Trixie And The Trainwrecks Live @ What’s Cookin’ & Gaz’s Rockin Blues

by | Oct 5, 2019

This review should have just been for the What’s Cookin’ show but this reviewer got his days confused so that the photographer Simon Partington showed up on the correct night and to make sure we delivered the review I went to the next night at Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues. Both shows are legendary club nights with hosts who like to give long rambling introductions to the bands on the bill, I’d be hard pushed to say who is better at it Rambling Steve or Gaz Mayall, but they are both entertaining and  both run great nights. This review will weave the two shows together with all the photos coming from the first night.

 (Simon Partington)

(Simon Partington)

What’s Cookin’ is a grass roots venue with a very kitsch decorated stage above The Ex-Servicemens Club in Leytonstone. It has vintage style photography portraits of music legends past and present, some decorated with plastic garlands around the walls. The room is dark and atmospheric with red saturated lighting. The audience is normally a mix of regular locals and some fellow musicians it’s always friendly with a welcoming atmosphere.

Trixie & The Trainwrecks (Simon Partington)

Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues is in many ways the opposite, being in the St Moritz a Soho basement bar beneath a Swiss Chalet style restaurant in Wardour Street that hasn’t changed in longer than 35 years that I’ve been an irregular customer over the years it has hosted gigs by many legendary bands ranging from Johnny thunders to The Parkinsons and beyond. As usual the audience is a mix of students looking for cheap late-night drinks in central London and older music fans who know they always put on great bands with great DJs with a nice after-hours vibe to it.

Trixie & The Trainwrecks (Simon Partington)

Trixie and the Trainwrecks are a duo made up of Trinity Sarratt and Charlie Hangdog, Trinity originally grew up in San Francisco before moving to Berlin aged 18 where she started performing as a busker on trains and then in the groups Cry Babies, Runaway Brides and then solo as Trixie Trainwreck No Man Band and has recently teamed up with Charlie Hangdog who has played with all sorts of people over the years including Holly Golightly and John Drain.

Go Go Loco (Simon Partington)

First on at What’s Cookin at a night of Rock ‘n Roll duos are GoGo Loco from Northampton. They play trashy Rock n’ Roll with chiming guitar and a Bo Diddley Beat. Engaging energetic and expressive singer and guitarist Joe Go Loco who really let rip on Go Loco, the bands most recent single. He really got cookin’ for most of the set along-side percussionist Cheadle’ A Gogo who was playing drums with maracas while getting with the Loco Fever.

Go Go Loco (Simon Partington)

Joe Go Loco’s really worked on Flip Your Lid, while they tried to get everyone dancing for Maraca Go Go before asking the essential question What Would Diddley Do? They have a couple of dance craze songs including The Gogo Loco Twist. They closed their set with the brilliantly named Sneazy Lapels.

Ramblin’ Steve then got back up and made sure they got the encore they deserved and they came back and played a very cool version of John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom.

Go Go Loco (Simon Partington)

Trixie And The Trainwrecks came on after a long ramblin’ intro that explained that Trixie had Laryngitis but that she wasn’t going to let that stop her playing her very sparse drum kit and acoustic guitar and singing for us while London legend Charlie Hangdog blows Blues Harp next to her, I was struggling to remember who the last band I saw Charlie play with was as he is a fixture as a special guest on the London live scene.

 

Trixie was downing honey like it was whiskey in the hope that her voice would hold out so she could Get Busy Living while Charlie Hangdog blew some great blues harp over her sparse drumming – using just a bass drum and snare set up. Trixie started playing her guitar as well as the drums on God Damn Angels and soon got a really great groove going to start filling the dancefloor at the St Moritz with dancers. Beatle Bug Boogie really had some swing to it and croaky vocals not withstanding still sounded real cool.

Trixie & The Trainwrecks (Simon Partington)

They did a very cool and quite long version of This Train by Sister Rosetta Tharpe although Trixie mainly sang the chorus and missed most of the verses it didn’t matter as they had that train rhythm just right. Heaven was the one song that probably benefited from having really throaty, almost ready to expire vocals, to accompany the honking blues they were playing. Trixie was ready to stop singing but as they couldn’t find the DJ they carried on with Too Good To Be Blue which is something most of the audience were trying to be as is normal at Gaz’s Rockin Blues.

