The Swamis, The Ravines, Full Circle, Craig Currie - Esquires, 16th April 2006
Reviewed by Steve Norman / Pictures by Rob Vernon
Tonight definitely had an air of ‘good time’ about it from the outset, in no small part due to the fact that most of the bands, as well as the audience, were slaughtered before the doors even opened.
That said, with opener Craig Currie I’m never sure if he’s really having a good time on stage, or rather he’s doing it out of some outdated left-wing moral obligation. Like a new-age Billy Bragg, his solo acoustic set protests about the NHS, managers in general, war what is it good for, coal not dole and all that stuff. That also said, he’s actually not bad at what he does if that’s your cup of tea, and certainly for the first three or four songs he kept the boozed-up audience well engaged.
Next up was Full Circle. I must admit that when I saw these on the bill I thought that Kaiser Pete had copped out and dragged one of his Sunday afternoon bands upstairs to fill a hole in the bill, but I was really knocked for six! It’s the first time I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them in this kind of setting (i.e. with no room-filling pillar in front of my mooey), and they really did it for me. Okay, it’s nothing challenging on the ear, but the innovative, almost slide-without-the-slide guitar sounds alone kept me gagging for more. All original stuff too, which sounds tons better than the covers I’ve heard in the past. Nice one guys!
A ton of musical baggage hit the stage all at once next with the entrance of The Ravines. The whole set was just as slick as hell, with a Shed Seven (live) kind of feel to it, and the occasional rock-out complimenting a surprisingly poppy, upbeat sound. The highlight for me was guitarist Guy, every now and again, totally betraying his true self with the odd bit of hair metal action – you know, a couple of struts, singing the ‘words’ to your solo… in fact, I’m sure I even saw his tongue moving towards the fret board at one point! Anyway, given the musical standard set throughout the whole show, I feel I have to make one criticism about the lyrics, which I thought were generally a bit clichéd for a band of this stature. Can’t fault anything else though!
Hard to follow, but follow it they most definitely did, were The Swamis. Now, in the unlikely event that I am asked to name the most talented guitarist ever to grace this town, I’d have to pick two – one being the guitarist from an old band called Robed in Desire, the other being The Swami’s Paul Jackson. They both share this completely natural movement around the guitar – like it’s an extension of their hands rather than some external instrument they’re playing; the kind of thing you can’t learn. Tonight this is taken a step further by Paul’s decision to play lead on a twelve-string – as far as I can tell, for the simple reason that six strings is probably no longer enough!
But there’s certainly more to The Swami’s than twelve strings, with their very fresh sound stemming from a second acoustic guitar backed only by new member - and yet another blast from Bedford’s past tonight - Joe’s technically superb drumming. The result is a very unique somewhere between Placebo and Pearl Jam, which is also reflected in a very assured vocal delivery that you really can’t imagine coming from singer Dan’s young frame when you’re stood next to him! What made the gig tonight though was the real rapport on display between the band members, which, combined with the great time they were obviously having, you just couldn’t help getting sucked into. I’m just left wondering if Paul’s going to have to get his sitar out next time, though, if he wants to keep getting his kicks.
So, a bit more than just an air of good time in the end - great atmosphere, great bands, great time had by all!