Black Peaks are turning a lot of heads at the moment, none more so than Easy Life Records, who recently signed the Brighton quartet. Unsurprisingly the room was filled out for the band, what with this being their hometown show on the tour. Their ambitious and feisty sound annihilates your eardrums, while the impressively technical guitar work of Joe Gosney whirls around your head. The set wasn’t glamorous or over the top, but it was full of meaty choruses and a raw energy many other bands lack these days, all rounded off with a great frontman and a wonderful moustache.
Lonely The Brave sit somewhat awkwardly between being rockstars and being that band your dad likes. Although we’re quite sure they don’t really care which they are. Having announced their arrival last year with debut album ‘The Day’s War’, many of us became smitten with the emotionally powerful vocals of David Jakes, the unlikely hero for frontmen every where. They’ve gone on to play with some of the UK’s finest, as well as a slot on the main stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals and have earned themselves an ever-growing fanbase.
While much of their recent UK headline tour stint appears to have been a roaring success, Brighton, the final date within the UK was far from what was expected. Let’s start off by saying this isn’t entirely Lonely The Brave’s fault. Anyone who has attended a live show at The Haunt in Brighton will understand it’s an unusual shape and layout. A bottle-necked floor space leaves a strong percentage of the crowd unable to see anything past the half way point. Thus leaving us staring at a guys ponytail for the majority of the bands set, not even tip toes could save us this time.
There’s no denying that musically, Lonely The Brave sounded as tight as ever, and tracks such as ‘Backroads’, ‘Trick of the Light’ and ‘The Blue, The Green’ received a respectful crowd reaction, with their vocals overpowering Jakes’ on many occasion. However, Lonely The Brave are not ones to focus their time on production and mesmerising lighting, you take them for what they are and they always play to their best. But while aspects of the show were enjoyable, the newer material did little to rattle our bones and that combined with the inability to see anything at all, meant that the show overall became a little dull.
We’ve sung our praises of Lonely The Brave many a time before, and there’s no doubt that they will continue to work hard and deliver honest music, unfortunately this time around the evening was a little too uninspiring to make it enjoyable.
TAMSYN WILCE