The beauty of these Tea Time Shuffle gigs is that every band on the bill is worth serious attention. The openers may not be nationally "heard of" names, but they do tend to be people with some insider credibility in the regional set up. Tonight does not break with tradition. Tonight, indeed, puts a steel rod in the backbone of the tradition and will thrash any thought the promoters might cherish of easing off in the months ahead.
NIKOLI would normally headline their own shows – but here they are tonight, a modest third on the bill. Looking and sounding meaner and rocker than I can remember, this is a crunching set of new and old songs that is as far from their occasional acoustic dreaminess as you can get. Pay attention. This is serious.
Low-loaded guitar-strangling Tim Hann holds the centre ground and menaces his way out of a squealing and snarling burst of digital delay to get started. It’s good to hear a band with such a good fist of sweet songs letting them go a little bit over to the dark side. It certainly made me pay attention. Those characteristic piano fills – tunes in their own right – still tingle at the right moments. And "Take It And Go" is absolutely immense as a crescendo building climax to a full strength set.
It seems to this reviewer that NIKOLI are a band who come out of their corner with new punches for every round. I'm thinking that if you think you've seen this band already, well you better be ready to see another stage on their journey next time you clutch their ticket. Everything tonight sounds fresh and new. By the time they've done, the crowd is full, forward and ready – and it’s not even nine o'clock. That takes some doing, brothers and sisters.
RIC NEALE's band had preceded them. RIC is a fluently gifted songwriter who does go out with his solo stuff, But tonight he has a bunch of top people giving things a very well-fitting three piece suit of fully-lined, neatly-trimmed, professional-weight guitar bass drums. There's an album in the offing this month and songs like "A Little Different Than Before" and "Brick by Brick sound luxuriously good. Stuart Hudson on guitar and Spencer Bayles on bass are old friends, and the intuitive sympathy grins right through. I don’t know the drummer. But I bloody well ought to because he's good.
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What carries RIC NEALE way beyond your normal hometown singer-songwriter is the energy and richness of the voice. No apologies here – he belts 'em out and they stick. The ambitiously key shifting tune of "Brick by Brick" requires, and gets, the super-confident control that makes it not just possible but audience-gripping. After a start like that he doesn’t let go till he's done. RIC NEALE.
CAPTAIN WILBERFORCE (AKA Simon Bristoll) is playing a debut gig. Not that you'd guess. He does voice and acoustic guitar, with a discrete set of metal boxes that contain a few fine tunes he made earlier. The two elements, Simon and The Box work their double act like old friends and it all sounds great. The tunes are classic, memorable (just like the record!) and mature. They're full of chords and pour out generous spirit with every verse. "Teaching You to Swim" is bright and breezy. "Vaselined Eyes" is enigmatically off beat. A Very British Earthquake" is a true epic … a very deft choice as a set-closer. So far Simon has had these songs to himself – I have a feeling that their stature will grow as audiences start to hear them and get themselves involved. What a good start
(STATELESS headlined and THE HAIR also played on this gig – see separate review)
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