Phema
Live at Joseph's Well on Tuesday, 29th January 2002
The Shining Reserves start the evening off with some delightful loud and proud tracks. A fairly tight set with a regular rock rhythm and original local band sound. Not repelling but not necessarily impressionable. They make a good support band.
Mojo Pin have been the cruel victims of an outrageous miscarriage of justice. As far as I, and the crowd as it would seem, were concerned, they should have been headlining. I've never seen these guys before and I really wonder why, they rocked Joseph's Well's foundations. A beautiful mix of blues, rock and indie with a definite essence of 'the' Hendrix in there. A couple of songs were quite similar to the Chilli Peppers but without Flea's bass, I know that strips the sound of a pretty essential element but it still sounded fantastic. Funky and naughty, blues licks and groovy lyrics especially the eclectic 'Women Yeah!' which had more than just a bit in common with Jimi. I'm sure they'll be the ones headlining in the future and I'm sure everyone will go to see them, won't you!
Phema have been very busy in the last few years, winning a record contract in the battle of the bands and touring religiously even through the vodka-drenched depths of Russia. All the way from the sunny mountains of Milton Keynes where the popular fashion of wearing dungaree's originated, Phema bring a new style in the way of explicit T-shirt print. The singer (Graham) sports a beautiful blue top with the urgent message 'Muff' printed across the front. Now, it's distractions like this that make the music harder to focus on. But that was pretty much one of the highlights. They're a good band, with a hard rock sound, but maybe need to spend a bit more time in the studio before they start climbing any higher, which I'm sure they will do. Sure they'll be more renowned in a year or so...