HarriWatts Band Comin' Out Party At The Lamp Wednesday 4th August By Jane Foster

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This is the first time I've really seen the Harri Watts band properly. I did in theory see them at the Lamp once before, at the Cracktown Christmas Carol last year. But that was after several flagons of fine ale and much good cheer, with a bit of rubber chicken abuse thrown in. A perfect night in my book, but it did leave my recollections of this band rather hazy.

There is, I soon found out, no-one in the band actually called Harri Watts. The name is made from their two surnames Harrison and Watts. They mainly play as a duo of guitar and violin, with occasional guest musicians floating in and out of the act. One of these is Jenny Beasty, who contributed flute and keyboards on the new album, Comin' Out'. This evening was to promote the album - hence the title of the event..

The evening started with a folky acoustic flavour, although Dave Watts the fiddle player was playing an electric violin. These are much better to play at amplified gigs, as acoustic violins are difficult to mike up, or so I've been told. It had a nice sweet sound to it, though I must confess I tried one of these out once, being an amateur fiddler myself, and didn't like the rubbery feel of the neck.

No rude jokes there please. This is a serious review you know. Right. The first track they played was Water which I liked, it reminded me of something like House of the Rising Sun, for some reason, a kind of minor key electro folk sound. But the thing that struck me immediately and throughout the evening was the poor quality of sound through the PA system. There was too much bass on the main vocalist's microphone, and the sound came out muffled and incoherent. Also it was not loud enough, and I was sitting right at the front near the speakers.

This wasn't helped by the fact that some parts of the audience were noisy and chattered constantly through the set. This is something that I always find annoying, in fact I felt like telling them to shut the f**k up. If you go out to see a band you should at least show them some respect by being silent throughout their songs. If people want to chatter aimlessly then they should go elsewhere. One final moan. I love the Lamp's décor, with its plants and candles and what not..but one particular plant on the side of the stage was obscuring some of my view of the band. Someone move it, please!!

Right, that's the griping over...Black Sheep Special was the song they did next, a kind of acoustic folk blues, a more laid back affair. I wondered if this is about a certain brand of ale. Good harmonies on this one, but then I'm always a sucker for that particular vocal effect. Fishin was good too, and Dave played some good intense violin on this one. A rather corny theme some might say, but it reminded me of Van Morrison during his folky period, Brown Eyed Girl I suppose is the one he's most famous for from that particular part of his changeable career.

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Photographs courtsey and Copyright © Jane Foster

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