The Toilers @ The Restoration Sessions
I first wrote about The Toilers last year when upon checking out the word of mouth buzzing about them...I happened upon their EP. The refreshing unpretentiousness of dirty blues (think The Doors, Muddy Waters...) was exactly what I'd been missing and I made it my mission to see them live. Fast forward to 2017 and I am at The Restoration, a beautiful venue in Stoke Newington that set the tone for the evening. It was BYOB so my long lost mate Corby & I set up pew for the evening with G&T (Diet, of course darlings!)
It's rare that in one night you can experience such diverse and incredible talent within the support slots. Kicking off Matt Stevens' incredibly catchy piano tunes, Spud MacBain (Because he adored SpudULike, of course!) was exactly what you'd want in a singer/songwriter - honest, pure and not at all wanky. Steve Lamacq endorsed KONE followed, fantastic with their blend of somewhere between Siouxsie and the Pixies - I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from them.
All hosted by Irish actor Robert Sheehan (Red Riding, Misfits, etc...) who follows The Toilers around '...like a bad fart.' apparently...
To the star attraction themselves then... Having just returned from a visit to what must be their spiritual home in New York, where they played Lower East Side's Pianos, we're treated to a somewhat stripped back session from them tonight, which reminded me of an MTV Unplugged session and it lives up to our high expectations. Opening the set with 'Seven Year Bitch' the second track on their Toilers EP, we were instantly transported... somewhere else. Second track 'Huhuenot' got feet stamping and made way perfectly to ‘Banshee Betty' - a sexy, Gothic story of tragic enchantment - which converted even those pizza munching fans in the room to dance. 'Outlawed' continued to take us foot-stamping into personal favourite -unofficial Love Pirate anthem and BBC featured - ‘Sail On' They ended their set with a cover of Run Rudolph Run, which shook the 'bah-humbug' completely out of us at The Zine UK, almost!
A quick chat, free t-shit (Thanks boys!) and a whimsical step into The Toilers world later; me and Corby are in the cab home. Another musical adventure that somehow feels like it’s just beginning...
The Toilers go off to hibernate in the studio emerging early next year with a brand new EP. Watch this space - they’re definitely on our #onestowatch2018 list.
Keep up to date with them on their website.
See also; KONE, Spud Macbain, Matt Stevens, Robert Sheehan
Photos by Corby.