Tuesday 31st January 06 - The Sesh featuring Kill Surf City, Rednite Strip, The Chase and John Copley (1/2) By Michelle Dee Photographs by Darren Rogers

(1/2), (2/2)

Photograph    The Chase Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Rednite Strip Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Kill Surf City Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4.

Last night I made my way down Princes Ave towards Linnet and Lark and a night of live music that promised to be rather good. By the time I arrived the newly refurbished hostelry was filling up quicker than the 5.30 tube from Fenchurch Street. After a few local demos, including a noteworthy new one from GST Cardinals called Dirty little, The Chase took to the stage.

They had had to cancel in January at short notice due to illness and tonight bad fortune had befallen them once more. A few hours previous their drummer Rich was involved in a car accident which resulted in him having to pull out of the gig due to whiplash injuries. All of us here would like to wish him a speedy recovery. (I am happy to announce that Rich is now fighting fit and ready to gig once more)

Undeterred The Chase decided to go on sans percussion. They played a shortened acoustic set including tracks from their EP and a couple of new ones also. The band coped well and proved that when the odds are against so to speak they can still pull it out of the bag. Highlights for me were the lively Simple Girl and the insightful Lack of Empathy. Next, an unbilled Tuesday night debut for the ultra-talented John Copley, having seen him a number of times at the Adelphi on a Monday I was curious to see how the Sesh crowd would react to him. At the moment John does ear-catching cover versions but he plans to start writing some more original material.

He generates a lot of vocal power and certainly knows which way is up when it comes to guitar-ing. Look out for this guy, quiet unassuming off stage, a joy to watch on it. You can also find him quietly going about his business at the acoustic Sesh on Sundays from 8pm. So to the first full band of the night Rednite Strip, a band I hadn't yet heard but had heard good things about.

I had managed to get myself in a spot beside Lee the sound engineer, and without too much trouble could see a sideways on view of each band member. First thing I noticed was Michael the drummer; he could beat the stripes off a zebras hide. Bill Fifty-Nine Violets pointed out that he hadn't been nearly so ferocious during sound check. He began and sustained a ferocious assault on the skins, and kept the rest of the band tight. Rednite Strip state their influences as, The Stones, Velvet Underground and The Who, their fairly heavy sound reflects this.

The front man Louie has a growling vocal to be proud of and some cool, self assured moves that suggest he's done this many times before.

The band sport a rather lush bass player in Pandora, wearing a shorter hairstyle and a simple cream outfit, she adds a touch of Indie chic to the four piece. I would like to hear her softer vocal harmonies a little more to vary the overall tone. The high point of the set was one of these vocal harmonies, when Lyle rhythm guitarist took the mic and introduced a totally different quality.

When he and Louie came together partway through the result was memorable and I look forward to hearing Straight out of Soho again.

Continued ....Next Page

Photograph    The Chase Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Rednite Strip Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Kill Surf City Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4.

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