Liverpool may have the original more famous Cavern, however in West London housed in the Hanwell Community Centre, a building that has an equally rich musical lineage (including the likes of The Who, Procul Harum, The Animal, Jerry Lee Lewis) lies its less well known namesake. The Hanwell Cavern is something of a mythical venue, a Shagrila, that only appears to the chosen few ( well the ticketholders ) on a select day every six weeks or so. For the rest of the period inbetween from what we could gather it is effectively a right angled corridor, think of the Troubadour in Earls Court before it's refurb, yet someone, and #TEAMw21 salute whoever came up with the idea, had a vision of what the space could be transformed into. Staffed by an enthusiastic band of volunteers they have created a most charming space for music, at a time when ecomomic pressures are causing more and more venues to close.
The venue come with a large car park, and the entrance off to the left hand side, slopes down to take you into an underworld of delight. As #TEAmw21 enter Brooke Law is just finishing off her sound check at what itnitially seems to be the far end of the venue, on a reasonably sized square stage. The ceiling is curved, the walls are bare bricked and a large selction of temporary tables and chairs are laid out before us. As we head further in the full size of the venue is revealed, the room has been dressed beautifully, there are cut out woodent guitars on the walls, rugs and make shift carpeting on the floor. The audience, much like the staff seem to be local music lovers making the most of this new found venue on their doorstep and they will appreciate all three acts on a somewhat eclectic bill with equal applause
The evening would start witth a short set from Francis Gahan, making his third visit to the venue, which would act as a warm up. His set was primarily of covers played out on his acoustic guitar, ( Bob Dylan, Elton John and Red Hot Chilli Peppers) would receive the Gahan treatment which seemed to include him occasionally drifting into a Tom Waits / Louis Armstrong style rasp. He did have a couple of original songs, "Don't Leave Me Behind" had a certain impassioned delivery while "I Don't Know" was clearly the best of the bunch. Penned sixteen years ago, it has served him well when he fronted an eponymous band - a quick search online revealed it to have bluesy origins in it's former band version. Having noted the Tom Waits tic in Francis's voice, it was therefore apt that it was a tune from Tom, The Wire theme song "Way Down In The Hole" that would close out his contribution for the evening.
Next on the bill was something of a treat in our first sighting of Sasha Assad, who seeed to play the same number of songs as Frances but in half the time such was their speed and the fact that they came with minimal between song patter. She's probably a little off genre of our normal coverage, however talent is talent and this half Egyptian / half Nottingham singer undoudtedly has it, as do her two compadres. Her all female band was completed by Phoebe Murdoch a drummer who made maximum noise with seemingly minimum effort, producng a line of inventive percussion throughout, while in Alex Courtney on bass there was equally inventive work going on and the occasional rock star pose. Sasha herself cut a stiking figure, slightly diminutive, with big glasses, short sleeves displaying a range of tattoos, wearing a shirt, big tie and waistcoat. The three piece line up at times can be a bit limiting but they produced a sound that was vibrant, urgent and highliy entertaining.
The title to the opening tune passed us by ( introductions were brief though mainly non existent ) but there was no denying the earworm nature of it with multiple hooks to grab hold of. Sasha's habit of walking up to the mic and then immediately stepping back and repeat was a noticable feature of this engaging opener. Barely had the applause started in recognition of the final notes then we were into a 100mph post punk style intro of "Amelia", which then turned into the most perfect pop tune, with Sasha's voice riding the soulful pop riff to great effect.
One of the stand out songs of the set was definitely "Casablanker" (sic ), starting out as slow smouldering tune, which gradually built up with the addition of some neat percussion and then some rhyhtmical bass. The chorus would see Saahs break "Cas A Blank Er" down to it's componenet syllables. It would close with Sasha repating "So thanks for nothing" before bursting out into smiles all around.
Immediately the drum beats began for the next song , combined with a driving bass to provide the backbone of "Bad Nature" with its catchy "Bye bye bye" hook. The sound was basic but irresistible. indie yet populist. Once again barely had the applause begun to stat to die down then the sound of drumstcks clicking signalled the start to "Still" a peculiar stop / start song - It breaks all the rules, it should sound clunky yet it didn't at all.
