This was my first visit to The Water Rats since the new owners took over a few months ago. The main change to this venerable venue since has been a redecoration, with new wallpaper and a lick of paint all round; though they have improved the beer on offer a little bit which meant I got to sample some very nice Trumans Runner.
I arrived at this album launch show for Grace Solero's Hundred Years Apart album I reviewed a couple of weeks ago: Grace Solero review on Whisperin' & Hollerin' while the support act AFFA David were already playing.
It came as a bit of a shock when you think you're going to a metal gig to find the support act are an acoustic rock quartet featuring three guitars and a guy playing a resonator box who sound like they want to be an English Crosby Stills Nash & Young.
I assume the AFFA part of the band's name is the members initials, but that's only a guess and seeing as they didn't introduce themselves or say who they were in the part of the set who really knows. Still, the first song I heard, Flame, had a bit of the acoustic end of the Extreme sound going on. It was OK and held the attention as did the other two songs I heard. They were more countrified rock and they had some pretty good harmonies going on as the vocals were shared by the three guitarists.
They went down well and no one who went into the gig room while they were on left it, which speaks for itself.
During the break I was introduced to Grace Solero's project manager who assured me that all of tonight's set was being filmed in a 4 camera shoot and would be up on the bands website: Grace Solero online as soon as they could mix it and upload it to Youtube. He also told me they were playing two sets: a rock one and then an acoustic set. This struck me as being the wrong way round and so it proved to be the case.
They came on with plenty of fanfare and Grace made a grand entrance in her spiky dress as Riptide opened the show. They sounded a lot like they do on the album, only a bit more nervous. I tried not to be blinded by the amount of Selfies the bands so called fans were taking beside me. They had made a big thing of saying "hi" to the project manager and several band members before spending a good part of the set taking pics of themselves before going for a smoke to show how much they loved the band.
However, Grace Solero sounded pretty good in a sort of 'bargain basement version of Within Temptation' way and as much as Grace has a good voice she kept betraying her annoyance at any mistakes the guys in the band made. She also looked pissed when she kept hitting her effects pedal for her microphone and the effects weren't what she thought they'd be. It was like they were missing one element to bring it all together and it took quite a while before there was a song that really worked. This was the very Muse-like Unless:a totally histrionic and over the top affair, yet it really worked which was of course the point that the so called fans disappeared to have a smoke and sit the rest of the show out in the other bar!!
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Circles also worked well as the sound really did seem to encircle the small room. By this stage, Grace had shed her dress and was performing in a rather scanty outfit that seemed to empower her more than the dress had. Still, Far Away seemed a little bit shaky in places and didn't really seem to get the place going like it should have done. They then did a pretty decent version of the much covered Yard Of Blonde Girls: the old Inger Lorre tune popularised by Jeff Buckley before finishing the electric Noise set with recent single Electro. Again, it sounded pretty fine and was a good way to close the show.
After a break that was long enough to guarantee not everyone came back for the acoustic set, Grace and Dan returned. Grace had changed into a long white layered dress and once everything was working they played a nice All About Eve-style song, Fire Down. In many ways, this sort of approach suits Grace's voice far better than the more metal backing does.
The next song Apartheid (apparently from Grace's first album) was by a long way the best tune they played all night. The lyrics really grabbed me and the playing was restrained and had enough anger in it to convey some of the stupidity of Apartheid. Once Again had a yearning quality that had been lacking in the rest of the show and it was quite beautiful. They then closed the acoustic set with Woman By The River: for me the best song on the album and in this version it was very cool and a lovely end to an interesting night.
Finishing with the acoustic set seemed like a come down strategy only the high from the rock set wasn't high enough to justify that. A good idea, but this show really might have worked better acoustic first. The band are on tour in the UK in the next few weeks, so keep them in mind.
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