LENE LOVICH + DAS FLUFF + LE LAMB – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 24.5.25
At last! I’ve finally got to see Lili Marlene Premilovich live and in the flesh! Of course she is better known as the Detroit-born legendary post-punk pop singer Lene Lovich. It certainly was my ‘Lucky Number’ this evening at The Prince Albert in Brighton as the American-British singer and her band thrilled an absolutely rammed venue across a 71 minute set. This comprised 16 tunes of her work from 1978 to 1982, including a disco hit, for which Lene wrote the lyrics. This being date nine of a ten date tour, having already called in at York, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester, Nottingham, London plus Bedford, and tomorrow Lene and chums will sign off in Bristol.
The musicians accompanying Lene were Skeletal Family founding member Stan Greenwood on guitar, Morgan King on drums, Val Gwyther on bass (who I believe Lene referred to as ‘Valkyrie’) and Sarah Fisher on keys, who I have previously seen in action 6 years ago as part of Hazel O’Connor’s band – Review HERE.
Our team have actually reviewed Lene Lovich once before and this was at Rebellion in Blackpool on 3.8.24 where Mark Kelly stated thus:
LENE LOVICH – Opera House, Rebellion Festival 3.8.24 (9:50pm – 10:45pm):
“Next I’m off to the Opera House to see somebody who I’ve wanted to see when I was a teenager: Lene Lovich. I’m quite astonished that she seems to be unchanged from decades ago, but is apparently 75. Most of the songs in the early part of the set I don’t know (or more probably don’t remember!), but that simply encourages me to investigate Lene’s back catalogue. Of course, the highlights of the set are ‘Bird Song’, the utterly ageless ‘Lucky Number’ and set closer ‘Home’. Lene has a top notch band with her, with guitarist Stan Greenwood being particularly impressive. Lene has no UK dates planned at the moment, but when she does, go and see her. You won’t be disappointed!”
Lene, who was one of the leading acts of the New Wave scene in the UK, has apparently been referred to as the “Queen of Quirk” and after tonight’s performance, I can’t really argue with that! In her time she has influenced a generation of pop and alternative acts, from Nina Hagen to Boy George, and from Madonna to Dresden Dolls. Normally a reclusive figure, Lene initially only recorded a trio of albums for the collectible Stiff Records: ‘Stateless’ (1978), ‘Flex’ (1980) and ‘No Man’s Land’ (1982), after which she turned her back on the limelight amid disagreements with her record company about her unwillingness to compromise her groundbreaking visual style for the then newly emergent MTV. Subsequently she has only recorded two further albums in the last thirty-odd years, ‘March’ in 1989 and ‘Shadows And Dust’ in 2005.
Lene moved to England at the age of 13, where she met guitarist and songwriter Les Chappell, who later became her long-time music collaborator and life partner. Her unique vocal delivery, eccentric hairstyle, clothing and quirky sense of humour very much sets her apart from the rest of the crowd. She has been described as everything from “Kate Bush on acid” to “the New Wave Maria Callas”. She is mostly remembered for her trio of 1979 hit singles ‘Lucky Number’ (No.3), ‘Say When’ (No.19), ‘Bird Song’ (No.39) as well as her collaboration with the one and only Thomas Dolby, the result being ‘New Toy’. A really interesting fact was that ‘Lucky Number’ was actually the B-Side of her previous single which was a cover of Tommy James and the Shondells’ song ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’, which actually failed to chart! The song has been covered several times by other artists, most notably by Tiffany who scored a No.1 hit with it in 1987. Or if you’re of a younger age, then you will recall the Girls Aloud (No.4) effort from 2006.
Back at The Prince Albert and Lene’s band manage to squeeze past the eager punters and clamber onto the compact stage at 9:43pm and remain in place until 10:54pm. To our left (stage right) we have Sarah on Roland VR-09 keys and ASM keys; next to her is Stan on Rapier guitar; centre rear is Morgan on drums; stage left (our right) is the youngest member of the team Val on Fender Precision bass. (All four added backing vocals this evening as well). After about a minute the venue door swings open and Lene is chauffeured through the crowd and onto the stage by promoter Frank Drake – what a gentleman! Lene take’s centre front and there she is literally five feet away from me, after all these years, and hundreds of plays of my copies of her records later, we are in the same room.
They commence with the first of four cuts from her 1982 ‘No Man’s Land’ album, this being the keys and drums led ‘Special Star’, and immediately Lene’s vocals remind me of Nico of Velvet Underground fame. Lene cuts a mysterious figure as she has an extensive pink head covering which virtually covers all of her face. I’m almost expecting this to remain in place for the whole performance, and thus make taking photos a difficult process. Thankfully this wasn’t the case. It then dawns on me, that maybe, just maybe a certain Icelandic genius whose surname is Guðmundsdóttir has sought some inspiration here – that’s Björk by the way!
