Choc Electrique in Bootle, July 2016. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
In the shadow of the now abandoned St. Andrews Church, a building that once tried to save souls and dish out compassion, where a modern for sale sign bristles against the thought of commercialism and the ravage of capitalism, a front man of delight of dedication reached out to the assembled and took them on a small journey of groove, a service of musical enlightenment and to one which the pulpit of the stage was not big enough, one in which the superb Choc Electrique powered over the crowd and Greedy Jesus, the front man for the 21st Century led the congregation into musical heaven.
The resurgence of the town is long overdue, the years have dragged on and the people of the oldest town on the coast have been badly let down over and over again, and whilst music doesn’t cure all ills, it certainly can resurrect the feeling of being part of something bigger, something more cohesive than shops and something more beautiful than allowing the run down to become a place avoided after dark.
It was into this that Choc Electrique caught the dazzling summer sun and proceeded to give it out as a present to all concerned with making Bootle a place to repair, to bring back out of the shadows and for it to be reborn. It takes time, but as with every other band on the day at Johnsons’ Pavilion, Choc Electrique and their superbly dazzling front man perhaps should be seen as kick starting the renaissance, the revolution that stops the visible rot of pain so entrenched in a town forgotten by the rest of the country.
Watching Greedy Jesus parade off the confines of the stage is to feel somewhat blessed, a band made for the outdoors, a group of musicians whose message is unhindered by the walls and concrete shells, this was a sermon from the grounds in the open air and it was one relished with dignity and racing hearts by those on the bowling green grass.
With the songs Disappear, Join The Show, the blistering Friend Like Me, a fantastic version of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence and Only When I’m Near You all reaching out to the crowd with scathing notes, the crescendo of love and the smile of longing, this was a set to be so glad that you left the house for, the safety of the front room displaced and the thought of building bridges in the community once more at the full front of the mind.
A truly electric experience by one of the best around, full of swagger and groove, Choc Electrique provide the blessings to the worthy.
Ian D. Hall