Mt. Misery/ Ice Road Truckers/ Claudia @ The Ship Isis (Sunderland)

26/7/24

Off the back of their support run with US band Lightheaded on their first UK tour which hit cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Cardiff, Hartlepool's Mt. Misery set their sights on headlining Sunderland's Ship Isis.

Having released their latest single Lunch Break - a lovely little number about, you guessed it, being on your lunch break, albeit being bothered on your lunch break - Mt. Misery finally return to Sunderland. Nine months removed from Waves Festival and a cancelled gig at Pop Recs in the meantime, the syrup-y sweetness of Mt. Misery would emanate their Sunday Morning Music at the Ship Isis.

The bass drum is filled with cushions/pillows/blankets - a snug fit for what would be a warm wit which would be dished out throughout the night. The kit, with it's light-blue, shell-like finish, stands out amidst the Ship's rouge-tinted essence - carpet, lights, wall and ceiling decorative finish and to top it off, the stage, all emanate a strong redness.

Seats, as well as wooden beer barrels, are brought into the Ship's gig room. A semi-comfortable seat is the position of choice as people wait for the opening act.

The playlist that the sound engineer/guy is playing goes by the name of 'PAT GOZ MT MISERY'.

Three-piece punk outfit Claudia got proceedings underway.

Claudia - 20:00

Ozzy - Lead singer - Cramps shirt.
Sophie - Drummer - Goofy(Disney) shirt.
Lili - Bassist - Aerosmith shirt.

'"Were Claudia, we're all from here. This first song's 'Government Infringment' because we hate the Government."

As far as I can tell, each member has a setlist specific to them at their feet.

"If you couldn't tell, our band is named after Claudia Winkleman. This is called 'Head & Shoulders'."

Bassist Lili's fingers float over her strings in a majestic manner as the warmth in the Ship rises. It reflects the rooms red essence quite nicely. A breeze wouldn't go astray though.

Frontwoman Ozzy says "Two songs and I'm already tired" as she introduces the next track, Hole's 'Celebrity Skin'.

It's quite the angst ridden performance - the Punk/Grunge infused setlist reflects this.

"I love a small crowd. They're all great."

Claudia close out on 'Dogfood'.

"You've been a great crowd. Good night."

Ice Road Truckers - 20:30

This would be  Ice Road Truckers first ever gig.

Frontman, Eddie, is in red overalls. As did Chris Hair during Wild Circle's gig at the Ship back in March, Eddie also understands the red room assignment.

"Hello." The crowd responds warmly. "Oh thanks. Keep that energy for when I start playing." Light chuckles.

"We put out this song last night. I forgot. When you go home you can be one of 14 people that have streamed it."

The drummer, Michael, has his left wrist taped up. His hi-hat game has seemingly taken it's toll.

"Believe it or not, this is the first gig we've ever done. It’s alright so far. This is where it's gonna take a turn." Self-deprecating banter always hits its mark.

Lead guitar, to Eddie's left, and drums, back and to the left, backup Eddie with their 'nah nah nah' refrains. 

The bassist, Connor, is feeling it. He can't help but don a cheeky grin.

The drummer feels his hand. Twiddles it a bit. He's okay to continue.

"This next ones the 'Vegan Song.'" The crowd cheers. "Cool. So we can play it."

"Thanks to Claudia. That was their first gig. We're not as angry or cool." Claudia members in the crowd respond with "thanks for having us".

Eddie introduces the band.

Guitar - John "his first ever IRT gig"
Drums - Michael "his first ever IRT gig"
Bass - Connor "his first ever IRT gig. He's had enough already" says the frontman. Connor is also a member of local act ‘noyou’.

"Claudia mentioned they like small crowds. This is like Wembley for us."

John comes through with a lovely clean guitar lead. He leans in on his whammy bar for a yearning, wobbly effect. It's quite lush and reminiscent.

"This is my homage to Jimmy Eat World. I'm up here lookin' like I'm in Slipknot." The red overalls certainly do have a semi-mental feel to them.

'I know it feels like the end of the world. The end of every single day.
I know it feels like things will never change.'
*potentially misheard lyrics*

The song slows down to a crushing pace before it speeds back up to close it out.

Eddie gives off the impression that he's spent a lot of his lifetime on stage. A very natural frontman. A performers mentality was passed down to him.

Ice Road Truckers performance feels anything but a first gig.

Mt. Misery - 21:15

Mt. Misery's setup is threatened by a technical issue - a guitar amp seems to be refusing to play game. After a bit of problem solving - back and forths about wires/amps/swaps - things are back on track.

The house music dips down. Show time.

"My amplifier broke. Well, Eddie's amplifier broke. But here we go."

The band begin with 'Sunday'.

"We've been on tour with an American band all week. We're asked where Hartlepool is, nobody knows. We're asked where Sunderland is, everybody boos. Much to Eddie's dislike."

Three out of four members have prominent moustaches. Frontman, Andrew Smith, prefers the clean shaven approach. Not all who seek the upper-lip-caterpillar suit the upper-lip-caterpillar.

"We're playing a lot of new songs. This is an oldie. It's called 'In the Blink of an Eye'."

Mt. Misery's warm and welcoming sound drifts through the Ship Isis.

"Steve spent his 25th birthday in a mini-bus travelling from Sheffield to wherever we were going. We have loads more stories like that. It was wild."

Like a bird on its last legs, a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' is stumbled through on guitar. Eddie says "stop it." in a semi-serious - though probably very serious - manner.

Andrew and Steve meet midway on guitar, entangle and drone into the next song.

"This is Marty here on the keys. This is his first Mt. Misery gig, although he's played the last six with us." Steve harks back to Eddie's bit about IRT's first gig.

A Paul Chuckle phone screensaver is pulled out by Lewis the drummer.

"As you can see, this week has made us very professional musicians. We're on top our top game."

The band dip into their latest single 'Lunch Break'

"It's a song about being disturbed on your lunch break. I've just left my job before going on tour. It's very topical at the moment."

An unreleased track in 'Waking Up' closes out Mt. Misery's set. Will it appear on the bands next project? Very likely, but only time will tell….