On Bonfire Night, I found myself at Off With Their Heads at Islington Mill watching one of the gnarliest musical peformances of recent memory. I’m not in the habit of referring to things as ‘gnarly’ but if there’s one band deserving of the epithet, Organ Freeman could be it.
Borrowed from Organ Freeman's Facebook page. Hope that's OK?
I’m a big fan of immersive performances: ones where the line between the audience and the performer is blurred, both spatially and figuratively. I have been ever since I saw Jean Genet bouncing up and down on a stage wearing tit-tape and squirting the audience with water pistols in a pub in Leeds a few years back. In my own performances, one of the most enjoyable things can be wandering into the audience’s space and seeing what happens.
If you get a chance to see Organ Freeman, do. They combine live drumming with hyper electronic backings, blend pop hits into their own original numbers and dance like they’ve got ants in their pants. They also drenched themselves in an avalanche of talcum powder, launched illuminated balloons into the audience and menaced the audience with their fleshy pincers to an instructional dance called The Wirral Crab, which you can view below.
They’re playing at the next Off With Their Heads at Islington Mill on Saturday 10th December.
Or you can check them out by visiting the Organ Freeman Facebook Page.
