“Does anyone want to get a dose of Southern Rock?” was included in the invitation from the AUK live reviews editor. This certainly whet my appetite, and after I read the review of their last album that said, “this band are apparently the real deal” live, I was convinced.
They kicked off with ‘Ramblin’, a straightforward rousing rocker in the style of ZZ Top from their last album “Made by These Moments”. The next song was a sharp gear change to one of their many faith-related songs, ‘Moment of Truth’. This was a strident power-ballad reminiscent of Chris Stapleton, which included the lyric “Why do I do all of these things I shouldn’t do?… If I can’t be righteous, if I can’t see temptation through, I will face my judgement in the moment of truth”.
After the undeniably catchy ‘Stone’s Throw’, a song about going home after being out on the road too long, Brandon Coleman (lead vocalist) told us that “back home they say we play country music, but I’ve always disagreed with that… I think we play more rock and roll”. But he then confounded us by introducing ‘Disaster’ with “here’s another country song”. This was a song in the same mould as ‘Moment of Truth’, but a bit more mystical.
A standout song in the middle of the set was their latest single ‘People Hatin’’, which had caused some controversy in the USA. It includes the lyric: “I’m sick of people turning on their neighbours, I’m sick of people dying in the street. Everybody giving in to anger. That’s not the way things ought to be.” Coleman explained that “everybody thought it was political; the left said we were calling out the right and the right said we were calling out the left… but it’s calling out people”.
This was followed by a slew of songs about dealing with the personal challenges that life brings, including ‘Drowning’, ‘Devil in My Ear’ and ‘I’m Still Fine’. But the biggest response was for the very charming ‘Wondering Why’, their first hit single and their only real love song. Large sections of the audience enthusiastically sang along to every word.
Before launching into the final song before the encores, the hard-driving gospel-rock of ‘On My Knees’, Coleman gave us a few thoughts on what motivates him – “what makes it worth it for us is seeing how our music helps people… once you get through whatever you thought was going to take you out… you’ll find yourself in a place of being thankful and rejoicing”. After this song finished, they had been going for nearly 90 minutes, but there were four more songs to come – all of which had faith in God as a core element, evident in titles such as ’Will the Lord Remember Me’ and ‘God Does’.
It was an excellent performance from a well-honed live band, drawing on rock, country and gospel-influenced soul music, plus great singing and songs with interesting lyrics. The bonus was the visually entertaining drummer (you had to be there). It was marred only by the slightly boomy sound in the upstairs seated area of the Roundhouse. Last time I was there, I was closer to the stage in the standing area, where the sound was perfect.
Early James was the support act. I found it hard to pay attention to what they were playing because the sound was terrible. The bass and bass drum were far too loud. From what I could hear through the mud, they sounded a bit like a rocky Tom Waits.
Peter, I agree about the drummer. They probably need some kind of Daktari dart fired into him when he comes off stage. Saw them in Glasgow on the Tuesday night. They were great.