LIVE FROM THE PIT: Erotic Secrets of Pompeii and Ben Brown

With the release of their excellent album Pitchfork Libra now over two months gone, the Bristol-based five piece EROTIC SECRETS OF POMPEI made the very wise decision to take it around the country on tour. Having recently been announced for Arctangent festival next August, it was the perfect time for them to take some other weird, heavy, eccentric bands on the road with them - so of course, as everybody expected, they took singer/songwriter BEN BROWN, a man self-described as 'The Temu Ed Sheeran', along for the journey. We made it to London's Waiting Room to discover just what this strange double act was up to.

BEN BROWN opened proceedings, and whilst he was most certainly not a standard opening act for a band who fall somewhere into the murky regions of noise rock, post punk, art rock and camp theatre energy, he was a joy to watch. His voice was astounding, and his simple, catchy lyrics and melodies were a perfect way to set a false sense of security for those unaware of the headliners, and the track Coffee And Oranges was a real highlight - with delightful musicality paired with lyrics that absolutely didn't suit it, in a brilliant exercise of duality and discord. His music wasn't all to him though, as BROWN's comedic sensibilities made each moment between songs into a little stand-up set that ran through the evening, discussing outdoor bench paint and corduroy trousers aplenty.

As there were just two acts, the night was a relatively short one, and this made the difference between the two acts all the more stark. Once our headliners walked out and jumped straight into Utterly Rudderless, the essence of their live show became apparent - that being to keep things high energy, invest the crowd into everything, and most importantly, to have an absolute blast. Safe to say, they had everyone in the collective palms of their hands, as tracks like Osiris at the Large Hadron Collider showed off some of their zaniest lyrics, before Ten Ton Delirium boomed out and whipped up a singalong over its electric riffs, and Venus Ascending displayed the doomier side of the band that's not seen quite so often. Mixing plenty of songs from their latest release into the set, as well as a choice selection of the best of debut album Mondo Maleficum, it was a set that covered their very strongest work.

Winding down the set with Bring Me Back from the Black Beyond, it can surely be said that not only EROTIC SECRETS OF POMPEI are excellent at writing fascinating and deeply enjoyable music; they're phenomenal in the flesh. With a brief encore of Nemesis Please off of their debut EP Trash Jugular, and the true finale of The Hand That Did the Deed, they capped the night off with pomp and aplomb. The venue may only have had room for a small few, but they performed like there were thousands watching on - and who knows, soon enough there just might be. For those really aching to catch them, not only can you find them at Arctangent next year, it might be worth keeping an eye on their social media tomorrow.

Words: Jasmine Longhurst

Photos: Anthony Turner