Firstly, I must point out that
Roadtrip & The Workshop is one of the coolest venues we’ve had the pleasure
of being invited along to. With a plethora of neon lighting and music-inspired
decoration, it definitely works as a suitable host for some of the best
upcoming bands in the business. I’d also like to take a moment to draw your
attention to the decoration in the toilets. It’s not very often in a live music
review I spend time talking about the facilities, but I seriously recommend you
give them a visit and cast your eyes upon the walls. Whether you’re a “Sid” or
“Nancy”, you’ll certainly enjoy the view. Thank me later.
But I digress, onto the music.
The Workshop is the bar’s downstairs live music venue, and we kick off the
evening with a set from cheeky chappy Shaun O’Reilly. The double denim clad
singer/songwriter draws his listeners in with a blend of acoustic and blues,
his husky tones bringing some grit and authenticity to the songs he performs. A
cover of Nick Drake’s ‘Smoking Too Much’ followed by his own ‘Crooked’, written
about drinking too much, are both raw performances which manage to be full of
emotion and powerful in equal measures.
Shaun’s anecdotes between songs
allow him to connect to those sipping their beers and tapping their feet in
front of him, to the point of shouting “One more song!” when he announces he’s
finished. Holding the audience’s attention throughout, despite a few
“technical” problems, Shaun’s simple set up brings us a strong and memorable
performance.
The first noticeable thing about
our next band, The Unmentionables, is that their bassist Ed Wilson is tall.
Like, really tall. So tall, he can’t stand on the stage without hitting his
head on the ceiling. As soon as they start, the energy in their performance is
palpable. This is proper rock music. No pretentiousness here, just 4 lads with
real riffs and catchy melodies. Sure, their subject matter sometimes drifts to
love and heartbreak, but there is no soppiness and angst, just solid songs and
a band who truly enjoy themselves onstage.
The infectious “Sailing Away” is
the highlight of the set, with the audience joining in for the hook, “I’m sailing away!” and a short moment
of silence before the applause, taking in the massively impressive set that has
just been witnessed. Watching The Unmentionables in such a small setting,
bouncing around the stage with limitless energy, I can’t help but imagine their
tunes fitting in perfectly on a much larger scale. Give these guys a few years
and expect to see them packing out arenas, a definite highlight of the evening.
The Derelics swagger onto stage
next. Literally. There is an air of cockiness and smugness around frontman
Reno, who looks like he was born to be a frontman of a rock band. The band is
down to 2 out of 3 members tonight, and similarities in lineup are immediately
drawn to The White Stripes. Oh, but The White Stripes, these guys are not. Reno
holds the audience in his hands as he asks “Who has the funk?” whilst drummer
Rich brings the sizzling beat and a great collection of facial expressions.
Take that, Meg White. The songs drift from grunge to metal to classic rock,
falsetto vocals dancing over the rhythm.
However, it does seem as though
regular attendees of the gigs get more from The Derelics performance than those
who are new to seeing them live, as a constant exchange of “in-jokes” between
band and audience gets a little grating after a while.
The final band of the evening are
in the form of 3-piece Lucine Bell. The tone here settles down to become much
more sombre, embracing grunge as it was back in the 90s, a sense of mourning
and darkness. Moving here from the stadium-filling energy of The Unmentionables
brings a massive change in atmosphere, to the point where the suddenly
self-conscious band don’t seem to be enjoying the performance themselves. The
riffs are there, the chugging guitars are powerful, but unfortunately the stage
presence and personality of the band members is somewhat lacking. In truth,
this music is maybe better enjoyed at home as the lack of a real presence or
personality really lets the band down.
For our merry Thursday night on
the town, the performance of Lucine Bell as headliners is a bit of a let-down, but fortunately The Unmentionables and Shaun O'Reilly's
performances earlier in the evening certainly
made the trip worthwhile. I'd highly recommend going and seeing them if you get the chance.
