Evil Scarecrow, Ten Foot Wizard & Footprints In The Custard – The Tivoli, Buckley – 31.01.19

Evil Scarecrow, Ten Foot Wizard & Footprints In The Custard
The Tivoli, Buckley
31.01.19
Review and Pictures by Beth Jones

Ah the Tiv, my spirit home! I had a certain amount of de-ja-vu going to the Tiv for this gig, as once again the weather forecast was pants, and the roads were all snowy and icy! Our last trip to this venue had been the same, in December 2017 to see Mason Hill! Coincidence or are we Jinxed? Only time will tell.
For this gig my partner in crime was not our Ever Metal head honcho, Rick, but instead our trainee and my daughter, Sian, and she was very much looking forward to it!
Thankfully, a good number of people had braved the weather in order to support all the bands on the bill, and as a thanks for that, we were treated to a cracking show. Complete with much silliness, a Mankini, fruit costumes and spontaneous baa-ing from the audience!
Footprints In The Custard where given the job of opening the night and warming up the crowd, which given the sub-zero temperatures, was no mean feat! But as usual they tackled it with ease, pleasing us with such jaunty little ditties as ‘Willies Are For Weeing’, ‘Gail Platter’ and their awesome cover of The Weather Girls, ‘It’s Raining Men’! As usual, they were on top form, and as usual, got semi naked half way through, with guitarist, Ross, sporting a very fetching shiny blue Mankini, and frontman Russ donning his trademark luminous green Tutu! These guys are always a great laugh, with bags of crowd participation, and they did a grand job considering the stage was pretty cramped with the amount of gubbins Evil Scarecrow had ready for their performance! If you haven’t yet experience Footprints, you really need to – there style of crazy metal, mixed with their childlike, ‘naughty school boy’ humour is a must see. Their onstage energy and charisma are impossible not to get hooked on.

https://www.facebook.com/Footprintsinthecustard

Next up were Ten Foot Wizard. These chaps were a new name to me, but you could tell it was going to be interesting, when they had a microphone lodged in a Heron donned with Hawaiian lei, and a mic stand covered in Ivy! They have somewhat, a penchant for cow bell, oddness, and bright colours, and play a kind of stoner/doom/rock style which comes together to make a pretty hallucinogenic performance. Whilst I’m not a massive fan of that type of music, I have to give it to them – what they do, they do incredibly well. The Bassist was having a few issues with a dodgy lead, but he hid this really well, and managed to get it sorted, whilst the rest of the band played some very nice elevator music, which kept us all entertained! They brought out the big guns for their final song, ‘Covered In Tits’! The Heron microphone, loads of cow bell and a Theremin. I have never seen one of these played live before, so this made me happy!

https://www.facebook.com/tenfootwizard

The main event of the evening was Evil Scarecrow. Now reaching the business end of their Lost In Antartarctica tour, it was great to have them play a venue so close to us! The stage was packed to the rafters with gadgets and gizmos and we spent a good few minutes guessing at what songs would be included in the set by which gizmos we could see – we guessed some, but not all! The show started at a rip-roaring pace and the crowd went to the next level. Everyone got a bit over excited when Dr Hell was teaching us the moves for ‘End Level Boss’ and broke out into spontaneous Baa-ing, much to the amusement of the band! Well, when in Wales and all that!
They also had a new member joining them, as Princess Luxury had not been available for part of the tour. Playing a mean Keytar, he was introduced to us all as Chucky The Bastard, and he was indeed a naughty little bastard! At one point he hijacked the drumstick of a rogue Ten Foot Wizard member, who had infiltrated the stage with a cowbell, and beat the poor cowbell within an inch of its life!
The performance included some of their classics; ‘Robototron’, ‘Crabulon’, and ‘Blacken The Everything’ being my favourites, and new songs from their latest album, “Chapter IV: Antartarctica”. You can tell the calibre of a band when the new songs already feel like classics – ‘Hurricanado’, ‘Red Riding Hood’ and ‘Polterghost’ already seeming like mainstays in their show. I particularly like ‘The Ballad Of Brother Pain’ as it is a total departure from what they normally do, and it is a really great song. The audience participation for ‘Cosmic Goth Moth Gong’ was also quite amusing. The stage props where as nuts as ever throughout – with the good old anti-gravity machine (powered by a 13 amp plug), the Robots, UFO’s and Crabulon, as well as some new additions – a giant slug, a severed head with glowing eyes, and one of those inflatable wavy things that you get outside car showrooms!
The night finished with the Ten Foot Wizard boys, donned in oversized fruit costumes and armed with cowbells, joining the Scarecrow gang on stage for a rumpus! How things didn’t get severely broken, including band members, is beyond me!

https://www.facebook.com/Evil.Scarecrow

You can’t help but smile when you come out of a gig like that – what a top evening! The sound was great, the crowd were great, the bands were all epic, and the venue was brilliant. This was a proper party!! It is such a friendly atmosphere there, which takes me right back to the 90’s and my miss-spent youth. It makes me really happy to see this venue thriving again, and I would recommend anyone who has not been to seriously consider a trip there for one of their upcoming shows.
PS Sian loved it too!
The Tivoli:
https://www.facebook.com/The-Tivoli-Venue-111869355544823
 
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Beth Jones and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
All photos courtesy of Beth Jones and PhotograBee Images
https://www.facebook.com/PhotograBeeImages/