Live photos by Grace King
Pleasure Inc Photo by @ethan_griffin_mccleary
At Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom (Norwich) 27/04
Walking up to the venue on a very rainy Wednesday evening we were met by a sea of mullets and cigarette smoke – to me a true sign of a great gig. Voodoo Daddy’s is an eclectic dive bar in the centre of Norwich, dotted between miscellaneous shops, bars and cafes much like the nicknacks on the very shelves of the establishment. The top floor of the venue was packed, my friend and I struggled to find the door to the basement – “the showroom”.
Despite many issues with the bus service that evening and unfortunately missing the first support ‘$ebbuku’, we were lucky enough to catch ‘Max Fulcrum & the Win’ an assorted mix of experimental sounds, including wind instruments (I won’t insult the band with my lack of knowledge and assume it was a flute). The collective was a great warm-up for the main event.
Pleasure Inc. were greeted onto the stage with cheers from the back to the front of the room, and an excitable homecoming gig ensued. Starting with their classic tune ‘Croissant’; the crowd was riled and ready to hear tracks from the new EP ‘Plastic People’, released just a week before. The namesake of the EP was received by many reciting the lyrics back to the band – showing just how well-loved they are in their home city. The band formed relatively recently (2021) and this was evident in the infills of covers by their clear influences ‘Talking Heads’ and ‘Eminem’ – not at all to the disappointment of the crowd – screaming “F*ck you, Debbie!” at the top of their lungs.
The stand-out tracks to me were both new and old, with the hip-hop-influenced ‘2:45’ from the new EP and ‘What’s My Name’ from last year a serene song in an otherwise wacky setlist. The newer tracks clearly display the band’s trademark danceability with a groovy bassline, a mish-mash of synth sounds all laced together with erratic lyricism and drums (and plenty of ad-libs) that get everybody in the crowd dancing (even my friend who at first refused).
And with the announcement of a free sponsored show from Fred Perry next week at the same venue there is no doubt I will be going back in for round two.
Check out this live session they did for BBC Introducing for a flavour
