Two Audiences with Simon&thePope
ROD WEBB
Volunteering sometimes comes with rewards. Last year, after a long meeting, some of the local allotment committee members retired to the nearby Marina Fountain to watch Simon&thePope. It was a magical experience.
Ever since then, I’d been keen to write a review, but it took another committee meeting, this time actually held in the Marina Fountain, to finally make it happen. After a noisy meeting held against a raucous background, immersing myself in the music of Simon&thePope was perfect. The hypnotic rhythms and grooves wash over and through you, working deep into your soul. It was mesmerising.
The seeming banality of the lyrics take on a mystical quality. Simon’s delivery and careful construction of words and phrases urges a search for deeper meaning – maybe just within ourselves. Lines such as: “Can you gig it, Can the man, Can you mix it, Jerry Can: (Chorus) Cannelloni, Candelabra, Canterbury, Cantona.”
I’ve heard them in the gallery at the Kino providing background music to events, but they really are a band you have to get up close and personal to appreciate. “These are musicians with a lifetime of experience who have nothing to prove,” said a woman sitting close by. Simon, for example, was previously drummer for the Higsons, a band that topped the indie charts in the eighties and was a favourite of John Peel.
John Pope, the other mainstay, also plays with Simon in another of his bands, The Aftersave. Between them they drive the pulsing rhythms, on the one hand primitive and on the other sophisticated; a blend that achieves satisfaction on so many levels. The result is described in one review as “an intriguing concoction of post punk funk”.
This lineup also includes Rob Leake on sax and Anthony Moore on guitar, who seamlessly improvise over Simon and John to blend in extra flavour and provide interesting diversions.
And not forgetting Duncan Reekie – part of Exploding Cinema – whose mesmerising mix of film and slides creates an immersive psychedelic atmosphere to augment the whole trippy experience – and setting the scene, DJ James Endeacott.
The Marina Fountain will sadly be closing shortly, so to catch this lineup in their natural setting, make a date for Thursday 2 May. If you can’t make that one, the whole immersive experience will be taking up a monthly residence at Day Glo in Silchester Road from Thursday 6 June.
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