Trixie & The Trainwrecks (Simon Partington)

As the DJ still hadn’t re-appeared they played a fairly sparse and beautiful version of Daddies Gone before closing with a very sparse and wonderful version of Summertime Blues during which Charlie left the stage to find the DJ while Trixie played on and was joined on vocals by a woman from the audience who clearly didn’t know the words of the song and yet somehow it was a wonderfully fitting close to a very cool set that would have obviously been better if Trixie’s voice was in full working order.

Trixie & The Trainwrecks (Simon Partington)

Trixie And The Trainwrecks and Gogo Loco Live at What’s Cookin’ and Gaz’s Rockin Blues 25th & 26th September 2019 with photography by Simon Partington and review by Simon Phillips.


The Raven Age @ London Stadium (Kalpesh Patel)

Heirs To The Throne? The Raven Age Blaze Their Own Trail Supporting Iron Maiden At The London Stadium

On a scorching June evening that would culminate with the almighty Iron Maiden setting London Stadium ablaze, the...
Olivia Rodrigo @ BST Hyde Park 2025 (Sophia Carey)

Olivia Rodrigo Proves That London Is Her Favourite City At BST Hyde Park 2025

British Summer Time is officially underway in Hyde Park, and the unbearable heatwave will continue to remind us all of...
ROSIN (Talia Zanger)

ROSIN Unveils Tender New Video Honouring Long-Distance Love

Berlin-born, London-based singer-songwriter ROSIN has shared the beautifully intimate video for her latest single just...
EMMMA (João Viega)

EMMMA Leans Into Reinvention With Cathartic New Single ‘Burning Bridges’

Rising alt-pop voice EMMMA continues her steady ascent with the release of Burning Bridges, a bold and emotionally complex single that marks a pivotal step towards her second EP. Following in the footsteps of breakthrough names like Chappell Roan, Holly Humberstone, and Phoebe Bridgers, the Westport, Connecticut native is carving out a sound all her own—one that fuses introspective lyricism with shimmering, synth-laced production.

The Churnups (Foo Fighters) @ Glastonbury Festival 2023 (Kalpesh Patel)

Foo Fighters Launch New Era With ‘Today’s Song’ As Debut Album Turns 30

As Foo Fighters celebrate three decades since the release of their groundbreaking 1995 debut, the rock titans have dropped a powerful new track that looks to the future while honouring the past. Today’s Song, released across digital platforms today, is the band’s first new material since 2023’s critically acclaimed But Here We Are, and it serves as both a love letter to resilience and a bridge to the next chapter in their storied career.

James Morrison (Tom Oxley)

James Morrison Shares Stirring New Single ‘The Man Who Can’t Be Loved’ Ahead Of Sixth Album ‘Fight Another Day’

Fresh off the success of his comeback single Fight Another Day, James Morrison continues his triumphant return with a second taste of his upcoming album—The Man Who Can’t Be Loved—a soaring, soul-stirring piano ballad that’s classic Morrison through and through.

Jessie Murph (Press)

Jessie Murph Unveils New Single ‘Heroin’ And Details Sophomore Album ‘Sex Hysteria’

Breakout star Jessie Murph continues her meteoric rise with the release of Heroin, a vulnerable and emotionally...
Halestorm @ London Stadium (Kalpesh Patel)

Halestorm Ignite London Stadium With Ferocity, Heart, And An ‘Everest’ Taste Of What’s To Come

Opening for British metal legends Iron Maiden isn’t for the faint-hearted, particularly at the London Stadium—in front of 80,000 fired-up metal fans! But Halestorm have never been a band to flinch in the face of pressure. On Saturday night at London Stadium, the Pennsylvania rock veterans delivered a blistering, defiant set that not only won over the die-hard metal faithful but teased the future of a band still ascending.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share Thing