DELILAH BON plus Natalie and The Monarchy and Bronnie at The Arts Club, Liverpool. 07/10/2022

It’s Friday night and as I’m making my way past St Luke’s (The Bombed Out) church, I decide to get myself a big bowl of noodles on Berry Street before I make my way down to The Arts Club to see tonights gig, Delilah Bon with suppport from Natalie and The Monarchy and also Bronnie. The noodles were great and they set me up nicely for the evening’s events. As I’m making my way into the venue, I see her, there she is, Delilah Bon (aka Lauren Tate) as she steps out of her tour van and waves to her fans in the queue who shout her name.

(Natalie and the Monarchy_Credit: Ben Armstrong)

So, to the gig then, I take my place right at the front of the stage and the crowd is already big, waiting in anticipation for the first act tonight, and here they are, ‘Natalie and The Monarchy‘ are a local band with their singer hailing from New Jersey, USA. These guys really look like a band and Natalie shows some confidence and authority as she patrols the stage in her black lacey dress. They open with “114 Days” and I’m impressed with Natalie’s voice, I’m getting a bit of a Stevie Nicks/Courtney Love vibe with a bit of Kate Bush’s essence sprinkled on top for good measure. The song builds to a crescendo and we get some impressive Van Halen-esque finger-tapping from our guitarist here. Natalie engages with the audience right through the set and she tells us how she’s having a bad day and that she’s lost her favourite dog earlier in the today, before the band take us into the brilliantly titled “Jesus Billboard Saves The Day” Natalie explains to us that song is about the abortion ban in her home country, this is a special song with an important message and this was their standout song for me tonight. Before the band’s last song Natalie blows the crowd a kiss and wishes us a “Happy Halloween” as she steps down from the stage to be closer to her fans. I can imagine this lot on a bigger stage, maybe some huge festival on a hot summer’s day.  Their song “Wiseman” has a huge ending and we get some cool dancing from Natalie before she says goodbye and leaves the stage with us all wanting more.

(Bronnie_Credit: Ben Armstrong)

It’s not too long to wait though before we get our next act on tonight’s bill, Bronnie literally bounces onto the stage and she looks like she means business as the set starts with a bang. Bronnie has a lot of fans here as I can see many ‘Bronnie’ t-shirts and hats. The Wirral singer explains how she was only invited on to this gig two days ago, well, you wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t told us as her band plays a tight set here with a high-energy pop-punk sound. Bronnie’s vocals are melodic and she’s bouncing around as are the crowd. Her next song “Scream” is a song about being a “dickhead magnet”, Bronnie tells us that she seems to attract them all the time. We then get a Katy Perry cover of “I Kissed A Girl” and this gets the crowd bouncing and joining in with the singing, even more, it’s a nice cover and I think I can feel the floor moving, great drumming on this tune. The next song “Jaded” has some thick throbbing bass and this song moves at 200 mph, the punters are clapping along, arms in the air now. “Wake Me Up When I’m Dead” is the highlight here and we get some impressive guitar work. Bronnie looks really cool and she has built a good following after touring home and abroad, and I suggest that people keep an eye out for her as she puts on a very impressive set here at such short notice. 

We have an interval now so I  go and get myself a coke at the bar before I take my place down at the front again while we are waiting for the main event.

(Delilah Bon_Credit: Ben Armstrong)

Finally, we have tonight’s headliner, Delilah Bon! The moniker “Delilah Bon” can be used to describe this three-piece as a collective, or simply as a character or an “AKA” for Lauren Tate, lwho is also the lead singer from ‘Hands Off Gretel‘. Right from the start, we can see that Delilah is a little different from Lauren we see in H.O.G. The music we get tonight is still a mixture of brat-punk, hip-hop, rap and grunge. It is an all-female lineup on stage, Lauren is joined by DJ Goldenaxe behind the decks and bassist Ruena. It is a sisterhood up there, and this really is a collaboration between all three throughout the set, both girls supporting DB as we get choreographed dancy, drama-laden routines, it’s an impressive sight, right from the off. First up we get “Freak Of The Week” and Delilah struts about the stage with uber-confidence. I notice that DB and Ruena are colour co-ordinated in punky fluorescent green tops, and the guys are looking cool as hell, fighting fit and funky. The next song “Chiquitita” follows and we’re really moving now and the room is bouncing. With the song “Chop Dicks” we get some great interaction between DB and Ruena, and it’s clear that she is a star too, mouthing along to most of the lyrics and constantly shadowing Deliah, these two really are a double act and the crowd are vibing off this. Delilah’s songs are full of feminine rage and anger and she is carrying the banner and waving the flag for every one of the females in today’s society who have been mistreated or wronged by men. Some of the song subjects are difficult for anyone to talk about, but DB does it so well, and there is a great power, strength and energy in this message and she has her followers in the palm of her hand tonight. “War On Women” is dedicated to all the women who have been killed by men this year, it’s a powerful moment. Most of the songs we get this evening are from Delilah’s eponymous debut album from last year but next up we have “Ready To Kill” from the EP of the same name. DJ Goldenaxe comes out from behind her decks as we get a little stage routine inspired, (I think) by Harley Quinn. Delilah tells the front row that there’s a “need for angry women right now”, as she touches hands with some of her devoted followers. Deliah is like a demon on stage, she spins and bounces like a whirling dervish and she is very charismatic, actually, she’s a really cool girl. “Devil”, last year’s single is my favourite song tonight, the whole room is hand clapping and singing/chanting in unison, and this is great theatre. “Godzilla” is another banger, this is an Eminem song, re-worked which now has new lyrics written by DB.

Delilah sips her rum and coke before she closes her set with her latest single, “Dead Men Don’t Rape”, this is a huge tune, the crowd are whipped up into a frenzy here and everyone is singing this, not just the band. Ruena shows us a slogan she’s written on the back of her bass, it says “we will not be silenced!” and that is the real message from Deliah Bon tonight, this isn’t just a great gig, but it’s the start of a movement, and it’ll be interesting to see this develop over the next few years. In total, we got 19 songs from Delilah Bon in what was a well rehearsed, interesting and original set and this show would really lend itself to a bigger crowd.

Look out for Delilah’s future shows, you’ll be entertained for sure. 

Review by Dave Clare.

Photography by Ben Armstrong

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