Drab Majesty live review: A flawless sonic rite deep underground
On a Thursday evening, trekking through a deluge of drunken moneymen in the culturally barren central London would usually be beyond the pale. Still, my towering companion and I could not be swayed. We were pushing headfirst into the land of the orcs to find a sanctuary deep underground, away from the stumbling casualties wretchedly looking for the bag they dropped in the last pub’s urinals. Tonight, a sonic rite was happening for the initiated, Drab Majesty at Fabric.
Off the back of the group’s brilliant 2023 offering, An Object in Motion, which saw Deb Demure and Mona D explore their psychedelic facets deeper, with the palette on offer more in common with classic Californian psychedelia than the pulsating darkwave inflexions that they made their name creating; the show was a fascinating prospect. Questions abounded, and I wondered how prominent the new songs would be in the set. In due course, these internal queries were to be resolutely answered.
After landing at our beachhead of Blackfriars Station, this comically height-separated duo knew our objective. Through the gurning hordes, straight up to Farringdon, we were to go. Strapped up with a couple of beers and the clarity of awareness that nicotine can offer after a journey, we were ready. Witching hour was approaching, and we made it to our destination unimpeded by the increasingly grotesque city slickers becoming their true selves with the full moon blaring and the cordial corporate veneer slipping into mangled jaws and dead eyes.
It didn’t take long to be permitted entry into the inner sanctum. Down into the cavern we went, guided by the somewhat ominous red lights, which prompted excitement and a touch of agitation. Met by a sea of black, we knew we were in the right place.
Watched by our fellow believers who had made it their early, the support band Nuovo Testamento, a Los Angeles and Bologna-based trio, were performing their gothic 1980s-leaning synthpop. They certainly looked the part, and from what we could make out, it sounded pretty good, but the sound felt strangely dead, like they were playing behind a brick wall or had a high-pass filter on the mixing board. So, for the remainder of the set, I concentrated on the heavily tatted man somewhat comically having it off on his drum pads. It didn’t take long before we opted for another drink and a spot of people-watching as we smoked out back.
The intervening period seemed to last an age as we waited for the rite. We were told Drab Majesty would be on at 21:15, but in keeping with their inherent mystique, I think it was more like ten by the time the smoke started bellowing, and the familiar smell of ever-distant and maddening nights out in the historic London club came flooding back in an incredibly all-encompassing way. Nostalgia and regret are a strange pairing.
With the smoke curling around the black-clad crowd and a fittingly purple light mysteriously perching on top of this potpourri of humans, after what felt like an age, Deb Demure and Mona D took to the stage. Donning their customary makeup and shades, but this time sporting a 1970s-leaning aesthetic with white shirts, black ties and leather jackets, they were ready to go. There was nowhere better to kick off their ceremony than with the arresting and aptly titled ‘Induction’, from The Demonstration, which segues into their biggest song, ‘Dot in the Sky’, a rousing confluence of their darkwave and ethereal tendencies, which had the crowd baying from the palm of their hands.
The sound of Drab Majesty was colossal, as the hypnotic chimes of Demure’s guitar and the equally mesmeric beats and synths of Mona D lifted us from our earthly surroundings in euphoric abandon. It was so much louder than their support act, and while this is often customary at shows, the distinction in decibels was not. It didn’t matter, though, with the music and deeply emotive lights, which changed from enchanting greens to icy blues, working together to keep the audience suspended.
It was a flawless set. Featuring fan favourites such as ‘Too Soon To Tell’, ’39 by Design’, ‘Ellipsis’, ‘Out of Sequence’ and others, the duo of new songs seamlessly fit in despite their subtle stylistic change. While it would have been a ridiculous treat for Slowdive’s goth priestess Rachel Goswell to assist the band in bringing their recent single ‘Vanity’ to life, it still sounded otherworldly without her.
The pair used the Madchester grooves of Object in Motion highlight ‘The Skin and the Glove’ as their 11th song, which they said would be their last. This saw a significant amount of people, perhaps a third, leave, seeing those left, the most dedicated disciples, moving closer into the centre of Fabric’s main room, with the speakers circling above us. Those who remained knew this was not the end, and we awaited Drab Majesty’s last offering. Customarily, it was the glistening ‘Not Just a Name’. It gradually built to the most transcendental climax in their oeuvre, which was more potent in the live setting due to the sensory delights happening all around.
After slowly drawing to a close and a round of thanks from the silver-skinned masters of the ceremony, who had been hitherto muted, the rite was over. Back into the night we went, with the cold breeze easing our minds down from the profound climes of Drab Majesty.
