Friday 28th March 2008 @ Golden Lion, Bristol

Six of the seven Hussies were setting up as I found a clear space to stand. I put my drink down on an upright barrel. Suited and accessorised with bohemian hats, square framed glasses and white pointed shoes (recycled from a wedding apparently), they looked the part standing in the brightly muraled Golden Lion. Soon swathes of fans had amassed around my barrel – I ended up standing on a bar stool to see past their heads to the stage.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. I tried to genre-ise The Zen Hussies but as the set progressed this became an impossible task. They seem to have been influenced by everything under the sun: tango, jazz, gypsy, ska, folk, swing, 1940s England. I felt like they couldn’t make up their minds as to what they liked best, so they just played it all!

The more I listened, the more I liked it, and lots of excitable dancing ensued. My favourite line was; “She’s from Essex, she’s called Tracy and she’s a swinging girl.” Good musicians, great music, really fun to dance to – but I think perhaps they need to find a more solid form and scrap the rouge reggae track. They’d be fantastic at the summer jazz festival on King Street

www.zenhussies.com

Sophie Collard