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I'm sure the last time I saw Wizards Of Twiddly was at the George Robey (around about the time the Mutoid Waste Company had a few of their 'tanks' parked in the beer garden). Back then, I thought they were pretty good, but they didn't blow me away. Now, the Wizards Of Twiddly have been re-emerging, rebuilding over recent years, and the band I saw this night was a bit of a shock. Traditionally, a band is supposed to have a sort of a shelf-life, lose its oomph as time, tide, family commitments and physical decay take its toll. Rock bands are supposed to slowly get sick of the songs they have to do every night, and lose the ability to scissor-jump with a v-neck guitar. They are not supposed to kick greater amounts of arse as they mature and approach small gigs as if it were the main stage at Glastonbury. I guess one thing they should do is get tighter and better at working a crowd, which is what the Wizards most certainly have done, and then some.
Travelled down from Liverpool, the Wizards Of Twiddly are a pretty good match for ZATCB - evolved in the 80s, playing twisted prog jazz of the Zappa persuasion with rather Pythonesque lyrics. Back then, they were fun, sometimes a bit wacky for me.. Now the same songs seem to have more bite to them - but that's all in the ferociously tight and brilliantly played delivery. Two guitars, a sax, trumpet, and I think there's some instrument-swapping. The menace of Man Made Self stunning live rounded off with a wild guitar solo... the lyrics of Large Geographical Features a delight I'd not noticed before. They've done that thing where all the bullshit of Being In A Band has been gone through, and a chunk of life has been gone through, and then you find out that your band is something wonderful that belongs to you. Suddenly you're out gigging again, better than ever, tougher and wiser, with ten times the balls and fire of most other bands, looking the audience in the eye. Warning - the Wizards are on top form.
6:16 PM
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