Words by Isaac Vernon
The three-piece known as Mclusky made a rapturous return to Newcastle on Friday, with Geordie lad Andy “Falco” Falkous, leading the charge alongside Jack Egglestone on drums, and Damien Sayell on bass.
Since discovering these guys in May through the release of their latest album, ‘The World Is Still Here and So Are We’, I realised that I had been missing out by being unfamiliar with their previous work. I went on a deep dive into their discography and was blown away; their second album ‘Mclusky Do Dallas’ is a genuine masterpiece which I implore anyone to check out who hasn’t already. You’re also in luck if you catch one of their shows on this run as the setlist has a healthy serving of tracks from this iconic album.
The band opened the set with a tease of ‘Fuck This Band’, playing its iconic bass riff for a few bars, before a huge rug pull moment where they sack off that tongue-in-cheek song in an instant and Egglestone’s expertly timed drums take over, steamrolling into ‘Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues’. This came as a huge surprise, when you expect most bands to drag things out and play their hits last, but they spoiled us early with their most popular song and showed us how high the bar was set for the rest of the gig.
I opted for earplugs (props to the venue for having these available at the bar) once I saw frontman Falco sporting some heavy duty ear defenders like something you’d see on a building site. I figured if he needs them from his side of the stage, it might be smart for me to do the same. This was a great choice, the band were on top form and playing at maximum power and volume, which made the energy electric and you could feel the bass vibrating through the hairs on the back of your neck. However, testing the waters during ‘Unpopular Parts of a Pig’ and removing my earplugs for a minute was proof enough that they were necessary; this was one of the loudest gigs I’ve been to, second only to Pigs x7 at Star and Shadow earlier this year.
As the gig went on, the band got to show off their comedic chops as well as their musical prowess. Mclusky are a band well known for having frankly hilarious lyrics and song titles, and their chat between songs proves that this isn’t a fluke, Falco and Damien are constantly dropping one liners and batting back against attempted heckles from a particularly inebriated Friday night crowd.
The set was entirely high energy, but a highlight was in fact a mellower song ‘She Will Only Bring You Happiness’ that came halfway through and served as a breather for both the crowd and assumedly the band. The song ends with a layered chorus, which shows off the vocal chops of Sayell. The pair sing ‘Our old singer is a sex criminal’, a statement which isn’t factually true, but further illustrates the band’s penchant for dark humour in their song writing.
Another highlight was ‘Alan Is A Cowboy Killer’, with its catchy lyrics and punchy guitars going hand in hand with a great drawn out build up going into the final chorus, that smacks you right in the face once the strobe lights hit. Going into this gig, I assumed that the heavy, raucous energy of their studio albums would translate into a rowdy, moshing, crowd. The reality was quite different. Until the very last two songs of the set that is when the front few rows seemed to finally let loose and get some movement going. Mosh pits or no mosh pits, nothing phased the band and they played The Cluny like they were headlining an arena. Mclusky are playing all over the place for the remainder of the year, if you get a chance to see them, don’t pass up on it.
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