Norwich Sound & Vision - The Big Moon
“It’s never been so big!” Jules, frontwoman of The Big Moon, exclaims mid-set when she turns around to glance at the moon tapestry draped over Norwich Arts Centre’s stage. There’s nothing The Big Moon could have chosen to more aptly decorate their stage.
Norwich Sound and Vision Festival is a bit of a well-known thing around these parts. But it’s surprising that, when organising tours and planning dates, the artists themselves don’t have a clue what Sound and Vision is. It was simply lucky that it fell within the time they would be in the city. Or, that’s how it worked for The Big Moon. Pre-gig, I asked Celia, bassist, if they knew how much of a name Sound and Vision was in our little city, and she said she had no idea. Which is nice, that we got such a great band and such a household name out of luck, but also a shame, as Sound and Vision could have had so much more of a purpose.
Opening the night, in true Norwich Sound and Vision style, is local riot grrls Peach Club. Made up of four young women who can’t be any older than I am (20, even though I thought you weren’t supposed to ask a lady her age?), they sure do know how to control a stage. Our frontwoman Katie is very petite, and the way she sways and swaggers around the stage is phenomenal. The four-piece opened with new release Bad Bitch, which seemed a bit shaky, but as the half-hour set progressed, the band became more comfortable, I got more into it, and they really did play a good show. Most notably, their unreleased tracks were gorgeously gritty, raucous--and catchy. It’s proper old school riot grrl, but with hooks and singalong choruses.
Taking to the stage as The Big Moon’s usual tour support were Kent ‘dirt-pop’-ers Get Inuit. Frontman Jamie is a sight to behold. A mop of black hair, Spongebob-esque glasses (that suit him so well no words will ever have the power to explain), and a t-shirt that reads something about a billion cells make me doubt their seriousness. But the energy Jamie broadcasts onstage is enough to power a small television. His bandmates are equally as ferocious, with heavy riffs matching infectiously catchy vocal; the band are self-described ‘Beach Boy vocals meet Nirvana guitars’ (even though Jamie specified that they are, in no way saying they are anywhere near as good as those two bands). The fourpiece end with crowd-pleaser Pro Procrastinator, whose hook lyric appears on the majority of their merch.
After two supports that made me more than a little bit excited for the headline act, The Big Moon grace the stage at a rather late half past ten. This was all planned, so no fault on their part, but still, late. The quartet open with oldie Silent Movie Susie, followed with another super oldie Nothing Without You. These two tracks predate the release of Love in the 4th Dimension by a minimum of eighteen months, so it is graciously accepted by older fans. Once they had got the old ones out of the way, though, the rest of the set is a run-through of almost the entire album, with low-key Zeds and explosive Bonfire being my standouts. Jules and Celia also know how to talk to a crowd, their between-song chitchat showcasing true friendship and shrugging off the usual awkwardness seen from bands as they tune their guitars. A flawless cover of Bonnie Tyler’s classic Total Eclipse of the Heart is met with room-shaking singalongs, and Jules exclaims here that Norwich has the best singers of the tour so far. To end the set, the quarter play ultimate feel-good hit Sucker, which has the crowd singing at the height of their vocal prowess. We really are the best singers of the tour, and no-one can take that away from us.
Outside the venue, a man approached my friends and I, asking us how old we were. We replied (as I’ve already said, you aren’t supposed to ask a lady her age), and he informed us that he was 48. Almost thirty years ago, in ‘88, he told us, he saw Blur at this very venue, and “The Big Moon were better”. You heard it first here, folks.
The Big Moon are, as I always, only somewhat ironically say, forever out of this world. They are definitely only going up. Catch them in ten years headlining Glastonbury to unanimous praise.
