Venue:
The Workman’s Club, Dublin
Date: 22/08/2025
“Palm Of Your Hand”, announces singer Wes, once the band members have arranged themselves onstage. I’m an infrequent gig-goer now, but back in my heyday I watched a lot of emerging acts dip their toes on the live circuit in the smaller Dublin venues to be greeted by a crowd of folded arms and “impress us” faces, so the irony of the song title causes me to smirk.
But then BCMB hit the first chorus and, to my surprise, a substantial chunk of the audience is singing along and throwing their arms in the air. I wonder is this unabashed enthusiasm the TikTok/ YouTube effect? It may be helped by the presence of a decent proportion of women in the crowd. I’d believe it might be a new generation thing, but there’s a wide spread of ages in the audience.
The band quickly belt out a couple more fast ones to keep up the momentum. Wes (tall, great jawline, fantastic hair) emboldened, is Robbie Williamsing the microphone at us now.
The impression coming from the stage is that the band are enjoying it as much as we are. When they get to single Eddie My Love, which finishes with a Roy Orbison-style dramatically extended note, Wes has his arms up, encouraging us to join in and, by golly, we do our best, but we just don’t have his lungs.
Bridget Calls Me Baby are a band from the killing fields of Chicago™️ with just the one album in the bag (although we’re told the new one is already recorded) whose sound has been compared to various eighties acts, notable early-period Smiths. Like a lot of bands who have emulated the Johnny Marr jangle, they employ two guitarists to do so.
“Is this your first time seeing us?”, asks Wes and a bunch of people make it clear they were there when BCMB supported Morrissey back in Spring.
(If you’re interested, the band name comes from a school project which required initiating correspondence with a famous person and – as we know – today’s kids are all fascinated by Brigitte Bardot). I suppose you could describe their sound as a bit retro, but then a bunch of blokes with guitars and drums is de facto retro nowadays. Bass player Devin, who sports a mighty white Afro, occasionally breaks from driving the sound to add a splash of keyboard texture.
The band play with verve, rattling through their repertoire at pace (In fact, the whole show happens between 9 and 10 as if designed to facilitate an Afterword-friendly bedtime) and the sound in The Workman’s Club is pretty good. They play a few new songs, the pick of which, Dancing With Another Love, comes in with a prolonged dynamic guitar intro like a Cure single from the Top Of The Pops era. Their songs are short and generally unfussy and they don’t attempt to drag out or extended them tonight. Even the band introduction is done efficiently in the space before the chorus picks back up on previous single Too Easy.
The first encore is their uptempo cover of George Michael’s Careless Whisper. This is their most recent release and seemed a bit whimsical on record but I have to admit as a live encore it goes down a storm with this crowd. One more after that and we all retire to the bar to meet the band where an appreciative crowd lingers to chat and buy LPs.
The audience:
As mentioned, well mixed in age and sex and it occurs to me their warmth and enthusiasm might be explained by the presence of good humoured tourists among the curmudgeonly Irish (The Workman’s Club is – just about – in the Temple Bar area and the price of a pint reflected that. Ouch!
It made me think..
If you like fun, spirited, melodic guitar music you might give them a go next time they are in town. They are scheduled to play England and Edinburgh next March (but no return to Ireland scheduled as yet).
This sort of thing:
Terrific. These boys have got it. Great review too!
It seems to me that the attitude of audiences at these kind of gigs has changed from the old days.
People now seem to come out intending to enjoy the gig, rather than for an evening of posing, trying to be cooler and more aloof than everyone else – including the band.
That “O.K. impress me” thing you spoke of has had it’s day.
I enjoyed your review S.R. and I enjoyed listening to the band even more so much that I’ve ordered the LP
Me too.
They remind me a lot of a band I did sound for their first ever gig, in a pub near the station in Cambridge, back in 2009ish. Journalist John Earls was in the audience and signed them to the label he was setting up. I did some demos with them one weekend in a local primary school, the drummer was brilliant, and they recorded their best songs (which never got properly released).
They packed off to Oxford and used the studio and recording crew behind the first Supergrass album. Two CD singles were released, and then it all fizzled out.
Here’s the first single from 2010. It seems at least one of them is still plugging away under the band name.
https://theincredibleflightofbirdman.bandcamp.com/album/where-i-cant-see-you
Yes, I hear it (and I like it too). I see they also went the name-that’s-too-long-to-scratch-into-your-school-desk-with-a-compass route.
As much as I’ve loved all the great pure pop over the last few years, I have been heard to moan about the dearth of guitar bands. Maybe they’re all still out there trying but (*cough*) the world won’t listen..?
P.S. As it was released too close to Christmas for my vote last year and Spotify has it as a 2025 release, I’m confident that The Pony Collaboration’s current album will feature in my end of year list..
Despite recording the basic tracks in record time (over a weekend), progress on the next one seems to have ground to a halt.
The Brigitte Calls Me Baby – The Future Is Our Way Out LP arrived today and it’s had 3 plays
I’m very impressed the singer is bound to be compared someone I detest but Wes Leavins voice is so much more – everything
As one YT commenter posted – “best Smiths tribute band ever.”