In these dark, dark days there are so few beacons of light. The face of a new born child, a puppy running through fresh, crisp snow, and the unabashed, unashamed, unrelenting joy of Shonen Knife.
They’ve been in existence (with various line-ups) for almost 45 years now, and tonight feels like a celebration of that, with the band deep into their 40-odd date “Have A Knife Day” tour, covering all their various eras with tracks from a large cross-section of their output.
And their popularity is as fanatical as it always has been, with tales of sold-out gigs from all round the country, but knowing Liverpool crowds as I do, a soggy Monday night left us not holding out much hope for a decent turnout.
But how wrong I was. Long before they were due on, the Cavern was rammed.
And at a weeknight-friendly 8:30 on the dot, the trio emerged looking genuinely thrilled to be here, a look that does not leave their faces for the next 75 minutes.
They kick straight into their contribution to one of the greatest cartoons ever (The Powerpuff Girls, of course) with ‘Buttercup (I’m A Super Girl)’, which is the signal for some supreme onstage synchronised headbanging.
“We are so glad to be at the Cavern Club, we are inspired by The Beatles. A lot.“
Shonen Knife are renowned for their positivity, in the face of the big bad world outside, they turn the venue into a happy place, with a back catalogue, laden with (mostly) tales of their favourite foods and drinks, (they LOVE a song about eating). As simple as their songs can be, they are sung with such affection, the crowd is soon smiling as much as the those onstage.
Early on, there’s a trio of songs from their latest album, 2023’s Our Best Place, which sees all three members, guitarist Naoko, her sister bassist Atsuko, and the undoubted star of the evening, drummer Risa all take turns on vocals with a song each, and to those who dismiss them as something of a one trick pony, they couldn’t be more wrong, amongst the three minute punk tunes you would expect, there’s a Mexican tinge on ‘Vamos Taquitos’ and the Britpoppy-stompalong of ‘Afternoon Tea’, whose false endings surprise and delight the audience.
There’s more well-rehearsed dancing guitar moves onstage during ‘Bad Luck Song’, it’s as tightly choreographed as an arena show, but they make it look as enjoyable as they did on night one.
The delightful ‘I Am A Cat’, the skank of ‘Cookie Day’ and more food-chat on ‘Wasabi’ follow as they hit their stride, before ‘Sweet Candy Power’ sees crowd hands in the air and shout-alongs of “CANDY!”
The highlight comes at the end of the main set in the form of a riotous ‘Riding On The Rocket’, Risa plays this mostly standing up and we’ve never seen anyone so genuinely delighted to be playing drums in our lives, they attack it like a new single rather than a 33 year old song, absolutely life-affirming.
There’s a quick pre-encore change into their tour merch, t-shirts that have been designed by Atsuko, and after a glorious duo of ‘Pop Tune’ and ‘Sushi Bar Song’, they wave us farewell and receive a rapturous ovation.
Is there a better way to spend a damp Monday night than shouting “Banana Chips, Banana Chips”? If there is then I don’t know what it could be.
They should be revered, treasured, loved and even made available on prescription. Joyous.
(Photos: Cheryl Doherty)
