Dover is hardly the rock ‘n’ roll epicentre of the South East, but that hasn’t stopped Detroit’s Electric Six making a return visit to The Booking Hall. When Dick Valentine and his cohorts visited back in June 2022, their gig was a sell out, and the enthusiastic crowd were given a night to remember. Tonight’s show is also, unsurprisingly, a sell out, but looking around the room, there are obvious gaps. There’s a feeling that a few ticket holders have opted to stay at home and watch the England team in the semi finals of the Euros. It’s a case of unfortunate timing, and its obviously a factor that’s very much on Valentine’s unique mind.

Taking the stage to huge applause, he references the televised match even before a note is played, recognising that its very important to some, but thanks those present for making this gig a priority. “By being with Electric Six”, he says, “you give England a better chance of winning.” Following a pause, he introduces the first of the night’s many great numbers: “This is song number one. It’s from the new album, which we are going to try and sell you.” The band launches into the title cut from their excellent 2023 release ‘Turquoise’; the sound is a little rough; the vocals are a little low in the mix, and an atonal keyboard comes through really loudly. There are times when the performance isn’t clear, but within the noise there’s something undeniably Electric Six, and parts of the audience immediately get behind the uneven groove. Following through with ‘Dr. K’, another newer number gets a fine airing, only this time, the hefty live sound suits the track. Shorn of the buzzing, trebly mix of the studio cut, the live equivalent really sells a meaty bass and pointed vocal. There’s time enough for Herb S. Flavorings and “White Wolf” Johnny Na$hinal’s dual guitars here too, obviously, and they have a much more natural sound. Overall, the performance shows off a great garage rock band at work, but they’re just warming up…

A trip back in time to 2010’s overlooked ‘Zodiac’ offers a punchy ‘After Hours’ where Valentine’s heavily theatrical voice is a great fit with a loud keyboard part, but it’s with the run of tracks which makes up the rest of the first half of the set that Electric Six truly hit their stride, if not quite their musical peak. Predictably, the first of the night’s ‘Fire’ tunes, ‘Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother)’ gains a huge crowd response, and people at the front, stage right, begin to bounce. A woman in the second row cuts loose at this point and does not stop bouncing for the remainder of the set. There are audible chorus shouts from the crowd; a signifier that no matter how old ‘Fire’ gets, its still the band’s most loved LP, despite others being a little more interesting. As the song pulls to a close and Valentine addresses everyone, there’s a colossal shout from the back of the room. “Show us naked pictures of YOUR mother!”, the unidentified voice insists. There’s laughter from many, but Dick pretends he “didn’t understand a word”, before teasing the audience back towards more new material. “This is song number five!”, he says, “… It’s called ‘Staten Island Ass Squad. It’s about the Staten Island Ass Squad!” Despite being as oblique as ever, the audience is very much in on his style of banter, and – predictably – a genuine highlight from ‘Turquoise’ provides a gig highlight here. The mid tempo groove and chunky guitar sound supplies one of the current E6’s best disco-rock hybrid riffs, augmented by bassist Mr. Poison working incredibly hard. In fact, at this point, it becomes very obvious that his bass has the most clarity of anything on stage. Johnny’s lead guitar parts aren’t about to be outdone, of course, and over on stage left – cutting his usual distinctive presence in trademark white suit – he drops in various electric howls against the danceable rhythms.

“Those five songs are the worst we have”, Valentine beams, with the usual self-depreciating humour. “Song number six is the best we have!”. His announcement prompts a man at the front to yell out the opening riff from mega-hit ‘Gay Bar’, but he’ll be disappointed…at least for now. Dick’s best tune turns out to be ‘Down At McDonaldz’ – a regular live fixture – which works the whole band very hard. Drummer “The Janitor” holds everything together with a flawless precision, and Dick sets about delivering one of the night’s busiest vocals, which naturally peaks with a repetitive chorus that allows for crowd participation. Beyond the first couple of rows, the interaction is a little hit and miss, but the audience seem to be on board, before ‘The New Shampoo’ – the first of the set’s obvious nods to the band’s love for disco – enthuses them a little more. As before, its the rhythm section with all the power here: drummer Janitor and bassist Poison (new arrivals for the post ‘Turquoise’ live shows) are potentially the best the band has ever had, and the way they play off each other is brilliant. They’re showy without ever derailing the tightness of the material, always respectful of Valentine’s ongoing, unique vision, and always massively melodic, even at times when other parts of the Electric Six vehicle aren’t, whether intentionally or not. ‘Shampoo’ has geed up the crowd, but ‘Gay Bar’ and ‘Gay Bar Part Two’ sends the front row into a predicted frenzy. A blonde girl facing the centre of the stage bounces so hard she’s in danger of a wardrobe malfunction, and much little further back its clear that people are hanging off every word. As with other recent shows, it’s great that the well known ‘Gay Bar’ is dispensed with at such an early stage. Placed in the encore, it could be something more of an albatross, rather than an obvious obligation. Obligation or not, the band attacks it with fire (no pun intended), setting a superb feeling of unity throughout the room.

