It takes a lot to get me out on a Monday night (oh god, I’ve become a proper London wanker that says things like “it takes a lot to get me out on a Monday night.” Sorry), especially falling after the super special, exceptionally busy Halloween weekend that just occurred.
That said, there was very little resistance to going out last Monday night to see Ex Hex at The Scala, Mary Timony’s (of Autoclave and Helium fame) newest band.
[Photograph by Eleonora C. Collini]
I’d listened to their album Rips quite a few times, and whilst it’s rad and amazing, it totally didn’t prep me for how incredible the live show would be (my fella had seen them before and warned me but evidently I don’t listen).
Coming out looking like the coolest fucking girl gang in the world, they wasted no time ripping straight into ‘Don’t Wanna Lose’, the track with the Fabulous Stains video (sorry, I’m terrible at remembering track names but find other ways round it).
Remember all those times you go out, and when you’re drunk or just generally high on the atmosphere (or drugs, whatever floats your boat), and one of Van Halen’s or Cheap Trick’s or another band of that rock variety’s song comes on? And remember dancing along and loving every second? And remember waking up the next morning and immediately youtubing that amazing song you danced to last night, convinced you’d finally cracked that sort of rock music? And remember the crushing disappointment when it wasn’t actually as fun, and there are way more guitar solos than you remember, and seven minutes is too long for anyone except SunnO)))? Ex Hex are the answer to all your prayers! Tearing through the hooks, the choruses and the guitar solo in three-minute blasts of perfection. I felt like I’d found the answer to my dreams!
By the time they kicked into ‘You Fell Apart’, I was utterly in love, enhanced by the fact that Mary, Betsy (bassist) and Laura (drummer) all looked like they were having the time of their lives. I know everyone says “so and so made guitar playing look effortless” but this is the first time I’ve witnessed it. Mary ripping through guitar solos without even looking down, beaming smile (see boys, it’s possible, stop being so po-faced), on and off the drum riser, every inch the ultimate rock star. Meanwhile Betsy and Laura keep this kind of rolling, danceable as fuck rhythm going, it’s impossible to stand still. Well almost impossible, the boring straight couple in front of us managed it somehow for the entire show but I’m just assuming they had cold dead hearts.
Honestly, I was having so much fun it’s hard to describe each individual track other than essential, danceable and life-saving (hyperbole? Dunno what that is mate). They rattled through ‘Waste Your Time’, ‘How You Got That Girl’, ‘New Kid’ and ‘Hot And Cold’ without a breather, not stopping to let us rest our (really) weary feet.
When they kicked into ‘Beast’, halfway through Betsy whips out a HUMONGOUS bass solo that’s fucking intricate but dancey, all trundling rhythms and tapping riffs. A deserved “woooo” comes from the crowd, but before it has time to settle, Laura is off! Drumming away like her life depended on it (she had flown in to England about two hours before due to a delayed flight so how she pulled off this kinda performance I’ll never know, hats off!). Another appreciative “woooo” and just when you think the set, and herself, can’t TAKE anymore solos, out comes Mary Timony, guitar goddess! To be fair, guitar solos bore the shit out of me (and I’ve been a metalhead since I was a kid, so I’ve had to sit through a LOT) but somehow she makes them seem essential to the song, like they just would be dead without them (they totally wouldn’t be but it feels like that). Crazy good.
[Photograph by Eleonora C. Collini]
Next come the hits and we get a pop perfect ‘Radio On’ and ‘War Paint’, followed by a The Real Kids (honestly, I had to google them) cover of ‘All Kindsa Girls’ (“cos who doesn’t love all kindsa girls” a neat summation from Betsy). We then get ‘Outro’, a bit of a slow burner it let’s everyone catch their breath before final song of the night, ‘Everywhere’.
I say final, they’re offstage for approximately one minute before coming out again. Encores always seem a little forced but judging by the amount of smiling that’s occurred, both onstage and off, it feels completely genuine tonight. Plus it means we get the big hit, ‘Waterfalls’, to finish us off.
Quick notes comparison, I think Ex Hex, Bleached and The Donnas on a bill together would probably be the best thing ever (*cough cough PROMOTERS cough cough*).
I remember seeing Bleached ages ago and thinking it’d be okay if The Bangles split up now (that’d never be okay by the way) because I feel like I got to see a version of them. And tonight felt the same for The Go-Gos. Not necessarily in sound (though the poppier moments are definite crossover points) but because three best friends came out, took over the entire room (I think venues of the size of the Scala are their forte, but reckon they’d still manage to kill in a stadium), reminded everyone (the people that had forgotten at least) that rock is not a boy’s game and had the best fucking time doing it.
And that’s how you do a Monday night.
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