OK I’m going to confess here, that somehow despite purchasing Lene’s two biggest singles and hearing Thomas Dolby’s live version of ‘New Toy’, I am somehow not familiar with any of Lene’s album material. And as the tunes come at us, I’m beginning to feel really cheated and annoyed with myself for not having bought them back in the day! There’s real quality on offer here! We get the organ sound and “whaa whaa” vocals of ‘Blue Hotel’, followed by ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (the first of a handful of tracks from 1978’s ‘Stateless’ album) which reminds me vocally and musically of Hazel O’Connor; followed by 1982’s ‘Maria’ (not the Blondie No.1) which initially begins like the Strangers 1977 ‘(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)’ and we are told it’s about equality. Once unveiled, it’s fascinating watching Lene’s expressive eyes as she sings the tracks, and I swear her voice is just as solid as it was at the end of the 1970’s. I really didn’t expect this to be honest.
Another surprise was that I had either forgotten or never knew that Lene played the saxophone. Historically she had developed an interest in art and theatre and had enrolled at the Central School of Art and Design and it’s here where she took saxophone lessons. Well they certainly paid off judging by her playing tonight! Thus we had ‘Joan’ from 1980’s ‘Flex’ album, which very much reminded me of The Piranhas and X-Ray Spex. Her 1981 ‘New Toy’ single was next, after which she simply said “Thank you Thomas Dolby”. Lene still has her endearingly quirky ways and at the start of the oom-pah sounding ‘Monkey Talk’ (which is found on the ‘What Will I Do Without You’ mini-album from 1980), herself and her bandmates, did in fact make monkey noises.
Lene was back on sax for ‘Writing On The Wall’ from the debut album, which was followed by ‘Rocky Road’ with its wolf cries, operatic tendencies and speedy beat and somehow Sarah was getting the keys to make that Buzzcocks distinct guitar twang. There was a surprise after this as suddenly I found myself listening to their rendition of Cerrone’s brilliant ‘Supernature’ track. I’ve seen some information that read “In 1975, she joined the band the Diversions and shortly afterwards wrote the lyrics to Cerrone’s single ‘Supernature’”, however on my 12” single it does not credit Lene as the writer, it says “Wisniak – Cerrone”, however the album says “L. Lovich…kindness, talent & comprehension”. Funnily enough, I still play the original track to this very day.
It was time for the big hitters and thus we were served ‘Say When’ followed by ‘Lucky Number’, with ‘Say When’ having a drum break like Racey’s ‘Some Girls’ and ‘Lucky Number’ had all the punters singing “Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!”. ‘One In A 1,000,000’ was the next selection, and comically it reminded me of a speedier New Wave take on Sylvia’s 1974 ‘Y Viva Espana’ effort. After this, the band then all stood with their hands above their heads before saying “Angels” and then they rocked away. This tune (‘Angels’) also had the sound as if it had been released by Hazel O’Connor. With a guitar strum from Stan they were away with ‘Details’ from the ‘New Toy’ EP. The musicians signed off with ‘Home’ from the debut LP, with its repeated singalong “Let’s go to your place” lyrics. After this Lene introduced her bandmates and then they concluded with a reprise of the final part of ‘Home’ with the other repeated “I don’t wanna go back anymore…” lyrics.
In all honesty, I thought that tonight’s set was much better than I perceived it was going to be. I had envisaged just enjoying a trio out tunes and that Lene’s vocals wouldn’t be how they used to sound! How wrong was I.
Lene Lovich:
Lene Lovich – lead vocals, saxophone
Sarah Fisher – keys, backing vocals
Stan Greenwood – guitar, backing vocals
Morgan King – drums, backing vocals
Val Gwyther – bass, backing vocals
Lene Lovich setlist:
‘Special Star’ (from 1982 ‘No Man’s Land’ album)
‘Blue Hotel’ (from 1982 ‘No Man’s Land’ album)
‘Sleeping Beauty’ (from 1978 ‘Stateless’ album)
‘Maria’ (from 1982 ‘No Man’s Land’ album)
‘Joan’ (from 1980 ‘Flex’ album)
‘New Toy’ (from 1981 ‘New Toy’ EP & 1991 US reissue of 1980 ‘Flex’ album)
‘Monkey Talk’ (from 1980 ‘What Will I Do Without You’ mini-album)
‘Writing On The Wall’ (from 1978 ‘Stateless’ album)
‘Rocky Road’ (from 1982 ‘No Man’s Land’ album)
‘Supernature’ (Cerrone cover)
‘Say When’ (from 1978 ‘Stateless’ album)
‘Lucky Number’ (from 1978 ‘Stateless’ album)
‘One In A 1,000,000’ (from 1978 ‘Stateless’ album)
‘Angels’ (from 1980 ‘Flex’ album)
‘Details’ (from 1981 ‘New Toy’ EP)
‘Home’ (including reprise) (from 1978 ‘Stateless’ album)
There were two support acts this evening, with both lead women just as quirky as Lene Lovich, and so they were arguably a perfect fit. First up were local outfit Le Lamb who are fronted by Mia Mottier, along with her chums Jeric Harding-Barns (guitar), Emmanouil Lekkos (guitar), Elliot Vickers (drums) and Jeremy Thurgood (bass). We are in their company for 32 minutes from 7:28pm to 8:00pm and during that time they perform only a handful of songs. Sadly the venue is only half full for the beginning of their set, but if people want to waste their money by not seeing the support bands then it’s their loss isn’t it.
