Lorimer were one of the best bands playing on the Leeds scene in the early 2000s. We played together at the Well in December 1999, but it wasn't until a year or so later that I got the chance to see them again. Lorimer gigged reasonably frequently in Leeds, but almost always as support for touring bands. This was probably great for them, but I couldn't really afford to buy tickets just to see the support act. The one time they were booked to support a band I was already going to see, namely Frank Black at the Cockpit earlier in the year, they pulled out of at the last minute, so I was chuffed when they finally announced one of their own shows, headlining the regular 'Blue Star Music' showcase night, put on by Dave Sugden from the Leeds Music Scene website and Karl Baird from the Well.
Floozy were up first and performed a set of solid, if unmemorable, Britpop, not a million miles away from early Shed Seven. Their singer was decent, but the rest of the band seemed pretty anonymous. They got better as their performance went on though, and their last track was by far their best.
We bumped into Shaun and Hoochie from Parisman shortly before second band, 5' 4", went on stage. In stark contrast with Novacain, 5' 4" were fantastic at self-promotion and Shaun told me him and Hoochie had come to the Well specifically because they kept seeing 5' 4"'s name around. And the hype proved to be justified. 5" 4' reminded me of a more 'pop' Wildhearts, and were great fun to watch. When a problem with his amp meant that his guitar stopped working, the diminutive Neil Hanson simply jumped around the stage while the rest of the band finished the song they were playing. Lyric sheets were handed out for the track "Everything You Read", inspiring a crowd singalong and the last song, "Pop Star", saw several audience members dancing in front of the stage. 5" 4' split not long after this performance, with guitarist Neil and drummer Mike Quarry appearing in several other Leeds bands over the next few years - Neil as vocalist in Chevron, Les Flames!, The Playmates, International Trust and Kleine Schweine and Mike as drummer in Charly Six, My Exploding Heart and Mon Mon.
Lorimer ended the show with a fantastic performance that made me dash to Jumbo Records the next day to buy their début E.P. Although they were a punk band in look and attitude, their sound took in more electronic elements, notably guitarist Jock Naysmith's bank of guitar pedals and the various bleeps and blips that appeared on the backing tracks they played along to. It took me a while to realise that they didn't have a live bass player and the drummer was actually playing along to a click to stay in time with the pre-recorded bass.
As well as being the regular sound tech at the Well, Jock had also been in early 90s shoegazers, Pale Saints, along with Lorimer drummer Chris Cooper so, unsurprisingly, they were super tight as a band. Their second guitarist, whose name escapes me, provided great harmony vocals (and was sorely missed later on when he left to spend more time with his family) while singer, Phil Privilege, was a total star, with a mouth full of spat-out melodies and sneery put downs. Their super-catchy, super-short punk style would have a huge impact on me in particular when we formed The Voltaires a couple of years after this show.
As we were leaving, Mike went up to Dave Sugden and asked if Novacain could play a future Blue Star gig. Dave was polite, but I got the impression he wasn't massively keen on our band. Despite asking a few more times over the next couple of months, we never got to play on a Blue Star bill and the night ended almost a year to the day after the Lorimer show. Although it only ran for two and a half years the impact of Blue Star on the blossoming Leeds scene at the turn of the century can't be underestimated. It helped cement Joseph's Well as the focal point for music in the city and provided music fanatics like me with a space to see the very best bands Leeds had to offer.
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