{"id":76490,"date":"2022-05-12T22:41:51","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T20:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.nl\/?p=76490"},"modified":"2025-06-15T13:15:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T12:15:47","slug":"live-report-the-garage-rock-queens-the-5-6-7-8s-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/2022\/05\/live-report-the-garage-rock-queens-the-5-6-7-8s-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Report: The Garage Rock Queens The 5.6.7.8’s Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

I once read an interview with Nirvana\u2019s Kurt Cobain in Rolling Stone where he explained his first Shonen Knife gig: \u201cWhen I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles concert.\u201d I\u2019m worried that the 5.6.7.8\u2019s might have the same effect on me. But before I can find out it\u2019s time for The Masonics. They should be second on the bill but several members of the Black Mekon have been struck down with the COVID bug so unfortunately, they won\u2019t be appearing tonight but on the plus side that means The Masonics will be playing an extended set.<\/p>\n

Live Report: 5.6.7.8\u2019s + The Masonics<\/strong>
\nThe Night Owl, Birmingham, 20.04.2022<\/h3>\n

Hailing from Rochester, Kent, The Masonics peddle a nice line in high-octane rhythm and blues, and they immediately win the crowd over with the fuzzed-up I\u2019ve Only Got Myself To Blame<\/em>. Their songs are short, sharp shocks and, trimmed of any excess fat, get straight to the point. They certainly put the \u201cpower\u201d into \u201cpower trio\u201d and with bassist Bruce Brand and drummer John Gibbs supplementing Mick Hampshire\u2019s vocals, the three-point harmonies are sublime and are put to good use on Tell That To A Hungry Man<\/em>. Born from the fertile Medway music scene The Masonics are a likeable bunch and the title track from their 2006 EP, When You Cry At Night<\/em>, makes for a fitting closer.<\/p>\n

While we all wait for Tokyo’s 5.6.7.8’s, the excitement of the audience seems barely containable as we look around at a capacity crowd inside Birmingham\u2019s Night Owl. An air of tension hangs heavy, and it\u2019s made tangible as the band appears and plays an impossibly long intro which ramps things up to an almost unbearable level. However, by the time the band reach the second song, Road Runner<\/em>, the venue is a sea of smiles and although the crowd are packed in tightly people still find room to dance and hold their pint glasses aloft in salute. Two tracks from their 2002 album, Teenage Mojo Workout<\/em> follow in the shape of (I\u2019m Sorry Mama) I\u2019m A Wild One<\/em>, alongside an explosive version of The Ikettes\u2019 I\u2019m Blue<\/em>. Tonight\u2019s set is a real crowd pleaser and incorporates all points from their 35-year career from early cuts such as I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield<\/em>\u00a0(and, of course, the track which brought them global recognition via the movie Kill Bill Vol 1<\/em>, Woo Hoo<\/em>) to latter-day classics like Hey! Mashed Potato, Hey!<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Artwork<\/a><\/p>\n

On stage the band cut an unflappable persona, and, in fact, they are so cool it looks like they\u2019ve just stepped onto the stage from inside a refrigerator. However, their energetic stage show soon sets temperatures rising thanks in no small part to drummer Sachiko Fujii who hits the skins particularly hard, especially during Mothra<\/em> after which the band lay down their instruments and then performs a cute little dance whilst holding maracas. It\u2019s back to the rock action with Hanky Panky<\/em> (originally by Tommy James and the Shondells) which guitarist Yoshiko \u201cRonnie\u201d Fujiyama introduces by teasing the crowd with a few bars from T-Rex\u2019s 20th Century Boy<\/em> and some fine backing vocals from bassist Akiko Omo makes this version of Hanky Panky<\/em> the most definitive. The Barracuda<\/em>, from the Pin Heel Stomp<\/em> EP, sounds like The Cramps fused with the B52\u2019s (in the best possible way, of course) and sets things up nicely for the final song Bomb The Twist<\/em>. Taking us back to the band\u2019s genesis Bomb The Twist<\/em> is a rumbustious number that finds the band departing in a barrage of power chords and leaves the audience basking in a warm afterglow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I once read an interview with Nirvana\u2019s Kurt Cobain in Rolling Stone where he explained his first Shonen Knife gig: \u201cWhen I finally got to see them live, I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles concert.\u201d I\u2019m worried that the 5.6.7.8\u2019s might have the same effect on me. But before I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":76552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"2","single_blog_custom":"71754","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"0","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"0","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"no-crop","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0","format":"standard","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"3088"},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3088],"tags":[6917,5879,8824,7489],"class_list":["post-76490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jpn-music-events","tag-garage-rock","tag-rock-en","tag-rock-n-roll","tag-the-5-6-7-8s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76490"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93170,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76490\/revisions\/93170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avo-magazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}