Tonight’s
music which was hosted by The White Rabbit in
Plymouth was headlined by Jim Lockey & The
Solemn Sun, supported by This Calamity and Ellen
Cox.
The night started off with This Calamity, well
Martyn Crocker the lead singer/guitarist doing
a solo set, who provided well written lyrics accompanied
by nice vocals and an acoustic guitar.
Next
to take to the stage was Welsh singer/songwriter
Ellen Cox with meaningful lyrics and upbeat rhythms
. Ellen’s onstage clumsiness helped her
to capture the audiences’ attention, making
jokes out of retuning her guitar and hitting her
nose on the mic.
Then was the headline act, Jim Lockey & The
Solemn Sun, having not seeing this young quartet
before I didn’t know what to expect. I think
that the folk/rock genre can be hard to crack
when dealing with live crowds due to the slow
guitar rhythms found in some mixed genres such
as this. However, JL&TSS managed to capture
the right balance of folk and rock within each
of their songs.
Despite
the crowd being relatively small the band played
with passion and it was clear that they put everything
they had into each song. Within seconds of them
coming onto the stage everyone in the room moved
away from the bar and straight to the front of
the stage!
The majority of their songs tend to start off
slow with Jim playing his acoustic guitar then
the rest of the band are introduced sporadically
throughout the song to build up power, this is
present in songs such as “Wishing Well”,
“A Song About Death” and most notably
in “England’s Dead” their final
and most popular song.
The
guitars and melodic vocals complimented each other
during some of the slower songs such as “Everything
And The Heart” and “Wolves”
which although aren’t crowd roaring songs
still captured the audience. “Warriors”,
a more folk, upbeat song however provided a perfect
opportunity for the crowd to dance.
During “Boat song” the entire band
went into the heart of the crowd to play, something
I have not experienced much at gigs. One guitar,
one melodic (keyboard in which you blow air through),
drummer with a tambourine and two vocalists, this
really had an intimate feel to it. This mixed
with Jim inviting the audience to join them for
a drink after the show and the bands outstanding
ability to win over the whole crowd is something
I doubt I’ll see for a very long time with
another band.
Jim
Lockey & The Solemn Sun are a very likeable,
upbeat band showing fantastic energy on stage,
they have been likened to musicians such as Frank
Turner who is known for his incredible live performances.
If JL&TSS return to Plymouth, as this was
their first time here, I would be the first in
line to buy the tickets not just for me but for
friends also as this is band whom just need those
few extra people in the crowd to let the spectators
know how truly good they are.
Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun – 4.5/5
Review By Adam Brettell
Photos By Kirsty Rich
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