On 27th October 2011 at 10:10 360 Club wrote...
Live recording from this gig of 'The Arrogance of King Canute' check them out: http://soundcloud.com/the-arrogance-of/sets
Redwire
Live at The Library on Friday, 21st October 2011
You can always guess who the novices are. Born With Stripes gathered together only a year ago, when Dan Sheen and James Hinks started writing songs together. They not only opened the concert last night, but they also opened the door for their music career. I swear I could feel the vibrations of insecurity and nervousness bouncing in the room right from the start when they went on stage, but in spite of radiating tension they gave a quite good first performance in front of public. They do have a long way to go and a lot of gigs to perform till they gain the confidence and loose attitude of a rock star, but their 'light hearted, daisy-like lyrics' are definitely something worth listening to. All the songs they performed that night were charged with the fresh, positive attitude that only a new, clean, and untouched by the dirty business band can give you. You Stole the Laces From My Shoes is a song with a zippy tune that can make you believe in the good things in the world. I believe Born With Stripes has a great potential that is yet going to be developed and polished. And it's going to be quite interesting to see them grow; see the choices that they'll make and how they're going to shape their musical style and sound.
As the club continued filling up and the public sent Born With Stripes off with a sad 'Ooh' most of the night was still yet to come. Cocky and cheeky Little Wrong 'Uns are, but how little they know what a bad impression it makes when a completely unknown band doesn't even announce their name in the beginning. The line between looking trendy and tacky is very very thin and their lead singer should be careful about it and concentrate more on the music than on the looks, because it's very easy to start looking like a lady of the night, especially when no one else from the band is extravagantly dressed. I guess some bands just can't escape from their inherent style and diversity is not a word that exists in their range of creativity. Little Wrong 'Uns had a decent beat and some interesting chords, but they still couldn't compensate for the repeating melodies of the songs and for making me feel bored and impatient for them to finish.
The Arrogance of King Canute was far more promising. The saxophone is an original and valuable asset that brings colour and uniqueness to their music. They have just enough of that bizarre look and sounding that a band needs in order to draw my attention. Clairvoyant is one of the songs that are worth listening to and reveals the work of an innovative and creative mind behind it. I do think they were a bit an inappropriate band to close the gig with, but even after the amazing Redwire performance they still managed to keep the vitality and enthusiasm in the public. The Arrogance of King Canute has a promising style drawn towards diversity and originality, but they are still too green. I do hope in the future I'll hear the chords mastered and see the stage performance loosened.
Just after Little Wrong 'Uns finished the guys from Redwire started preparing for their performance. Finally I felt that eagerness and anxiety when you know that something good is about to happen. I liked their songs from the first time I heard them on the internet, so I was a bit nervous whether they were going to live up to my expectations. Well, they did and not only that, they won me over. Usually, when you go to a small venue you don't really expect to see a band that can electrify and charge the place with such energy that you can actually cut the tension with a knife. But Redwire did their job perfectly.
The audience finally woke up from their trance. The gig was opened with Lady Luck which was a very successful choice if you want to tickle your public's perceptions and show them what is about to come. The band felt comfortable and completely confident on the stage and you could see behind their great performance peeking huge experience. They definitely know how to pull the strings of the guitar and the strings of your heart. Flammable, edgy tunes yet conjoined with a gentle dark sounding - that's what Redwire sounded like while Tom Nowakowski was spreading his spell through the audience. I thought that playing Invisible just right in the start was a mistake, but Redwire proved me wrong. The song was performed with style and deep feeling and it finished what the first one started - lightening the fire among the audience. As the band was reaching the peak of their performance with songs like Mysterious Ways and All Day All Night they showed such an enchanting and influential on-stage behaviour that they made the listeners almost fall into insanity. Hearing the end of Seven Deadly Sins live was like nothing I've ever heard before. Somewhere by its end the song started building up the tension in that small space so fast till it grew so big that at some point you could actually feel how your heart was beating faster and louder and cold shivers were running down your spine. If a musician can make you experience that then he can consider his mission as an artist achieved; it's a hard goal to accomplish and having such a strong charisma is a quality that every band can only envy them for. As a grand finale of the concert they played Fade Away which can make you do everything else, but not 'fade away'.
- www.redwireofficial.co.uk
- www.facebook.com/thearroganceof
- www.myspace.com/littlewrongunsuk
- www.bornwithstripes.com
Bands
4 bands associated with this article.
Redwire
2012 has been hectic for redwire! This young 5-piece from Bradford emerged from their studio at the start of the year with an infectious, high-energy, classic indie-rock set which has seen them gain followers and plaudits wherever they have performed. Their debut single was released in May through the independent label 'One Above Records' and received high praise from Supajam who observed; "redwire play a brand of scuzzy, bluesy rock which places them sonically somewhere between the Arctic Monkeys and The Enemy, only with the playfulness of the former and none of the boredom of the latter." A 15 date UK tour saw them perform alongside King Charles, Bastille, We Are Augustine's, The Vaseline's and History of Apple Pie. They were also busy on the festival circuit with slots at Long Division, Live At Leeds, X&Y and Crooked Ways where Lyric Lounge Review boldly declared; "redwire have knocked away all pretenders to the indie throne and filled a void we were beginning to think was permanent." redwire's music is in high demand off stage with syncs on the highly acclaimed BBC series Being Human and a screenplay written and directed by Irvine Welsh. The band recently finished filming scenes for 'Switch', the new drama on ITV2, in which two of their tracks also feature. The second single 'Playing With Fire' released on 29th October, accompanied by a 20 date UK tour includes supports to Reverend & The Makers and The Pigeon Detectives. With their eagerly anticipated EP expected in early 2013, redwire are definitely a band to catch up close and personal whilst you still have the chance!
