Planet Paul

For you young bohemian rebels who hanker after something better than the endless late-night doomscroll of World Cup football, then why not enjoy an evening of Pacific Coast Dreamin’ at the Betsey Trotwood in Farringdon, London, tonight at eight o’clock 17th June.

For seven quid in advance or a tenner on the door, you can thrill to “a dramatic feast of indie psychedelic rock” from Zoe Portela and Book of Shame, followed by a blend of hip-hop and punk from Achiya and The Lazy Cult.

Readers will know of Zoe Portela and Book of Shame from their starring roles in the Duvet Brothers immersive theatrical production Ritual Virtual – Inside the Sacred Rites last year.

Book of Shame is the rather compelling twinset of one Duver Brother video artist and director Peter Boyd Maclean and the multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist brilliance of Gary Bridgewood. Having formed a Holy Trinity with singer, performer, and dazzling original talent Zoe Portela, the trio look set to kick out all the jams tonight.

I have known Peter for many a decade and have written about him and Book of Shame here and on Dangerous Minds under the title – An Exclusive introduction to Book of Shame: Acerbic rock for those ‘who’ve been through shit’ which began:

What are you gonna do when you’re on the back slice of life wondering where the fuck your dreams have all gone? Are you still going be there waiting in line at fifty or sixty, the rain running down your neck wondering what you could have been if you’d had just a little more faith? Had a little more desire to change and be the very one thing you always wanted to be?

Peter Boyd Maclean took that chance. He quit his stellar career as a London-based filmmaker and award-winning TV documentary director and formed a band called Book of Shame. Boyd seemed to have it all but he wanted something more, something real, something to call his own. He teamed-up with multi-instrumentalist Gary Bridgewood from Troubadour Rose. Over a two-year period the pair jammed, rehearsed and laid down tracks for their debut album (out this month) with a little help from singers Jo Foster and Claire Nicholson, percussionist Fergus Gerrand, pedal steel BJ Cole, and renowned record producer (Wire, Depeche Mode, Swans, Laibach, and St. Etienne) Rico Conning.

With a handful of singles already released, Book of Shame has earned comparisons to Captain Beefheart, the Velvet Underground, Joy Division, Radiohead, and even Alice Cooper. Boyd Maclean’s life-so-far and the beginnings of Book of Shame read like a once-upon-a-time in a land not so very far from here tale full secrets, a bad step-parent, fortuitous meetings and a helluva lot of talent.

I digress.

Zoe Portela is well-known as an incredible chanteuse with highlights including shows such as Phrygian Tag: Songs For Sanity and Phrygian Blues. Portela will sing two David Bowie songs on a forthcoming compilation album featuring just vocals and piano. Producing and tinkling the ivories perfectly is Clifford Slapper. Other contributors to this album are Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Emma Thomspon.

Tonight at the Betsey Trotwood be inspired and thrilled by the mind-blowing talents of Zoe Portela, Book of Shame (who will also be joined by the other Duvet Brother Rik Lander on bass) together with Achiya and The Lazy Cult in an evening of Pacific Coast Dreamin’. 8pm the Betsey Trotwood, 56 Farringdon Road, London.

‘Light at the End’ – Book of Shame with Zoe Portela

‘Mother’s Spew’ – Book of Shame with Zoe Portela (arranged by Gary Bridgewood).