Venue/Music/Disabled Facilities review
Anyone who read a recent blog of mine will know I've been on the look out for live music venues which have both a disabled access and a properly outfitted disabled toilet that will accommodate an electric wheelchair (not one of those "excuses" of a disabled loo some places have where what they mean is one cubicle slightly wider than the others but which a wheelchair could never access anyway as you'd never get through the outer doors to reach it in the first place). Luckily I got several very helpful responses including one from Dee and Dave at the Hindley Arms. Since I already knew where it was, having attended their recent charity bash, I decided that the Hindley would be my first outing with a friend of mine who depends on an electric wheelchair for mobility.
So, venue settled upon we then needed to decide which band to watch. This decision was in part led by our desire to hopefully attend on a quieter night so we elected a Sunday evening gig, and, in particular, Hard to Handle, whose mix of "classic rock" with a southern twist seemed to be that bit more eclectic than a lot of set lists and gave it the edge over other options.
Now, before the "Backslapping Brigade" start naysaying that reviews are written by mates for mates I will declare that I had never seen Hard to Handle before and don't really know them from Adam save that I was at a jam with the singer and bassist about 3 years ago and played a few songs with them (and others) and have never shared the same room with either of them since (nothing personal!). Other than that, there is no "history" and my review is wholly unbiased save by my own subjective tastes in music.
The band kicked off at 9pm, exactly as per the landlord/landlady's request and launched straight into an almost flawless set of covers from the likes of Lynyryd Skynryd (or however the bollocks you spell it), Bad Company, Free, Aynsley Lister etc. When I'd walked into the venue I'd spotted a DW kit in natural finish which, whilst a proper tasty bit of gear automatically prejudices me against the drummer. I assume that drummers with market leading gear are rather like the small dicked men with comb overs who tart around in sports cars of a weekend ie making up for a lack of talent by perching behind thousands of pounds worth of gear.
I'm please to report that the drummer well exceeded my admittedly low expectations, that sounds like a backhanded compliment - it's not - if anything it's a miracle he exceeded them at all as I am super critical of people who play the only instrument I can properly comment on and I'm naturally a jealous harpee who will pick and moan at anything. He played with great verve, timing and intelligence. The kit sounded awesome with (from what I could see) just the bass drum mic'ed, with well tuned toms and mutually complementary cymbals. I've never been a fan of china's but his was used as a ride with great effect throughout the night. I have only 3 minor qualms about the drums/drummer.....(1) lose the string on your spectacles (at least for the duration of the set), it adds about 15 years and clashes with the otherwise appropriate stage attire! (2) I would have liked to see at least one of the shuffles played as a full on driving shuffle or Texas shuffle - with so many shuffles in the set all played with the same half shuffle style of crotchets with an occasional shuffle beat thrown in on the hats the rhythms felt a bit samey - a very trivial matter and one which doubtless few would care one iota about but it grieves me sometimes to see drummers of obvious calibre not play a variety of shuffle beats and (3) busy up the fills in Fortunate Son a little. It surprised me that in just about every other song there was a real "authentic" presence about the drum parts which, whilst not slavishly reproducing the originals still held enough of the character of the original as to not jar with audience expectation, yet in Fortunate Son, a song so mental that the original has a drum fill every 4 bars throughout, the drums suddenly seemed to take something of a back seat.
On guitar was Max (also holding down lead vocals) and another guitarist who was present throughout the gig. In the second set another guitarist appeared and it was unclear to me whether this was a regular arrangement or a one off special guest type thing (I may have missed an announcement). In any event, the guitar parts were all hugely competent and again had an individuality about them that made it obvious that these people knew what they were doing and yet retained many of the signature riffs and licks that people expect to hear in music which, on the whole, would surely have been well known to most in attendance. Lead breaks were traded graciously and towards the end there was a most entertaining battle of the lead widdles which added an element of humour to the proceedings. Indeed, in the background of one widdling session the bassist was playing the hi hats with borrowed stick whilst the drummer used his free hand to strum the bass.
