Deliaphonic presents – PRAM – Jude Rees is Madrigirl – Coventry – Live Review

Deliaphonic Presents – PRAM – Jude Rees is Madrigirl – The Tin Music and Arts – Coventry – 31st October 2025 – Live Review

A Halloween Deliaphonic extravaganza headlined by the Brummie masters of oddness PRAM? Of course Fighting Boredom were going. So dodging the witches, ghosts and ghoulies on the streets we headed to the Canal Basin, via the pub, to see what proved to be an epic event.

The Photographer last saw PRAM supporting the Hair and Skin Trading Company somewhere in Coventry a long long time ago. This time around it is halloween we are heading to the Canal Basin to the Tin for a Deliaphonic night which they are headlining. The Tin is pretty full already and the main room is made smaller by Madrigirl having to set up in front of the stage as every square centimetre of the stage is covered by PRAM’s gear. A sign at the front reads ‘DELIA DERBYSHIRE NOISES NOW’.

Madrigirl starts with English Border Pipes, I know what they are because she tells us. The drone they make is haunting and rich, she echoes and layers the pipe sounds on top of each other using the equipment in front of her to make it move around and twist inside itself. It’s a haunting, lost and lonely sound. She manipulates the electronics and the pipes carry on layering as bass notes emerge, the music takes on a lower, darker folk feel. You become conscious of the noise falling away and she starts to play the pipes again. They Swirl and move around the room. A rumbling drone comes into play and it’s punctuated with odd notes. She talks about the music she creates being ‘Ancient and modern together’ which describes the set perfectly.

The sound of wind blows through the crowd as synth notes frame the choir like vocals. She sings in a beautiful voice as the synths wind their way around her. Bells ring as the drone continues. It rides again and the sound is powerful and almost overwhelming with a swirling maelstrom underneath. The set has a dark, pagan folk feel, with a hint of playful mischievous meddling. The vocals remind me of Siouxsie Sioux, which is a huge complement, it’s a wonderful set, ancient and modern merged into something quite remarkable.

PRAM fill the stage. They have equipment everywhere, they come on and immediately blow my mind. A trombone blasts us up and down, deep, rich and vibrant, the drummer plays skitterish beats and synths create oddness all around, it’s loud, all enveloping and bonkers. Now there’s an oboe too, it feels like the theme tune for a British Sunday Morning, I can;t explain why, it just does. A funky punky beat comes into play and the wonderful trombone is back, it’s just great.

One of PRAM is now playing a theremin, weirdly psychedelic grooves emanate from the stage, the vibrations have turned heavy and slow. The drummer plays slow but strill gives the impression of filling every gap. All the sounds are swamped by the enormous bass line and jazzy skittering drums, it’s weird and electronic underneath and that’s when the glorious rasp of the trombone comes in again. The Theremin wobbles on at the edge underneath it all too. This broken and fractured lounge music.

A weird rumbling starts and the drums pick out a polka rhythm, the trombone is back again and it’s a wonderful groove, there’s a sweet vocal and a one two three piano verging on a waltz. The mood has turned strange and ethereal, then the drums start and it’s harder immediately but stays cool.

From then on we get mixtures of weirdness, layers of sound and instruments, a drummer that deserves to be recognised as one of the best I have seen for years and more fantastic trombone. Some of it is free jazz and some of it is childlike and simple. Some of it is quirky and bright and some is dark and whining. It is mainly lounge music for an alien race and they are really out on their own.

They play deep dark folk with every instrument onstage intertwined, they freak out into a free jazz jam led by the trombone and high hat. It gets even odder and stranger as the drums drive it forward. Everyone in the band can really play and they play together brilliantly. Yes it’s full of weirdness and odd but sometimes that is exactly what you need inside your head.

What an excellent set from a brilliant band.

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PRAM