"Man With Guitar" is one of the more enduring motifs of pop music. From Leadbelly and Robert Johnson through Elvis (-ish) and Buddy Holly to Bob Dylan and James Blunt, all some people need is a acoustic six string and a bit of self belief.
Ben Brown started without us and I was a bit surprised to arrive to him singing to an essentially empty hall. Everyone brings their own little clique to these shows, so where was his? Turns out they were hiding near the back; can't've made it easy for him as he turned out a mixed set of covers and his own compositions.
I've already mentioned James Blunt and I'll do it again. Ben Brown is every bit as good as James Blunt. Ben Brown is, if anything, a better singer than James Blunt. Ben Brown has a far less-punchable face than James Blunt. In short, Ben Brown could be the next James Blunt, BUT, do we need another James Blunt? Do we, for that matter, need the one we've already got?
If he got nothing else from this performance, I hope Ben learned a little about hooking his audience. The version of Nothing Compares 2U which closed his set grabbed the sparse crowd like nothing before; slotting it in earlier in the set might've got him more of the attention he deserved.
Oh, and top marks for getting narked at an apple juice container - that's quality Grumpy Old Man fodder.
Project Sunset were, in a previous existence, Pinstripe - one of the bands recommended by Huddstock noise merchants Ridgevex. At the time, this did not inspire us to hang around; it felt a bit like an invitation to a pool party from Michael Barrymore.
They bill themselves as a dance group, but the first couple of tracks betrayed influence from The Clash and Japan which was too stong to ignore. A few white-boy-rap and heavy riffs spread on top couldn't disguise the fact that there were definitely tunes in there trying to get out.
The third song sounded like a DJ Notalent remix of something that already sounded cheesy when it was first played in Ibiza 20 years ago and then the show went a bit "meh!" to these ears - recycled Orb/Orbital/EMF signatures which drifted into late-night chatshow theme tune territory on more than one occassion. Thankfully, the last song pulled it back and the set finished on a high.
On the whole, these guys are more talented than their material demonstrates. Granted, it's not easy stuff to play in a live environment (well, not at eight-o'clock where the punters are sober, anyway) but a bit more effort on the sound rather than the mood might just take them to another level; definitely one to watch.
Extra comment from the good lady - Noah, the people on the floor are the ones who have paid to see you. You can see your bandmates any time, so face front!
Still Buzzin had a stand-in drummer for the night having carelessly mislaid Martin.
(Can I tell my drummer jokes, please?)
Those of you who have been paying attention will already know that, like Project Sunset before them, SB played Huddstock, but what a transformation.
(They're really good, promise!)
This set was streets ahead of the field in June - vocals more polished, instrumental breaks more confident, harmonies tighter; an altogether much improved performance.
(What do you mean, "Alan's bigger than me"? EVERYBODY'S bigger than me!)
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, well this geek on the internet is a firm believer in the power of the keyboard and will flag up any flimsy piece of evidence which might just support his point of view so, ahem...
QUOTE:
thought about having a go at any Annie Lennox numbers?
Was I right or was I right? Thorn In My Side was fab - a really strong showcase for Natz with not-to-be-overlooked harmony work from Paul.
(Did you hear about the drummer who locked the keys in the van?)
They slipped in a few songs I wasn't familiar with (damn these pesky kids and their modern beat combos!) before Let Me Entertain You brought out the night's obligatory mad dancer. I would have given him credit (and abuse), but Jason beat me to it.
(It took him half an hour to get the bassist out.)
Dave B's got a new jacket which makes him look like one of the slightly-camp gladiators from Arnie's film The Running Man. It's as well he took it off onstage; I was sweating cobs just watching.
The sadly truncated Jagged Edge set galloped along from It's My Life and Runaway through ...Miss A Thing (Dave B in particularly good voice), Wanted and Blue Collar Man to Comfortably Numb which sat uncomfortably (did you see what I did there?) in the middle of the break-less set.
Sweet Child... filled the dancefloor then - is it fair to say that Dave R's vocal on Separate Ways was smokin'? Yep, the dry ice machine set off the sport centre's alarms and we were evacuated!
The fire brigade (when they finally arrived - I'm glad it wasn't a real emergency) were relieved to be applauded (and wolf-whistled) onto the scene. Well, it is Slawit - they're used to being greeted by half bricks and empty beer bottles in these parts.
The all-clear given and now pushed for time, the boys closed out the night with Prayer/Bad Name/Rosie and Don't Stop Believing.
On a Bon Jovi-heavy occassion, I think we can put this down as One Wild Night?
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