The chorus saw the lines
"I can't help myself / This ain't going well" underpinned by powerful guitar chords and magical percussion - a great set piece. There was no time it was straight into a rawkus rocker, "Frankenstein" with guitar distortion. a boucing bass player and machine gun drumming that would finish with a sudden stop.
The official set would close with "Don't Ask Me To Dance" powered by a steady back beat and a strummy brooding guitar. This was at the end of the day slick pop music, with attitude and it sounded great. Such was the reception that an immediate encore was demanded, and it came with "I Think She Might Be The One", well they were the most prominent words on the chorus! It was all great stuff and definitely watch out for Sasha Assad, she's going places.
With her new single "Villain" out last week and a hectic live schedule planned for the year incuding a spot at this years must see "Roadhouse Festival", it was time to once more catch up with Brooke Law. Also appearing as a three piece, this was a different sound to Sasha yet equally entertaining demanding your attention. Opening to "Talk To Me" the powerful guitar, and drum sound propelled things along at a powerful pace with Brooke able to lay her rocking vocals over the top. It was a first chance for us to hear the band version of Gypsy Woman", powered a thumping back beat, it was transformed from the early acoustic versions that we had originally heard.
The band would provide a soundcape behind Brooke as she introduced another of last years singles "Real".The sound guys at the Hanwell Cavern did a great job of balancing Brooke's acoustic guitar in the overall mix, really bringing it to the fore on this song. The chorus made by Brooke repeatedly rocking out on the word "Re-Al Re-aL"
Always a mainstay of Brooke's set "Millionaires" never fails to entertain, it's bouncy tune often allowing listeners to maybe not discover some of the darker descriptions of life without cash in the opening verses, being seduced by the optimism of the chorus., now replete with it's guitar solo and backing vocals. It seems more complete a song than ever.
One of last years singles "Help Me" was a brooding little song that veered from being relatively restrained, smouldering on the verses before the drum role into the chorus unleashesed a tsunmami of sound with Brookee's voice riding that wave as she repeatedly cried "What's going on?"
An unrecorded song "Flying Solo", would open to just Brooke, her acoustic and the sound of cymbal being gently tapped. The calmness of the chorus would lead us to an absolute blur of activity on the chorus with Chris's efforts on drums especially noteworthy on this song about the new found freedoms of being solo.
The new single "Villain" arrived,with the guitar work sounding like a muted Led Zeppelin riff, - obviously not for this confined space, however it might be interesting to see how much louder that guitar could be jacked up to - to really drive it home. This live rendition came in a slightly funkier version than the recorded one, still able to rock out though on the chorus.
A key pivot in the set would be the arrvival of "We All Need Saving", always an attention grabber. David the guitarist would sit to the side of the stage, as shimering cymbals set the atmosphere. under Brooke's introduction and indeed throughout the song. This was Brooke's vocals at their most softest and tender leading on to the chorus where they would become higher pitched and more impassioned. It would leave the venue pin drop silent.
Another new song "Cowboy Hat" would see the guitarist leave the stage to go walkabout into the audience - his hands a seeming blur during the guitar solo.
A cover of 4 Non Blondes "What's Up" continued to reveal it's power as a song that can unite a crowd as one and enable them to find their voice with it's "Hey hey hey" chorus. The main set would close with a rampant run through of "Boomerang" with the audience having found their voice joining in the "whooo ah" chorus. With the power percussion and U2 style guitar it was rocking finale.
Naturally there was the demand for further songs and the anthemic "Freak On" for which Brooke would take off her guitar gave her freedom to move around and work that hair! Starting a capella, Brooke was then joined by a thumping "We Will Rock You" style drum intro and then the guitar to give it that true crowd pleaser status.
The final song would see Brooke do her version of "Proud Mary". The first half delivered as almost a slow ballad with Brooke getting the audience to drop to their knees and then joining them before going full Tina Turner for the celebratory full speed second half thaf turned the Hanwell Cavern into a dance venue!
A thoroughly entertaining night was had by all, with the venue offering great sound across all of the evening in front of a most appreciative audience given a chance to witness two potenital stars of tomorrow. No doubt the keen volunteers had to work late into the night returning the venue back to it's original state ready for its normal use on Monday thereby retaining its mythical status should anyone try to find it the next day! A great community venue supported by the community - #TEAMw21 salute them all for their efforts.