Despite being a genuine crowd pleaser, in terms of musicianship, it doesn’t hold up against ‘Dirty Ball’ (“a song about my balls, called ‘Dirty Ball’ from one of the albums”) supplying huge funk via a chopping rhythm and clavinet influenced keys, or the still new ‘Hot Numbers On The Telephone’ sharing a blend of funk, garage rock and pure sleaze in a manner that latches onto the moods of ‘Fire’, an album now some twenty one years old. Things are derailed when Dick asks about the football. The news comes back that England have won, prompting the frontman to remark about ‘Three Lions’, or as he puts it, “three lines…in my underpants”, and when pulling the main set to its inevitable climax, he embarks on a further strange piece of banter about French girls “greasing themselves up to swim the channel” to see Electric Six for some ‘Improper Dancing’. As with the band’s previous Dover Booking Hall gig, this number stands out as a true classic, despite being hampered by a crackling amp that’s clearly struggling, before the massive ‘Who The Hell Called My Phone’ throws some great bass back into the spotlight. A big surprise comes from the fact that ‘Danger! High Voltage’ gets a more positive response than ‘Gay Bar’ prompting a couple of corners of the crowd to go into a full on pogo. At this point, the venue is incredibly hot and has the horribly nostalgic smell of a sweaty swimming pool changing room from 1987. In addition, the distorted, scratchy sounds from the broken amp appear to be getting worse, but that isn’t going to stop everyone bouncing through ‘Synthesizer’ – during the middle of which, the band appear to slow down, as if the heat has finally hit them too – and a noisy-ish rendition of ‘I Buy The Drugs’, which offers the only concession to 2006’s ‘Switzerland’ LP. It’s a great performance, but a strangely uneasy set closer. Most people would choose something more immediate, like ‘Danger! High Voltage’ to go out on a maximum high, but then, Dick Valentine has never been “most people”…

Huge chunks of this set have been fun – at times even as powerful as an on form Electric Six can get – but it’s with the short encore that this night gains its most indelible memory. Returning to the stage, Valentine decides to celebrate the England football win by singing a few lines of ‘Three Lions’, impromptu, suggesting its “the second most British song we know”, before announcing “…the most British song we know”, allowing the band to launch into an unexpected cover of Sophie Ellis Bextor’s much-loved hit ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’. Naturally, it takes a few bars to attune, but once the penny drops, it’s an amazing moment. The Electric Six take on the number, obviously, has none of the perfect dance-pop finesse of Sophie’s studio cut, and songwriter Gregg Alexander might find himself less than amused, but once the groove hits, it becomes a perfect fit with the general E6 vibe, and Poison’s bass, in particular, is very sharp. The transition into the slower ‘Hello! I See You!’ feels a little unnatural but, again, given a moment to settle, the audience are treated to a great rendition – heavier than its studio counterpart, but conveying a meaty stance that offers Valentine a great vehicle for a suitably ominous vocal. In closing, fan favourite ‘Dance Commander’ sounds really punchy. So punchy, in fact, that most of Dick’s vocals get lost in the noise, but in terms of riffs and a speed driven groove, it’s a perfect reminder of why the Electric Six show remains such a thrilling experience, and how over twenty years on, the band’s ‘Fire’ album is one of the all time great debuts.

With twenty three songs and a world of great banter packed into a lean eighty minutes, this gig has promoted ‘Turquoise’ brilliantly, but also made more than enough time for a huge catalogue of material beyond the debut, making it very well balanced. Leaving the venue, a voice suggests that this “wasn’t as good as the Ramsgate show a few years ago”, and in some ways, he’s right. There have been a few issues that have made it less slick, and the space isn’t quite as intimate, but the new ‘Turquoise’ material has really invigorated the set, so it’s still been a great night out. A little further down the road, several voices yelling the opening lines of ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ suggest that there are people who’ve really enjoyed the show regardless, and deservedly so. When you choose Electric Six, you get the broadest entertainment possible, delivered with enthusiasm and a little weirdness. Tonight has been no exception.

July 2024