Thursday 3rd February - Ernest with Park and Ride, Dirty Dreamers and Steve Reed at Thee Box, Asylum By Michelle Dee (3/3)

(1/3) (2/3) (3/3)

Photograph Gallery   Park & Ride Gallery ,    Dirty Dreamers Gallery ,    Steve Reed Gallery,    Ernest Gallery 1,    Ernest Gallery 2.

They launched into the by now familiar long drawn out Intro in two parts. The beauty of seeing Ernest live is that they give you plenty of time to take in the sound; you can stand right there in the moment, breathe deeply, and not feel rushed by a sudden wailing guitar or a drum roll.

Not to say they aren't there, it's just a question of when they appear. What goes into the journey, how they get there, not the destination. With grandiose sprawling sound they grow before your eyes and ears, changing shape until Terry the enigmatic front man yells out final chapter amid needlepoint drum breaks. They leave the formulaic stuff way behind and venture into a special place I shall name Ernest territory.

Among lightning-blue strobe flashes the four-piece set out to conquer new frontiers, moving from shadow to blinding light- a nightmare for photographers- but intoxicating and potent to watch. Comparisons could be made, and have been, with early Floyd and possibly the more paranoid stuff of Radiohead. With funky, sexy guitar chords from Chimp straight from the seventies, you move through different eras and out the other side unknowingly.

The much-praised track Preggie off the Sesh CD, finally brought a crowd to the floor, and soon after the chanting, previously witnessed at The Adelphi, started up.

Preggie has something for everyone in the one song. Demonic chord structures, which slowly take on new forms; twisting and turning, serve to prolong the excitement and anticipation. Progressive rock with the power and sheer beauty of Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion but with less defined time signatures. Then the crescendo ends somewhere high in the clouds, in heavenly anthemic style.

Sliding bass-lines from Dale that fall from his deft fingers like honey pouring, complete the sound. Not to forget the occasional extraterrestrial keyboard as the multitalented Chimp lets his fingers do the talking. Truly the angels would rejoice if they had Ernest piped through the pearly gates. A thought has just passed through my tired mind- it has just gone 3am on a Friday morning- Ernest have a halo on their logo. I am wondering whether these four musical pioneers, are ensuring the gods take note, whilst they walk on this earth: Ernest, not the Gods. If there have been any Gods shuffling around lately, they must have their eyes permanently shut or be drunk on ambrosia, not to see the abortive mess our tiny blue planet is in.

However: Ernest territory, the space between the unheard and the undiscovered, has yet to be recognised. But because they are the ones creating something innovative I pick Ernest as the most likely of the four acts tonight to make an impact on the cutthroat world of music. One more thing, Ernest are very different live, than the Pimps CD would have you believe.

I await a full on concept style album from them of at least fifty minutes duration. Four or five tracks should do it. Mark my words they will succeed, and now to bed, perchance to dream...

Check the thisisUll.com Gallery Photographs courtsey and Copyright © Michelle Dee 2005

Photograph Gallery   Park & Ride Gallery ,    Dirty Dreamers Gallery ,    Steve Reed Gallery,    Ernest Gallery 1,    Ernest Gallery 2.

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