Tonight
Reef were heading back to the Academy in Bristol
for the opening show of their 20th anniversary
tour, now the last time Reef played the Academy
in Bristol was a good 3 and a half years ago when
they originally reformed and then the venue was
sold out months in advanced, this time around
things were slightly different as tickets were
on sale right up until the show started but by
the time Reef took to the stage it looked to me
like the venue was sold out as space to move was
really limited but then again this could be due
to the fact that the average fan at the show tonight
was well in their 30’s and spending the
majority of the night joining the long queues
at the bar.
Opening
up tonight was Toseland a relatively new band
featuring World Superbike champion James Toseland
on vocals, now Toseland retired from racing back
in March 2011 due to a wrist injury and since
then he has moved on into the music scene penned
a collection of songs with the band’s debut
album due for release in 2014 and tonight’s
set proved that Toseland are defiantly going to
be a band keeping an eye on throughout 2014, the
band are made up of James Toseland (vocals), Zurab
Melua (guitars), Rebea Massaad (guitars), Dave
Hollingworth (bass) and William Stokes (drum).
As
soon as Toseland took to the stage tonight you
could just see and feel the energy coming from
the stage as the band really did put everything
into their set, the stage was little bit cramped
with the 5 members gracing the stage alongside
their own equipment and also some of Reef’s
equipment which was covered up but that did not
stop them from rocking out, watching front man
James Toseland on stage you can tell that he is
loving every minute on stage and is a true performer
as he flexes his massive muscles, busts a few
moves and also executes his stadium rock style
vocals with perfection.
Toseland
managed to fit 8 songs into their set and from
listening to the songs its clear to see that their
debut album could be well worth a purchase but
at the same times over the course of 45 minutes
the band were starting to sound very samey but
luckily the set closer and current single ‘Renegade’
really brought the crowd alive and showed that
Toseland have the potential to go far.
Back
in the 90’s Reef were massive, I still remember
being sat in art classes with my friends talking
about the Reef album ‘Glow’ and also
talking about watching them at the Colston Hall
in Bristol and yes that was back in the late 90’s
and yes I am slightly showing my age but like
thousands of other fans tonight I headed down
to the Academy to watch Reef celebrate their 20th
anniversary and what a show it was.
As
Reef took to the stage tonight my first thoughts
were how the band haven’t aged they still
look as young as ever especially front man Gary
Stringer and the only one who looks older is Jack
Bessant due to him growing one of the finest beards
I have ever set my eyes on, the band wasted no
time in getting down to business and opened up
with ‘Back In My Place’ which happens
to be one of the bands lesser known songs but
actually proved to be a perfect opener as the
hardcore crowd
tonight knew every word and also took in the psychedelic
sounds that the song shows off, this was then
followed up by ‘Come Back Brighter’
and ‘Stone For Your Love’ which really
threw the crowd into a mad frenzy.
As the set progressed Gary stringer said to the
crowd “I don’t care what people think
about this song but it is what has stopped us
long haired Herbert’s from getting jobs”
and seconds later the band launched into their
hit single and massive anthem ‘Place Your
Hands’ which saw the whole very erupt in
excitement as thousands of fans screamed and moshed
along to the most successful Reef song ever.
Throughout the set Reef played two new tracks
the first was titled ‘Barking At Trees’
a somewhat slow song which is also featured on
a British film of the same name, the song had
potential but on first listen failed to excite
but could well be a grower, however the second
track ‘You Got It’ had all the elements
of classic Reef in the way that it was a big rifftastic
sing-a-long number which proves that after all
these years Reef still know how to write big songs.
The
show came to an end with the classic long running
track ‘Choose To Live’ and it was
a perfect way to end such an exciting night, not
only were Reef celebrating their 20th anniversary
tonight they were also showing off some new songs
which gives off the hope that a new Reef EP or
album could be around the corner and if that happens
to be the case I am sure that everyone in attendance
tonight will be quick to pre order what Reef decide
to release next as after all these years watching
Reef live was still as exciting as the first time
around.
Toseland 4/5
Reef 5/5
Review By Trigger
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