Have you ever seen a man eating humous at a gig?

Who:  Indians

Where:  The Louisiana, Bristol

When:  Thursday 31st January 2013

heyiamindians.com

billyandbernadette.bandcamp.com/

I talked about support acts in my previous post, this one was definitely one of the most memorable.

With Strange Billy The Saint & Bernadette Pike, a local Bristol band, the name pretty much says it all. On their website they describe themselves as “a slightly crazed delusional boy [who] crossed paths with a slightly crazed disillusioned girl”.  They have originality by the bucket load - I can honestly say I’ve never heard anybody meow during a song which was described as something “a cat would write, if a cat could write”.  And ‘Bug On A String’ is equally as entertaining, particularly Billy’s impression of a bug flying towards Bernadette’s face, over and over again.  They tell stories, with insights into their relationship.  They are worth seeing, if only to help fund their Magic Roll habit (a legendary sandwich shop on the Clifton Triangle famous for its wraps, if you’re from Bristol you’ll probably know it).  They couldn’t do a better job of advertising if they were paid, they mentioned their fondness of a Magic Roll in between every song in their set!

And whilst on the subject of eating, in the lull between support band and main act I heard rattling behind us and turned around to find a man - who had a rucksack, clearly he’d come prepared - opening a container of humous.  A forward thinking move, but one which lead me to think it was a bit rude he didn’t share his snacks with Billy and Bernadette!

On to the main event, Indians.  The band are from Copenhagen, Denmark, but other than that there is little to be found about them online.  We really took a punt on this band, based on nothing but a paragraph of description on ents24.  They are quite an enigma.  The guy behind the project, Søren Juul, starts his blog posts on the website with “hi friends”, but there is nothing in the About section of the band’s site.

The Louisiana is a small venue, a room above a pub, which is perfect for Indians.  Their  music is subdued, dreamy, sometimes melancholy.  They aren’t going to incite a mosh pit, or rock an arena.  And unfortunately for Indians, Billy and Bernadette have made a more lasting impression on my memory.

The view of Indians, blocked in part by Big Jeff. Jeff seems to be at every gig in Bristol so this is a common occurrence.