Stray
Live at New Roscoe on Sunday, 30th September 2001
Before going to this gig I had the vague impression that this night would be devoted to 70's rock and I wasn't far wrong.
Stray had apparently had some success in the 70's (and can also be found on a compilation album in HMV featuring such bands like Led Zeppelin), and I had seen Stonechild before.
So I walk in half way through the first STONECHILD number - Shakin' Spears, more rocked up than when I'd heard it before and I was disappointed to have missed the first half - it sounded very good. The band carried on with some great originals - one preceded by a jam on The Simpsons theme tune, and one of the originals that stood out the most was called Barium Tiger - the lead singer resembling Robert Plant in looks.
And low and behold, we were treated to an excellent rendition of Kashmir by Led Zep themselves. With their last song, Hey Joe, they went down possibly not as well as they would've done if the audience were bigger but they showed confidence and ability to write good original material.
The only possible downside being the time taken between the end of the previous song and the start of the next - if speeded up we could see a more professional band that has the ability to rawk.
Moving on to STRAY, who I was very impressed with. Blending rocking guitar riffs and an excellent rhythm section, the band were able to please an ever-growing crowd as the night went on.
The guitarist showed his ability at every point and the band were obviously well rehearsed.
I heard some very positive feedback about Stray and this was echoed in the encore they were asked for. Towards the end of the set I noticed a lot of the guitar work being very self-indulgent, this not taking anything away from the brilliance of the playing though.
A good set and, even though the CD was over-plugged throughout the gig, I may have to invest in Stray's new album, '10'.
Overall a great night and I recommend you catch both bands in the near future.