REMEDY
Dublin Castle, Camden, London, UK - 16th June 2009
Line-up: Remedy, Advantage, On Histories Of Rosenberg, Machetes
Review by Jon Wilde, (crappy phone) pics by Jon Wilde
The Dublin Castle is an interesting venue to say the least. Firstly, and unsurprisingly, it isn't a castle. Secondly, and less surprisingly, it isn't in Dublin.
The venue is actually a bright and lively pub a couple of hundred yards from Camden tube station. Hidden at the back of the main bar area is a dark, grimy, musical paradise. There's a small triangular stage, about half the size of my bedroom, a pokey little mixing desk and a bar. The room is only big enough to hold a couple of hundred people at a push but, you know what? I love places like this. Give me somewhere like the Dublin Castle any day over your Wembley Arenas or Milton Keynes Bowls.
As far as the bands were concerned, I was in no rush to get out the house so I only arrived as Machetes were packing up. I would love to say they were utterly brilliant or terrifyingly awful, but sadly I don't have the facts to back up such statements. Therefore, the first band I caught were 'On Histories Of Rosenberg', a rather oddly monikered group who used to go by the much catchier Caesura... perhaps they were worried they sounded like a Roman-esque Thundercat?
Never heard of them before, but they played a blinder. Reckon this is a band who could go places with the right backing. They were like a lightened amalgam of Trivium, Yes and Coldplay. There were some nice harmonies even though main vocalist James Moss had a cold. Definitely a band to keep an eye on.
Next up was Advantage. I'm not normally a fan of bands with a brass section - saxophones are fine - but trombones and trumpets do not a rock band make. However, ignoring the unfortunate reggae moments (which made me want to shove beer bottles into my ear canals) Advantage were unbelievably good fun. They had an immeasurable energetic vibe on stage and captivated the (admittedly small) crowd. Trombonist Sam's chats with the crowd were amusing, in fact everything they did just felt right. If Advantage aren't big this time next year I'll eat my hat (fortunately I don't own one).
Last up was Remedy. Sadly, the remnants of the pathetically miniscule crowd had decided to naff off by this point so there was only 10-15 of us left in the room. When I reviewed the Remedy EP I noted that their singer, Jen, was incredible, the guitar, bass and drums were average and their songwriting was below par. After seeing them live, I think it's only fair I revise my opinion slightly.
I still stand by my statement that their songs are not inspiring enough - they really do need better material - but the performances from all four members were phenomenal. Jen's voice is just as magnificently powerful live as it is on record. Why she uses a microphone I don't know. She's so loud you can hear her over the top of the P.A. system. She has one of the best voices in the market at the moment. You have to hope this band get some recognition at some point, just so more people get to hear her.
Guitarist Graham Haswell reminds me of Pete Lesperance from Harem Scarem. He has that understated cool and a very skilled playing style. He doesn't prance around the stage thrashing at his strings. He stands there, focused on making the best sound imaginable - with success it has to be said. Drummer Mark Dodds was equally handy, but the real star of the three was bass maestro Lee Tuck. He has a funky panache to his playing that needs exploiting in the songs the band produce. I can't remember the last time I saw someone play as well, and that includes the members of much bigger bands.
Overall, this was a fine gig let down by sh*tty crowd numbers. I saw three bands all with the potential to be big, something that should be celebrated. Perhaps nobody was in the mood for party poppers that night...
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