Reviews
Soulsec at The Borderline, London, March 2005
I will admit that I was not in a great frame of mind last
night. A long day at work, meetings that over-ran, a nightmare
journey home and worst of all, no time for dinner before leaving
for the gig. It was touch and go whether I would leave my house
at all, but in the end my yearning for live music over-ruled
my stomach.
We all know that support bands are rubbish, and only exist to
make headline acts look good. I arrived at the venue just as
the support band were finishing, and was very pleased to hear
those words that I always love hearing from a support band –
“Thank you, good night”. My frame of mind had improved somewhat
by this point, but imagine my dismay when I checked the running
order and discovered that there was to be yet another support
band before Soulsec. Should I stay and watch, or should I leave
for dinner (there is a little Italian haunt around the corner
which is a favourite of mine)? Apathy won the day and I stayed
to watch support band number two set up.
As my eyes became accustomed to the smoky darkness of the subterranean
venue, I became aware that perhaps I had come to wrong place.
Being, as I am, in my ninth lustrum I am used to being one of
the oldest people at gigs. However, I could not help noticing
a fair sprinkling of even older oldies in the audience. Ladies
with dyed perms, old men in suits – either I had gate-crashed
some great uncle’s birthday party or these were the mums, dads,
aunties and uncles of the members of one of the support bands
who had come to cheer their familial prodigy on. The latter
proved correct – more of that later.
The arrival of the blonde female singer cheered my spirits further,
and the band Claire (led by lead singer Claire) took to the
stage. After a song or two I appreciated the student-pop-rock
style of the band, and preferred the songs they played on the
twin golden Les Paul electric guitars to the tracks they did
on acoustic guitar. An experimental track sung over a recording
played on a miked-up Dictaphone was interesting, but no more.
My foot was tapping generally though, and by the last song as
the lead singer screamed repeatedly the chorus “take me any
way you want to” it seem quite an appealing idea.
The assembled aunties, uncles, siblings and friends were very
appreciative and by this time the venue was pretty full. As
Soulsec came to the stage one at a time to tune their instruments
and do the general plugging-in thing that musicians do, the
audience thinned appreciably as the Claire fans moved to the
back and departed. This was a real shame, because the gig was
supposed to be a fifth anniversary celebration – almost a reunion
in a way, and these people could have witnessed and contributed
to that.
Finally, Paul and Andy took to the stage for a guitar and vocal
version of In Heaven She Walks, Richard joined for the second
track and the full band for the third track onwards. This was
always going to be a heaver set than the last acoustic gig I
saw, but it was not full-on heavy – a mildly subdued performance
which I presume was deliberate.
Unfortunately a few members of the audience were shouting for
songs from another band you all know but who I shall not name
here. If it were me I would have been much more annoyed than
Paul appeared to be. For a man with so much energy he stayed
very calm.
Andy play guitar with almost a childish spring in his step,
and seemed more confident on his feet than when I had last seen
him sat down playing acoustically. We could hear his playing
better as well, and in addition to being a very inventive guitarist
he makes good use of his effect pedals to produce some really
pleasing sounds including one particularly beautiful rich tone.
Vinny always has a slightly bemused look on his face at the
beginning at each track and invariably asks “Do I start this
one”. I saw a few shrugs of the shoulder and witnessed a few
mouthed “I haven’t got a clue” moments. He seems happy though
by the end of each song. His drumming was rock solid and devoid
of any of the jazz-swing moments we were treated to in the acoustic
set.
Brad is a cool bass player. He seems to be on a mission to play
each note on each fret of each his five strings in each tune.
Is he paid by the note?
Richard played with his usual aplomb, and with hair flying in
all directions but always obscuring his eyes.
My favourite moment was when Sinister was played just with Paul
on vocals Richard on piano. It’s not a favourite track of mine
but this rendition really hit the spot. Andy was off stage fixing
his second broken string of the night and Richard was reading
the chords from a sheet of paper, so I would guess this was
improvised.
The set list is probably available elsewhere, but they played
Postcard, My Fathers Bride, Fried, Lady Grinning Soul, Eight
Days to name a few.
By the end the audience was too small to do justice to the venue
really, and maybe that was why there was no encore. This didn’t
feel like a fifth anniversary celebration gig, but then Paul
reminded us of his father, who’s death it was also the fifth
anniversary of.
The subdued nature gave it almost an intimate nature, and I
felt well entertained by the music, if underwhelmed by the occasion.
My stomach was of course still rumbling, and after a rip-off
cab journey home it was too late to eat so I had to make do
with polishing off the previous night’s Chianti.
With the piano playing from Sinister still fresh in my memory,
I am left wondering how these gigs can be better promoted and
better attended. I guess that all of us who attended last night
and all those who read this review can play our part in that.
Anyone know which bus I catch for Balham?
Anthony Goodwin
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