With a Epiphone guitar, Fender guitar, Fender bass, and drums they are away. The first thing that everybody could not fail to notice is that Mia is dressed like a seductive lamb. We then notice that her vocals are very strong indeed and that she sure is a dramatic performer. Mia is very much the centre of attention. After the conclusion of ‘Bonds Girl’, ‘Healing’ and ‘Sexy Suicide’, it’s evident that the band can seriously play their instruments very well indeed, we even had a drum solo in the set. The songs are arguably off filter twangy post punk indie rocking numbers with vocals akin to Eartha Kitt meets Shirley Bassey cabaret style with added and nursery rhyme content. Yes, they really are all of those things wrapped up into one package. My colleague would even like me to add Led Zeppelin into that mix. ‘Sirens Call’ and ‘Boy Unnamed’ finished off their set and Le Lamb are a once seen, never forgotten outfit. They are an acquired taste and as I said perfect support for Lene, hence the huge applause at the end of their performance. So what did I think of them? “Baaaaaa”.
Le Lamb:
Mia Mottier – vocals
Jeric Harding-Barns – guitar
Emmanouil Lekkos – guitar
Elliot Vickers – drums
Jeremy Thurgood – bass
Le Lamb setlist:
‘Bonds Girl’
‘Healing’
‘Sexy Suicide’
‘Sirens Call’
‘Boy Unnamed’
Main support this evening were Berlin/London duo Das Fluff who have previously supported Lene down the years in London, Brighton, Cardiff and Norwich. Das Fluff have also supported post-punk luminaries such as Viv Albertine, Toyah, Aesthetic Perfection, Rabia Sorda, Lydia Lunch, and the tremendous Clan Of Xymox. They have headlined gigs around the world and toured extensively in Europe, the US and Asia. They have released six albums and this is the band’s 15th anniversary year. Dawn Lintern (vocals) and Christian Ruland (electronics) of Das Fluff have recently formed a second project, Bats of Queen’s Wood, with John Rigby (S Gang Children) and are recording their first album and playing live.
It’s quite a lengthy set this evening from this duo. It’s 55 minutes long and runs from 8:24pm to 9:19pm and we are given 10 tunes. The first thing of interest I spy is a Moog theremin, which I haven’t knowingly seen before. There’s a laptop on stage and the rest of Christian’s equipment is shielded within a silver flight case, but I’m guessing that he’s running controllers off of it, which maybe even include Dawn’s microphone, as it changes sound from line to line without her touching it. The next thing I notice is Dawn’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’ makeup look and her homemade dress. Dawn informs us that tonight’s set consists of songs from the last 15 years across their six albums and they kick off with ‘Maximum Damage’, ‘Happy People’ and ‘Nothing’.
Christian also has a taxi mic that he occasionally makes noises into and sings a few lines. Dawn’s performance is intense and at one stage she stares right into my face, as though looking into my soul…gulp! Their electronic beats and vibe would make them a good match to share the bill with Sheep On Drugs. Dawn makes a habit of checking out the crowd and coming amongst us (four times) to rev us up. Her lyrics seem to tell stories, like Marc Almond tunes tend to do. Although the music can be banging, Dawn’s vocal delivery is slow on top, and to be honest the actual music could be louder. Who put the Dolby B on? She has the air of being Blitz Kid ‘Ronny’s’ gritty sister. The tracks carry on and a number of the titles are abbreviated, but I can’t locate the full titles at present. They end on two songs from their forthcoming ‘Screaming Dawn’ album, but then are encouraged to do “one more song” which is ‘Shut The F*ck Up’ and after this they did.
Das Fluff:
Dawn Lintern – vocals
Christian Ruland – electronics, theremin, backing vocals
Das Fluff setlist:
‘Maximum Damage’
‘Happy People’
‘Nothing’
‘ILYW’
‘Lovebites’
‘Little Tearaway’
‘One Day’
‘Rage’
‘BFL’
‘DTTE’
‘Shut The F*ck Up’
