Gig review: Driven Serious

For a moment, it was like stepping back in time. The gothic church, the flicker of candlelight. The wind howling around the building as a band of music-lovers huddled for shelter against the storm. It all evoked a simpler age, an oral tradition, campfire tales.

Above the band, giant shadows stalked the whitewashed walls of the apse at Sacriston Old Church, Tim Packer becoming a larger-than-life instrumentalist fused with his double bass to imposing – perhaps intimidating – effect.

This was home territory for Driven Serious, a self-described punk folk band that occupies the improbable crossover where Dylan Thomas meets Ian Curtis. When frontman Rob Jones exhorts us to “Rage, rage, rage, rage against the dying of the light” a transmission echoes from 1970s Manchester. Other lyrical references range from Shakespeare to The Smiths, via Shelley and Ozymandius. Even in a laid-back setting, there’s a grandeur to this band.

Tonight’s is a stripped back set. There’s not so much as a mic on stage, with the five-piece band relying on the church’s own acoustics to let the sound project. It’s an intimate affair for the audience, too: limited tickets, competitively priced, and guests encouraged to gather around table and socialise. It all adds to that campfire vibe, with those scary-not-scary shadows offering a subtle nod to the terrors that might lurk in the wildwood, out of sight of the crackle of flames.

Turning off the electrics doesn’t mean compromising punk sensibilities. At times, Rob is a coiled spring of energy, pogoing here, thrusting out a kick there. There’s even a spot of stage diving, albeit a genteel meander among the tables rather than a daring surf across the mosh pit.

But the acoustic set exposes the epic quality of these songs. Far from short bursts of frenetic energy, most tracks are extended plays that start slowly – a solo violin, unaccompanied vocal harmonies – then build and build to a tumultuous climax. And that “stage dive” came during a cover of Another Brick in the Wall, a rare outbreak of folk-Punk Floyd. When you do find a three-minute track, Dragons turns out to be a lopsided waltz with strains of a button accordion in the mix.

Support came from Mills & Farrell, a geographically improbable duet of an Australian and a Nova Scotian now based in northern England. They captured the mood beautifully from the first bars of their opening number, producing impeccable close harmonies for a collection of gentle, mournful ballads with a truly autumnal feel. The Unquiet Grave, the tale of a young man haunted by his lost love, was the choice cut here.

Both bands are active on the local gigging scene. Driven Serious has a full-scale, amped-up gig on Nov. 8 at Little Buildings in Newcastle and plays Carlisle later that month. See the clip below for a flavour of the band in full flow at The Cluny in 2023. Mills & Farrell’s next engagement is at ALTR in Tynemouth on Nov. 7, followed by a support slot alongside Rico and Louise at The White Room in Stanley on Nov. 16.

Driven Serious featured in one of my Playlists last year, sharing a write-up with Bubamara and Kinaara. You can read more about that here.

A brief footnote: music-making on this scale is very much a labour of love. It takes a fantastic effort from venues like the Old Church, and performers like Driven Serious and Mills & Farrell to keep this scene alive and vibrant. Any question about the sheer joy in music-making found here is best answered by Tim Packer. The bassist began his Saturday a few miles down the road at Ushaw College, performing a Last Night of the Proms event with the Bearpark & Esh Colliery Band before hot-footing it across the Durham countryside to join us. A great effort from a great performer.