Review by Kirsty Underwood
Any
half decent music fan knows that we owe a lot to the 1950’s and this
shouldn’t just be from watching the odd rock-umentary. Stoke’s The Way
revel in this musical past and wear it on their sleeves, which happen to
belong to T-bird style leather jackets. Their influences read like a
school of rock history lesson, checking off the best genres to have
popped out of each decade from the fifties onwards. As the first band to
take to the stage on a Saturday night at The Sugarmill, The Way began
educating the audience by smashing together old and new. Not to be
ignored by those for whom this may have been wasted on, vocalist and
rhythm guitarist Stef Smith requested enthusiasm with a few simple
words; “Come on you f***ers!”. Single One Time Round harked back to the
heyday of The Jam and no doubt touched a chord with more than a few
audience members with its down-to-earth lyrics “I only work because they
tell me to…you shelf stacker…you only get one time round”. The realism
almost hurts. Cracking on through a set encompassing a cover of Ed
Sheeran’s The A Team and something that sounded suspiciously like a
Ramones mash up, The Way’s unique energy visibly spread across the room.
York based band Likely Lads were the northern filling in
this Stoke sandwich of a gig. They may have only been together a
relatively short time, little over a year, but time wasting has not been
on the agenda. September 2011 saw the release of Likely Lads first
untitled EP which was followed up in February of this year with an album
entitled Melrose Yard Demos. Their debut single Observations is due for
release on May 7th on Right Track Records and the band has supported
Chingford’s best output of late The Rifles. Good effort! Likely Lads set
comprised a reel of tracks that told it like it is, and they certainly
had a lot to say about the need to get away from a mundane existence in
“a little city”. Their upbeat indie rhythms, not a million miles away
from that of The Kooks, coupled with insightful lyrics were received
with more than ample appreciation from an audience potentially hearing
these tracks for the first time. Get yer sens back to Stoke soon boys!
Translucid,
a mysterious name suggesting everything is not quite as it seems and
they were just that. Their talent spoke for itself from the beginning.
Formerly known as The Riots, who have seen a few line up changes since
their creation in 2007, the band on the stage were electrifying. Front
man Dan Watkin, with his Parka and tambourine, was completely at home
giving us all something to marvel at. Guitarist Steve Pye was
implausibly mind blowing and let’s be honest, with a Hendrix tattoo and a
Dylan t-shirt he would have been taking the Michael just a smidge if he
hadn’t have been. Translucid’s classic rock influences showed through
in Pye’s bluesy strings and you can’t say no to a bit of wa-wa. There
was so much going on in terms of influences from classic rock right up
to Kasabian in the present that their set, including tracks Tripping
Lilly, The Mind is a Temple and personal favourite Blow Out, was
impossible not to appeal on some level. The band also had excellent
support from what were assumed to be family members; you don’t see
enough air guitaring these days. All in all, a delectable array of
talent and style; definitely worth witnessing at The Full Moon on May
11th if you had the misfortune to miss this gig.
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