Max regularly shelved his guitar for songs which he didn't play in - a welcome sight when so often guitarists seem to play for the sake of playing. Here is a band that is confident in leading with a single guitarist on occasion without any detriment to the overall sound.
The bass was groovy as anything - much more so than I would have expected in a "classic rock" band. There was loads of always tasteful and never intrusive bass runs far beyond the walking beat that I often hear in lesser bands who view classic rock as an easy route to gigging.
Overall, the sound was wonderfully well balanced with no hint of competitive volume tweaking or multiple guitarists trying to create some kind of Phil Spector wall of sound. I whole heartedly approved of most of the songs on the set list. It was particularly pleasing to hear some lesser (yet still well known) played Free/Bad Company/Skynryd stuff. I couldn't quite get my ears around a Southerinified version of "Are you Gonna Go My Way" and Can't Get Enough made me groan. I can't stand playing it and hearing it is equally painful but thats purely subjective on my part. Sweet Home Alabama holds a similar contempt to me but I actually really enjoyed H2H's rendition as they went for the Kid Rock mashup version which made a welcome and entertaining change. There were songs in the set I didn't know (though only 2 or 3) and I will never bemoan that as whilst I do believe we serve a marketplace and need to provide the audience with what they want to hear I similarly think its unfair to dumb our choices down and assume that people may not be familiar with all our choices and in any event if you can't throw in a couple of songs to suit your own edification why do we bother?
In short, I was thoroughly entertained and it's not often that classic rock does that for me. Its a real irony as that's largely what I gig, but it actually bores my tits off most of the time. The "real" constructive criticism I have about the performance (everything else is so trivial it's just to keep the BB happy) is that Max seemed to carry the whole gig from a personality/interraction perspective. Don't get me wrong, exactly the same thing could be levelled at many many bands on the circuit (including my own), and whilst he coped admirably (going so far as to roam around the audience with his radio mic at some points much to the horror of some punters) I can't help but wonder how much more entertaining this gig (and that of many other bands) would have been if we didn't "all" leave our front men and women fending for themselves.
One final point regarding the gig side of things - the pub was busier than I've seen some venues at the peak of their Saturday nights even at 8.15pm when we arrived and a steady stream of people bolstered the audience numbers throughout the night and stayed put. The place was satisfyingly full for a Sunday evening and the audience were markedly giving their attention to the band, particularly as matters wound to a conclusion. The gig should have ended at 11pm but encores were demanded.....and delivered. By my reckoning it was closer to 11.30 before the audience had had their fill.
With regard to the venue itself I can only say AWESOME. I can't believe how hard Dee and Dave work to make that place a success. Dee was flitting around the place when we arrived, worried that she was late to pick Dave up from his golfing (he lost) and hadn't had chance to welcome the band yet as she'd been upstairs getting the buffet ready whilst Dave was still shanking out on the 17th fairway. Both Dee and Dave were massively welcoming of me and my friend - taking time to ensure that the TV screens around where we were sitting were showing the band (as we were trying to keep out of the way a bit on account of the space the wheelchair takes up and thus didn't have a clear view of the stage). Our drinks were brought over to us (and hearty thanks for the freebies both of you, it was much appreciated) much to the comedy chagrin of one of the regulars who was keeping us entertained who bemoaned the fact that nobody ever hand delivered his pints to him.
To a man/woman there was nothing but a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Many of the locals engaged actively in conversation with us and Dave in particular impressed me with his displays of domestic prowess (even if the rescue club is probably his best friend). Manoevreability around the venue was no problem and whilst access through the side door was a little tight it was perfectly manageable even in an oversized wheelchair. The disabled loo was well outfitted with grab rails etc and ideally located in the quieter area at the rear of the pub - it all appeared really well thought out.
In short, I think Dee and Dave are my new hero's of the week (I'm trying not to imagine what Dave's swing is like) and I would heartily recommend Hard to Handle to anyone looking for a night of quality entertainment where you will hear well known covers, but many of which are not the obvious choices, delivered in a hugely professional and proficient manner.
Confederate flags are optional.....
Sorry for wittering. I type better than I talk.