....if you book them they (the audience....not the band...though the band WERE there!) will come....
So, three quarters of Reload trotted over to The Fleece last night to watch The Extras, Pete and Nick acting as my honorary assistant directors whilst I filmed and photographed the band.
Our first mistake of the evening was letting Nick drive. Nick's more a talker than a driver and when he combines the two it's really not safe for anyone else to be out on the road. It took 3 laps of a roundabout for us to get off it as he seemed incapable of moving over in to the outside lane in a timely fashion....much preferring the boy racer method of slingshotting us off, only to be hampered by that most dangerous of road going creatures.....the woman driver.
Anyway, we got there in the end....at 8.30pm....which was our second mistake as Daz had specifically forewarned me that the gig wouldn't kick off until about 10pm as the audience at the Fleece apparently never materialises until then. Warning went in one eye and out the other....I'm notorious for my "once around the bowl" memory. Still the extra time gave me chance to set up and position the new addition to my filming armoury...."drummer cam" - a HD camera filming the drummer exclusively to make sure that notwithstanding anything else in his way I was assured as least some footage - and it gives another angle to cut away to whilst using the audio from my front of house cam.
It also gave us chance to meet the band - a thoroughly welcoming and appreciative bunch, comprising Daz on vocals, Chris on drums, Dave on guitar and Joan on Bass.
The performance was nothing like I was expecting. For a start the audience did quite literally descend en masse within a 5 minute window around 10pm and the pub was comfortably full by the time the band kicked off their first set. I was expecting blues. What I got was energised blues delivered in what can only be described as a punk style. From the energy with which it was delivered by the powerhouse rhythm section (oh how I love to see women instrumentalists absolutely OWN what they are playing!), to the flawless guitar parts (including some particularly in yer face slide) and frontman Daz engaging with both the material and the audience in a manner oddly reminiscent of another frontman well known to this forum (and not least for his George attire and love of small furry critters). I'm always super critical of drummers as I feel its the only instrument I'm qualified to comment on but I just can't criticise Chris at all. He was absolutely rock solid and I was supremely confident in watching him (I often get a feeling with some drummers that they aren't entirely comfortable in what they're playing and that any minute it may go tits up), in fact I was left with the very definite impression that he is capable of delivering so much more than this genre of music is able to permit. The only thing I would say is that at times the crash cymbals got lost in an otherwise very well balanced mix.
I didn't know many of the songs and that really would be my only criticism of the band - that in pursuing a set list of music they clearly love they risk excluding those members of an audience (and/or publicans) who like to hear recognisable tunes. There were a good few that I did know however, and the lack of hearing some of them before didn't stop my enjoyment of the perfectly competent and highly charged manner in which they were delivered - its a testament to their performance and level of audience engagement that they enthralled notwithstanding the less than obvious choice of songs. The audience swelled as the night went on, dancing ensued and there was no sign of drop off in attendance - all staying right through to the end and demanding (and receiving) encores.
So in short, don't be put off by the esoteric choice of set - book this band or see them if you want a performance by a group of musicians who deliver with verve and passion.
Photos and video mashup to follow (when I've finished editing!)