars a song about their home town, a lament for it’s lost industries and heritage.
A fantastic set and a great opening for the night.
So here we are….. for the first time in best part of 40 years…… The Very Things – LIVE !
Formed in Redditch back in 1983. They were part of the psychedelic punk sci-fi, surf soul surrealism collective, the DadaCravat Laboratories (DcL) and were formed by RR Dallaway and The Shend (who were also frontmen of The Cravats) and joined by drummer Disney Time Holland. They released their debut single The Gong Man in 1983, and their debut album “The Bushes Scream When My Daddy Prunes” in 1983. This was followed up by “This is Motortown” in 1988. They disbanded the same year, with The Shend moving on to form a new band, Grimetime and then into acting.
And here we are in the 2020’s ! RR Dallaway re-formed the band with Holland in 2024, and they were back with the release of new album “Mr Arc-Eye (Under a Cellophane Sky)”. Live The Very Things are Robin Dallaway (vocals and guitar), Alan Murphy (guitar), Robin Hollows (drums), Tony Sherrard (bass), Svor Naan (sax) and Julia Wilcox (vocals).
They step onto the stage to huge applause, almost silhouetted as the backing tape delivers the spoken word intro to We’re Working On It before Tony’s bass drops in with a silky smooth, toe tapping rhythm, the sound clips a Very Things (TVT staple, using old ‘50’s /’60’s sound clips with the repeated line ‘Daddy what makes a dream?’. The opening track from the new 2024 album, it’s a slow burn intro, and what struck me right from the off, was the classic TVT feel was absolutely there. We’re Working On It has a real Cabaret Voltaire feel as well and I’m loving it.
The set is almost split into two section, the early part is made up of tracks from the new 2024 album “Mr. Arc-Eye”, and then it moves into some classic TVT material later on. I loved the fact this was not just a re-visit, a homage to the past, it felt very. Much like a band working in the now, and creating new material, with a nod to the past for old gits like me thrown in lol.
Robin’s vocals join in on Driver with another awesome deep dark and downright dirty bass line from Tony. Kits sharp and Svor’s sax weaves subtly through Robins vocals. Time is Not On Our Side comes in next with it’s haunting intro, and an almost Cramps like vibe on the vocals, one of my favourites from the new album. The album’s title track Mr. Arc-Eye is a live stunner and another you just have to tap, nod or sing along to. As the set grows, without having heard a single old track, you just new it was TVT. The singer may be different, but the feel, vibe and sound is all there.
Then we enter the timewarp and head back to our teens ….. that unmistakable drum beat that welcomes in Motortown, their tribute to their hometown. It’s haunting with it’s laid back delivery and pace, which bursts into life with it’s stabbing chanting chorus, that has everyone singing along to. It’s followed by Let’s Go Out and then She’s Standing Still, both also from 1988’s “Motortown”. She’s Standing Still is an iconic track with it’s sharp repetitive drum beat that drives it along.
We go right back to the beginning next with their debut single The Gong Man a dose of insane psychedelia with stabbing guitars and erratic vocals and the refrain ‘who is the Gong man?’ which again has the crowd chanting back to the stage. As the track builds Robins vocals become more and more expressive as he declares ‘I am the Gong man’, as the track descends to a chaotic and raucous finale.
Two notes……. That’s all it takes for everyone to recognise the next track. Two simple notes followed by the line “I’m going pruning…… pruning, pruning, pruning, pruning, pruning……” The crowd cheer as we enter the weird world of The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes. Utterly insane, but utterly brilliant, and I find myself shouting out the chorus and singing along to every line. There’s nothing quite like it – I can see even now, how this track and it’s video made such a huge influence on me all those years ago. And you know what ? It sounds just as brilliant today !
As the set draws to a close we are treated to a new track not yet recorded called Hop on Pop followed by the classic, and tonight’s set closer Down the Final Flight a mesmerising blast of sounds, expertly intertwined over which Robin delivers a spoken word vocal. It has a speed, an intensity to it, racing through – magic stuff.
There are so many classics they didn’t play tonight, such as their cover of R. Dean Taylor's There's a Ghost in My House, Message from Disneytime, and The Colours Are Speaking To Me but you know what ? I didn’t mind one bit. Many bands reform and play sets of all the old hits to remind fans of the good old days. The Very Things didn’t do that. There were some classics in there for sure, but the new material stole the show, and speaking to Robin before the show, they are working on new material. That’s brilliant, a new Very Things sound for a new age, and a new audience !
That stupid grin I had on my face on my way to Birmingham ? It was most definitely there on the journey back, “Mr. Arc-Eye” playing loud as I reflected on the past, but was excited for what might be next !
Setlist
We’re Working On It (Mr. Arc-Eye 2024)
Driver (Mr. Arc-Eye 2024)
Time Is Not On Our Side (Mr. Arc-Eye 2024)
Mr. Arc-Eye (Mr. Arc-Eye 2024)
Ghost Pool (Mr. Arc-Eye 2024)
This is Motortown (Motortown 1988)
Let’s Go Out (Motortown 1988)
She’s Standing Still (Motortown 1988)
The Gong Man (Single 1983)
The Bushes Scream When My Daddy Prunes (The Bushes Scream 1984)
I Said Yeah (Mr. Arc-Eye 2024)
Hop on Pop (unreleased)
Down the Final Flight (The Bushes Scream 1984)
