Dream Show: Successpit

North-East outfit successpit make music that oozes energy and restless creative intelligence. We caught up with frontman Carl to find out what his ultimate dream show would look like and, crucially, the catering.

 

First things first, it definitely wouldn’t be a festival format, Carl is very clear on this.

 

“I’ve always thought they’re a bit dirty and overpriced. You end up drinking lukewarm Carling in a cup with grass floating in it, and by the end of the first day, I just want to go home and get back to bed. Even when I was younger.”

 

There’s a reason for this opinion. His very first festival was Leeds, where The White Stripes were due to headline, only for Jack White to break his hand and pull out. Blur stepped in, “Which was a good replacement,” Carl concedes. “But even then, I remember getting into the festival and thinking, I would rather just have had a pint, Blur at a gig, and then gone home.”

 

So, no festival, and actually, no huge arena either. Carl’s dream show takes place somewhere with a very specific kind of meaning.

 

“The Georgian Theatre in Stockton. It’s not the most prestigious room in the world,” Carl readily admits, but that’s precisely his point. “I’ve just got a lot of good memories there. It’s where I started being in bands, where I went to see bands in my early twenties, maybe even before that. I’ve been there with family. I’ve seen loads of good things there.” For Carl, the Georgian is more than a venue, it’s a place with genuine ties to the community, his own musical journey, and the gig intimacy he enjoys.

 

So who would make the bill? This is where things get interesting, as two of Carl’s dream acts are artists he will now never get the chance to see, which gives the lineup a particular emotional weight.

 

The first would be Scott Walker, specifically the era between ‘Scott I’ and ‘Scott IV’. “Not his later weird obscure meat-slapping music,” Carl clarifies, “even though I do like that too.” However, even when he was alive, Scott Walker was notoriously difficult to catch playing live, so to see him in that phase in a room the size of the Georgian? That would be the dream.

 

Next up, Yellow Magic Orchestra, the Japanese electronic crafters, often described as eastern Asia’s Kraftwerk. Carl discovered them, much to his disappointment, after the passing of founding member Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed part of the soundtrack to David Bowie’s ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’. “Even if he hadn’t died, it would have been hard to see them anyway, geographically. But they’ve been a heavy influence on my music tastes; Japanese city pop and electronic music, I’ve got really into all of that.”

 

And then there’s Anna Calvi. The one living artist on Carl’s bill, and perhaps the most passionately chosen. “She restored my faith in the guitar,” Carl says simply. “There was a time when I kind of gave up on music, even though I was a music teacher, and she brought me back.” He’s also quietly frustrated on her behalf. “She should be in every top five guitarists list going, but it’s always the same names, and generally men. It shows the bias within the music industry. Hendrix is always at the top. Anna Calvi should be right there with him.”

 

But what about successpit, surely your band would also be on that billing? Carl laughs at this. “Most gigs, you miss all the other bands. You’re setting up, getting yourself in the right headspace, playing, getting your gear off, doing the merch table, talking to fans. By the time all that’s done, maybe you catch the last song of the headliner if you’re lucky.” But this is a dream show, so the rules flex as much as you want. So, successpit headline, go on last, and get to watch Scott Walker, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and Anna Calvi from the side of the stage before they hit it themselves. Now that would be a dream show.

 

And it would be truly spectacular, especially with the theatrical element of a successpit, although Carl seems genuinely surprised whenever anyone mentions it. “I didn’t realise we were theatrical until someone said it in a write-up. Our bass player reminded me I’d pretended to be a tightrope walker at one point and I was like, oh yes, of course I was.” As a music and drama teacher, Carl has always understood that the two disciplines are inevitably linked. “I’ve learned that music can reach into both drama and dance. Even within the confines of a guitar band on stage, I think the best performances remember that. People just don’t always let themselves go there.”

 

But no dream show is complete without the finer details, and Carl has thought about these carefully. “There would absolutely be a cheese board. A proper one, with a nice selection”,  and, as untold law has it, a wine pairing obviously. successpit’s standard pre-gig ritual would of course be observed, a half shot of Hungarian Párlinka, a brandy that Carl usually has to ask people to bring back from Budapest. “You have the shot, you walk out on stage, and ten seconds in, you feel it kick in. That’s probably where the theatrical side comes from, if I’m honest.”

 

The band are also, in Carl’s own words, “quite w**ky about beer”, specifically craft ales, with bassist Sim using a dedicated app to track every beer she has ever tried. So, the dream show would have an exceptional craft beer selection, naturally.

 

Oh, and one final, non-negotiable requirement. “Adequate parking, close to the venue, that doesn’t cost people a load of money on top of their ticket.”

 

Because even in a dream show, some things should just be straightforward and make it a dream show for all.

 

successpit have a new single due to be released on the 26th May on all streaming platforms, including LinkedIn; but that’s a whole other story…