REVIEW: MY RUIN AT BRISTOL THEKLA (09/03/11)
It’s incredible to think that My Ruin frontwoman, Tairrie B, had been making music for the past twenty years. it was hard to believe that her first guise was as a rap artist (she was originally being touted as a female version of Vanilla Ice) but I always remember Ms B for being the frontwoman for underground cross over metal bands such as Manhole and Tura Santana before she went on to form My Ruin.
Supporting My Ruin were Head Charger. who hail from France. They nailed that stoner metal sound (Pantera, Clutch and Kyuss). The over-enthusiastic singer didn’t seem to care how cheesy it looked at times. it was all about the good old rock n roll spirit of entertaining people, with which they were very engaging in trying to get a small but supportive audience to enthusiastically clap their hands whilst doing whooping dance moves and punching the air.
I must admit to being a little bit over excited as Tairrie B had been one of my pin ups when i was teenager, her face used to adorn my walls along with the likes of Skin, Bjork, Shirley Manson and Kate bush. The first time I came across Tairrie B she was a flame haired vixen fronting rap metal outfit Manhole who later transformed into Tura Santana, i was always admired the way that she spoke out about her opinions and how she was always pretty open in interviews. As My ruin prepared to take to the stage there was a feeling of anticipation rattling around a small but devoted fanbase – My Ruin had been solidly working releasing albums over the past 13 years – 13 years of raw ear splitting raw ferocity.
They take to the stage with Tairrie B up holding the fort right at the front of the stage leaning over the monitors, grappling with fans and screaming into their faces, you can see that from the off that she is most definitely up for it. In the meantime, her husband Mick Murphy spins out the sort of fast paced guitar riffs that wouldn’t be out of place on any Motorhead record, in fact him and the other guys would all look quite apt in Motorhead, with the big black leathers, fast guitar slinging crashing beats as they rattle through a rip roaring set spanning their expansive career, including an ear riffling versions of Stick It To Me and a feral cover of AC/DC’s Have A Drink On Me.
The set culminated in a sparklingly fierce rendition of Burn The Witch, which saw Tairrie grabbing me thrusting me face to face with her (reminding me why i like female fronted rock bands – there is nothing like the raw joy of intimidation sometimes!) This is all before she leaves the stage for the guys to play an instrumental from her husband’s side project, Neanderthal, leaving the small but appreciative crowd to bemoan the lack of frontwomen in rock bands these days but thankful for the determined kick ass individual that is Tairrie B.
Words: Jeffrey Johns
Photo: Helen Brown
Video: Laura Williams
