Live music in Northampton

He is the God of Hell Fire and he’s coming to Northampton…

‘Iconic shock rock and theatrical rock legend’ is how Arthur Brown is described on his social media channel. It’s accurate and to the point. When the God of Hellfire increased temperatures with his 1968 Hammond-driven delivery Fire, his innovation and exaggerated delivery was without comparison. Quite simply, he was a unique offering in a sea of rock n roll and pop.

Fire took the top spot in the singles chart in the UK and fared fabulously well on the other side of the pond, and his flamboyant theatrical performances, paired with his wide-ranging operatic voice ensured staying power.

A true pioneer of the shock rock movement, his influence on the hard rock scene has been immense too, and he had associations with Hendrix, The Who, Frank Zappa, Hawkwind and Alice Cooper.

Collaborations? There have been more than a few, including The Stranglers, The Alan Parsons Project and The Prodigy.

This writer grew up on a healthy diet of Kiss and the aforementioned Mr Cooper, but Arthur was there first, and his creativity proved to be a major influence on artists including Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Gabriel, Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls.

‘Without Arthur Brown, there would be no Alice Cooper,’ said Alice, while Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson declared Arthur has’ the voice of death.’ ‘Now there’s a man who was ahead of his time,’ reckons Elton John.

More than half a century since he delivered that chart-topper, Brown’s ideas continue to flow – his most recent album, Long, Long Road was delivered in 2022 and the live shows are more than ‘just’ a gig, they are an experience.

This month (April 12) Arthur will take the stage at The Black Prince; a chance to see a true trailblazer in an intimate setting – but only if you move fast; this is a sell-out waiting to happen.

While you wait for the live date, check in online with his multi-media show A Human Perspective.

Also at The Black Prince this month, Mancunian music makers Heavy Salad (April 5) will ‘lettuce’ into their secret, described as a ‘melting pot of highly melodic, psychedelic music infused with the band’s eclectic love of surf rock, electro-pop, fuzzed up punk funk and cosmic gospel-tinged folk.

In January, the septet released the single, Weirdest of the Weird Sh*t, ‘a song born out of the weirdness of lockdown and learning to deal with the new dystopian reality. A heady mixture of disease, death, faith, medicine, conspiracy and hope.’

Raw garage rock, P-Funk inspired melodies and woozy exotica,’ is the explanation. The ‘fampton’s own Sunny Gym (April 26) will play their alternative indie jazz rock for you, with support from Flypaper, a project by London-based singer-songwriter Rory Sear.

Presumably, he has real sticking power…

Support comes from Idle Palms and Death of Summer.

SBD promotions will also be journeying a little way from home this month, when they take Wasted Youth to the stage of Bedford Esquires (April 5). The London-based post-punk peddlers, originally active for three years from 1979 blended post-punk with dark acoustic strains.

After almost four decades apart, vocalist and guitarist Ken Scott and guitarist Rocco Barker decided the time was right to press the ‘reactivate’ button and revived Wasted Youth.

Support comes from Northampton’s own electro post-punkers – and Pulse music pages frequenters – Venus Flytrap.

Tap to sbdpromotions.com for more details and to book those tickets.