"Yesterday's weirdness is tomorrow's reason why" - Curse of Lono/Hannah-Rose Platt - Fat Lils, Witney - 24 May
So why the odd choice of words in the title of this blog post? Those of a literary bent may recognise it as a quote from the book Curse of Lono by cult American writer Hunter S Thompson and from which tonight's headliners take their name. What however seems weird to myself and the other 30 to 40 people in the room is the thought that the rest of the population of Oxfordshire are mostly sat at home watching some regurgitated crap on TV this evening when they could (space permitting) be here experiencing one of the most exciting new bands doing the live circuit these days. It never ceases to amaze me in the quality of acts that local promoters manage to attract, tonight those being Adrian and the Team at Glovebox. We are indeed fortunate in the Oxford/Witney area that these people continue to promote these shows despite sometimes dismal turn-outs. OK, gripe over - lets get on to reviewing the evening.
This gig at Fat Lils was the opening show of a short tour that Curse of Lono are undertaking ahead of the release of their second album in a couple of months time. Their first album "Severed" gained very favourable reviews upon its release in 2017 and the band played seven songs from that tonight, opening with the chiming guitars and harmonious vocals of the upbeat "Just my Head". Moving on, the set moved swiftly through new song, "Blackout Fever " before slipping straight into the sublime "London Rain". The song which tips its hat to many influences including in small parts, Riders on the Storm and Sympathy for the Devil is welcomed with a murmur of appreciation from the assembled "crowd",
The band is led by songwriter Felix Bechtolsheimer on guitar and lead vocals, joined by amiable drummer Neil Findlay who had performed together with Felix for many years in their previous band Hey Negrita. The rest of the line-up is Dani Ruiz Hernandez on keys of various sorts including harmonium which adds much to the bands distinctive sound, Joe Hazell on guitar and Charis Anderson on bass.
With a new album on the way the set also included seven new songs, several of which had been recorded during a recent pilgrimage to Joshua Tree in the Mojave desert. These new songs were slotted in amongst the more familiar older stuff and were well received by the audience. One in particular, "Tell me about your Love" had been written in warm tribute to Felix's grandparents and featured some lovely bass playing by Charis. This was followed by a surprise cover of The National's "I Need my Girl" in which she then took part of the lead vocal role. Adding further interest to the set they also slipped in an old tune, "And it Shows" from Felix and Neil's Hey Negrita days
The costs involved in touring and record producing can mount up. So it has come as a pleasant surprise for them that the last song of the main set "Don't Look Down" has been picked up and used in a new American TV series, Kingdom which is paying some rather handsome royalties that are supporting the band's activities. With that the band left the stage to huge (bearing in mind the size of audience) applause.
The matter of encores are always a difficult thing to approach for any band especially so when the crowd is small, so it was pleasing that we didn't have to go through too much stomping and whistling before they happily bobbed back onto the stage for a further 3 songs. Kicking these off, the stripped down "All I Got" featuring just Felix with Dani on keys and was swiftly followed with new single "Valentine". Finally after introducing each member of the band (Felix saying- "On bass is Charis who has the sweetest singing voice but I guarantee will drink every single one of you under the table") the set proper was closed with the lively and clearly popular "Pick up the Pieces".
The full set-list was:
Encore
All I Got
This gig at Fat Lils was the opening show of a short tour that Curse of Lono are undertaking ahead of the release of their second album in a couple of months time. Their first album "Severed" gained very favourable reviews upon its release in 2017 and the band played seven songs from that tonight, opening with the chiming guitars and harmonious vocals of the upbeat "Just my Head". Moving on, the set moved swiftly through new song, "Blackout Fever " before slipping straight into the sublime "London Rain". The song which tips its hat to many influences including in small parts, Riders on the Storm and Sympathy for the Devil is welcomed with a murmur of appreciation from the assembled "crowd",
The band is led by songwriter Felix Bechtolsheimer on guitar and lead vocals, joined by amiable drummer Neil Findlay who had performed together with Felix for many years in their previous band Hey Negrita. The rest of the line-up is Dani Ruiz Hernandez on keys of various sorts including harmonium which adds much to the bands distinctive sound, Joe Hazell on guitar and Charis Anderson on bass.
With a new album on the way the set also included seven new songs, several of which had been recorded during a recent pilgrimage to Joshua Tree in the Mojave desert. These new songs were slotted in amongst the more familiar older stuff and were well received by the audience. One in particular, "Tell me about your Love" had been written in warm tribute to Felix's grandparents and featured some lovely bass playing by Charis. This was followed by a surprise cover of The National's "I Need my Girl" in which she then took part of the lead vocal role. Adding further interest to the set they also slipped in an old tune, "And it Shows" from Felix and Neil's Hey Negrita days
The costs involved in touring and record producing can mount up. So it has come as a pleasant surprise for them that the last song of the main set "Don't Look Down" has been picked up and used in a new American TV series, Kingdom which is paying some rather handsome royalties that are supporting the band's activities. With that the band left the stage to huge (bearing in mind the size of audience) applause.
The matter of encores are always a difficult thing to approach for any band especially so when the crowd is small, so it was pleasing that we didn't have to go through too much stomping and whistling before they happily bobbed back onto the stage for a further 3 songs. Kicking these off, the stripped down "All I Got" featuring just Felix with Dani on keys and was swiftly followed with new single "Valentine". Finally after introducing each member of the band (Felix saying- "On bass is Charis who has the sweetest singing voice but I guarantee will drink every single one of you under the table") the set proper was closed with the lively and clearly popular "Pick up the Pieces".
The full set-list was:
Just my Head
Blackout Fever (from upcoming album)
London Rain
He Takes my Place
Send for the Whiskey
Kathleen (from upcoming album)
No Trouble (from upcoming album)
Way to Mars (from upcoming album)
And it Shows (Hey Negrita)
Start a War (from upcoming album)
Tell me about your Love (from upcoming album)
I Need my Girl (The National cover)
Don't Look Down
Encore
All I Got
Valentine (new single)
Pick up the Pieces
From the left - Dani, Joe, Felix & Charis
Support tonight was from Hannah-Rose Platt who played a set of self penned songs accompanying herself on acoustic guitar and ably assisted by the talented multi instrumentalist, Tom Collinson on a Gretsch open bodied electric and on a few songs on lap-steel guitar. I had last seen Hannah-Rose at the 2017 Ramblin Roots and at the time had not been too impressed. In the intervening year her stage persona had improved noticeably and I thoroughly enjoyed her set tonight.
|
Comments
Post a Comment