20
Bido Lito! February 2015
Reviews
Dogshow (Antonio Franco / antonionfranco.net)
DOGSHOW
Jacques Malchance
The Invisible Wind Factory
In a city where the Krazyhouse proclaims
itself as the ‘biggest alternative venue’, it
is perhaps understandable that the threat
of losing The Kazimier was felt with such
acute dismay amongst Liverpool's creative
community. Coming only months after the
closure of MelloMello – itself a victim of the
increasing rents in the area – it felt for many
like another symptom of a city that, for all its
creative spirit and endeavour, could no longer
shield its cultural hubs against the influence of
a commercially minded property market. That a
venue with such popularity and regard as The
Kazimier could – despite its integral place in
the Liverpool music scene – even be under the
threat of closure exemplifies just how difficult
it is to run a creative business in the heart of
the city. In amongst all the doom and gloom,
however, what many people seemed to forget is
that the creative spirit that defines these places
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transcends bricks and mortar. To paraphrase Jeff
Goldblum's iconic words, creativity finds a way.
Tonight, that ‘way’ manifests itself as The
Invisible Wind Factory. A space devised by a
group known as The Vision Commission, The
Invisible Wind Factory is billed as an assembly
line of light and sound set in the heart of
Liverpool's docklands, away from the prying
eyes of property developers. Trudging down
the dock road into the wind and rain, signs of
life slowly start disappearing – buildings turn
into warehouses, warehouses into even bigger
warehouses – and it is only the queue outside,
buzzing with anticipation, which indicates that
we've found the place. The space is cavernous.
Cold and industrial, it has echoes of some
underground Kreuzberg nightspot.
Upon entering the Wind Factory revellers
are greeted by a strange yet welcome sight:
keyboardist JACQUES MALCHANCE, elevated
above the throng, exhibiting his own brand
of krautrock-esque soundscapes like some
deranged hotel lobby pianist. It is perhaps
indicative of the atmosphere at this muchanticipated opening that a crazed-looking
man playing cosmic keyboards on a platform
can serve as background music but, given the
spectacularly odd nature of the night, it merely
serves as opener.
As a concept, the space explores the idea of
culture as a manufacturable, albeit intangible,
product. Much like Motown, drawing influence
from the assembly line production of Detroit's
motor city, The Vision Commission draw influence
from Liverpool's industrial past. Utilising the
space to combine disparate artistic endeavours
– music, lights, sculpture – on a scale impractical
elsewhere in the city, the possibilities opened
up by the space are evidenced by the headline
act DOGSHOW, to mind-boggling effect.
Taking to the custom-built stage, suspended
by a winch and flanked by an army of lightemitting accomplices, the punk techno twopiece defy explanation. The show looks like
something straight out of Glastonbury's Arcadia,
a fusion of wrought metal, energy and anarchy.
The collision of lights and music, all centred
on the stage suspended twenty feet above
the ground, are all beyond impressive. This is
something special. More than anything this
night offers reassurance that no matter where
it moves to, or gets pushed out of, Liverpool's
creative spirit will always have a home. If only
all of them are as unique as this one.
Dave Tate
THE VOYEURS
Harvest Sun @ The Shipping Forecast
Touring on the back of their new album,
Rhubarb Rhubarb, released on Heavenly
Records, NME darlings THE VOYEURS roll
into town on this nippy evening to warm
the basement here at the Shipping Forecast.
Looking impossibly and annoyingly cool, the
London-based five-piece swagger through a set
with peaks and troughs a-plenty.
The hype train has long been stationed at
Voyeur central but has clearly not accompanied
them tonight, and it appears that the band are
to perform to a room full of photographers.
Given their highly stylised appearance (think
The Horrors) this is a prospect I imagine the
group will not find at all daunting, and their