Pagan Wanderer Lu

This was something of a homecoming for Pagan Wanderer Lu, returning to Aberystwyth to precede his new EP out in May. I jumped at the chance to go to see him at the Coopers as he has not played in Aberystwyth for about a year. When we turned up there was only a handful of people upstairs (I was number 17 according to the number written onto my hand when I entered) but the number swelled quite fast to somewhere around 60, which was quite good as the Coopers is a small venue. It would seem me and my friends weren't the only people excited about The Wanderer's return. There was also quite a mix of people there, not just the usual student faces, which was good to see.

The first act on stage, Sweet Baboo looked like he'd just walked out of the 1950's and played country-influenced, acoustic guitar with a modern twist. At first I thought he was awful but he won me and the rest of the crowd over very quickly. He played a lot of “half songs,” including one about Sky Mangle from Neighbours and was endearingly nervous. He proclaimed that all his songs were about “Ladies I like, ladies I want to shoot in the face or Liquor.” He set the crowd up well for a good night to come.

Next up was David Mysterious who did a bi-lingual set (English/Welsh) of electro-indie which involved some very interesting loops of his voice used for backing. Other than quite good use of synths and inventive vocal sounds I thought he was a let down following Sweet Baboo. He seemed to take himself a bit too seriously and didn’t win the crowd over in the same way Sweet Baboo had done so well before him. It seemed like he was playing to his friends, who were sitting on a table at the front, and not to the whole crowd.

After David Mysterious came the man we'd all been waiting for, Pagan Wanderer Lu! He kicked straight in with his unique brand of electo/indie/pop with no warning at all. He started with These Desks Wont Occupy Themselves, which rudely but not unwelcomely burst though the quite chatty atmosphere between the bands. Everyone was captivated. Our table was vibrating with the bass so much that empty cans were moving around. He played one of his more famous songs next, Our New Hospital Sucks, and if anyone was doubtful that this was going to be good they were converted then. He came over as very shy on stage but this illusion was broken when he demanded that everyone came and stood at the front. At first only a handful of people followed his request but quite quickly, following the others' lead, about half the room were up at the front. The banter, which he proclaimed "would look after itself," then took off and the set climbed up yet another notch. When he played Repetition 2 I don’t think I saw anyone not captured by the beat.

He finished on a high with a request of Kofi Annan TV after declaring that because no one was behind the bar he was in charge and could play an encore. His name may make him sound like an old hippy with an acoustic guitar but with his synthesized beats and satirical lyrical bite he will go a long way.

Set List
1) These Desks Won’t Occupy Themselves
2) Our New Hospital Sucks
3) Memorial Hall
4) The Ending Makes What Came Before A Story
5) Stop Traveller! Stop and Read!
6) Repetition 2
7) Anyone Can Be Rock and Roll
8) Hyper Sanity
Encore
9) Kofi Annan on TV.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.