In these times of genocide, illegal invasions and a class war which the ultra-rich are emphatically winning, we clearly need a woman to point out the nonsense that we have just come to accept as the way things are meant to be. That woman is Carsie Blanton.
Powered by revolutionary optimism, a guitar and a group of likeminded friends, she has plenty to say about the world – but does so with a sense of hope for the future and a wry smile. Folk, jazz, blues and ragtime songs such as “Rich People”, “Elon Musk” and “Ugly Nasty Commie Bitch” are funny but serious, hip-swinging but thoughtful and are anthems to stiffen the resolve of those feeling complacent when it comes to facing down the fascist bullies that would enforce their unpleasantness upon us all.
Earlier this month, Carsie released an album with fellow North American lefties, the Burning Hell, called Everything is Great! and this week they all turned up in Birmingham to give us a taste of their Woody Gutherie-like vibes and to help us through these shitty times.
First up Carsie, her bass player Joe Ploughman, and the Burning Hell’s Mathias Kom and Ariel Sharratt took to the stage, got themselves comfortable on a row of stools and laid down a set drawn from their collaboration. Coming on like a leftwing Rod, Jane and Freddy but with an injection of some seriously black humour, they sang songs of an insane US President, the price of eggs, the conquests of private equity and how fascists are remarkably good at sticking together when it counts.
The audience, which was drawn from a swathe of Birmingham’s middle-aged lefties lapped it up – especially “Hoist the Guillotine”, a song described as “somewhere between the French Revolution and Yellow Submarine” and a cover of Malivina Reynolds’ “I Don’t Mind Failing”, which got plenty singing along with a good deal of heart and soul.
After a short break, the four of them returned for another set which alternated between songs from Carsie’s and the Burning Hell’s repertoires. Kicking off with Carsie’s sweet and beautiful song of solidarity on the face of overwhelming power, “Hello Comrade”, they again had the audience eating out of their hands and were soon taking in the Burning Hell’s “Rise Up Alexa” and “The Robots vs Mrs Patel”. They treated us to the wonderful and utterly hysterical “Rich people”, “FBI” with its Pete Seeger vibes and the mellow double bass-driven “Hope”, before finishing their main set with “Fuck the Government, I Love You”. They weren’t finished there by any means though and were soon back for an encore of the Burning Hell’s “Never Work” and that finished up with Carsie’s “The Little Flame” – which left barely a dry eye in the house.
Carsie and the Burning Hell put on a fine show that was a pertinent reminder that you don’t have to be some miserabilist with anger issues to take on those on the wrong side of history. In fact, they proved that a bit of gentleness and humour can go a long way in generating solidarity.
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