Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 81/2/10
Go Fiasco, Zanzibar Club, Liverpool. July 2014. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
There is no humiliation, no strangled ignominy in being part of a group that knows the so called rules but looks upon the printed pages with every do’s and do not’s listed in antiquated order and shrugs its shoulders and just plays with the type of heroic gesture and success that even a smaller scale gig feels like a feat attained, a victory for the individualistic tendency that struggles to be heard for fear of standing out; the triumph of being your own person and carrying a fantastic tune.Watching Go Fiasco is like watching an orchestra decided on the spur of the moment not to wait for the house conductor to take his applause and start without him, let him catch up, perhaps floundering in the attempt of anticipated debacle and yet realising he has trained them so well, that his anger turns to accomplished pride. Go Fiasco are a band that don’t need to be wound up, that don’t need the tap of the baton on the edge of the podium, all they require is to know somebody is watching them, that somebody has noticed that they have started and the thrill of the chase that ensues in the mixed up crazy world of the four tremendous musicians.
As with the song, the Penny Drops, with a fair amount of modesty on behalf of Daniel Duggan, Jamie Roberts, Ben Murphy and Liam Gardener that what you are watching is the next phase in Liverpool’s own musical experiment, the test of just how far apart, how far infront Liverpool is compared to the rest of the country in terms of retaining the individual’s rights to express itself without fear of shame inside a tightly grouped structure.
The penny does drop when you watch the four members sharpen their agreeable music tones. Jamie Roberts becomes this superb young version of AC/DC’S Angus Young, playing as if every single amp of electricity that is flowing through the guitar is as tameable as a python in the hands of a man carrying a pungi, you just know that the wood wind instrument is going to win hands down.
For Daniel Duggan, it is a pleasure to watch him out front and delivering the vocals as if he is the coolest man in the building, if not the area. There is no sense in the highly athletic, no muscular drive, just this man on stage who may seem bored but you realise that what you are watching is a highly intelligent virtuoso, the scholarly British version of Jim Morrison, the emphasis on the words and not on the actions as you find in some quarters.
The tracks played included Heaven, Penny Drops, Calm, Gentlemen’s Rule Book, Cutting Corners, the exceptional Master Crime and Adore the Cure were so well performed that you just had to let the jaw drop to the floor, there was no point in trying to catch it.
This is a band in which to clear the diary for, if you have an appointment the next time they play anywhere near you, put out a social disclaimer, you won’t be attending that night, you would rather see Go Fiasco.
Ian D. Hall.