I probably should have been standing outside in Victoria Park seeing Patti Smith and Savages at this moment. Yet I didn't fancy that and instead ended up going to see 2 bands I'd never heard of before at an Industry showcase in the newly re-opened Water Rats.
Well, the main signs of the re-fit are in the bar and in the fact they have fixed the part of the ceiling that fell down and painted the walls grey while at the same time improving the PA but somehow making the sound desk look even more ramshackle than before. They've also acknowledged the fact that Bob Dylan played at the Water Rats in the early 1960's. After his 5 song set he was told to not bother asking for another gig as they thought he was rubbish!! So now he has his picture on the door to the gents! Tina Turner adorns the ladies, although I don't know if she ever played here.
By the time I arrived, Corinna Jane was already onstage with her band. They sounded like they want to be part of the new movement for female-fronted bands who want to sound like a cross between Fleetwood Mac and Kate Bush. The first song I heard, Hard Luck, was not bad if you like Kate Bush but if (like me) you hate Kate Bush it sounds far too winsome.
The Flood sounded like they wanted us to go all lighters in the air, swaying in time with the keyboards to this not too brooding song. They finished with Echoes Of My Mind which really ramped up the Kate Bush elements and Corinna proved she has a damn good voice. The band were pretty tight sounding, but while it's not my thing at all, she has enough going on to do fairly well.
There followed a break during which time I marvelled at the guys sitting at one of the tables with a stack of £20 notes in front of them and wondered who was going to rob them other than the bar staff.
The Retrospectives are yet another band out of the never ending Yorkshire boom that seems to be engulfing the nation at the moment. The Retrospectives are from Sheffield: they are a Power Pop power trio. The opening Something's Telling me sounded like a cross between The Raspberries and Greg Kihn and featured some very nifty guitar work from the singer Tom Galton.
|
Take You Back really sounded like it should have been on Beserkley records and sounds like it was aimed at the US College rock charts on the late 80's which is no bad thing at all. That was followed by Turn Me Up (or whatever it was called): a slightly slower song that reminded me of The Bluebells and that sort of Postcard Records sound.
Bittersweet was a lot punchier and also sounded like it could have been the J. Geils Band. It was properly anthemic and a pretty good song too. That was followed by a song I put down as Step & Change which I'm sure is wrong but still it rocked out and showed more of Tom Galton's guitar moves.
Things then slowed down a bit for a mellow and slightly dubby cover of Ain't No Sunshine which has a good freakout in the middle of it. They really got to the emotional core of this much-covered classic.
See You Around, meanwhile, had some good bittersweet lyrics and a good kiss off in it as they really got the place going.
For Gold & Green, Tom switched to a rather snazzy-looking and sounding 12 string guitar that really seemed to expand the band's sound and it was really rather cool. They closed with Don't Believe You after Tom had battled to tune the 12 string correctly for the song. It was a good forceful ending to a cool set from a band that will surely build a good following if they continue to deliver good tight sets like this.
|
