Red Room and Ope May at The Princess Royal 19/05/2016

Ope May opened the nights music with her beautiful song 2AM, Ope is someone I had the pleasure to hear earlier in the year at Handsome Harry's and I'm glad to hear more from this artist. After tuning the guitar Ope covered Lucy Rose's Shiver in her unique style. Am I Your Lover (which is also in a rather good episode of Toast SweatSessions) was next, it is simply exquisite. A more upbeat song was to follow with the Lily Allen cover LDN and then the audience was treated to the first live outing for Ope's new song Digby . 'It's upbeat to the end no more sad songs' which heralded a cover of Sweet About Me. The song Run ended the set, it is my favourite of Ope's songs and features some otherworldly vocals, just a delight to my ears. Ope's songs garnered much applause from the appreciative audience but Ope's set was over all too quickly. It's very hard to put Ope's sound into words other than say it's magically melancholic, ethereal and enchanting. At times vocally Ope does remind me of Elizabeth Fraser which for me is particularly pleasing. There will be much more music from this young lady in the months to come make sure you do your self a favour and go and hear her play.

The head-liners Red Room took to the stage and the the sound shifted from the melancholy of Ope May to some serious Indie Rock goodness. This was the penultimate gig from Red Room or as the vocalist Barney Fletcher called it 'the ceremonial last gig'. Friends In High Places began the hour of Red Room domination and it was good to start off with this laid back track 'Take it slow they said, let it grow they said'. The familiar guitar riff of Wild introduced another classic Red Room tune. The audience was singing along and getting into to spirit of the night as with many of these gigs the crowd danced like no one was watching which is no bad thing. Angus Maxwell was wished Happy Birthday by Red Room, those that don't know Angus he has a unique dance style that I have witnessed at Red Room gigs. On My Own yet another solid track from Red Room and it's one of the newer songs 'I do it on my own'. They really showcase what a good unit of a band they are on this song. The cover Gold Digger was seriously good as they Red Roomified it and made it for my money better than the original by a country mile. OTBI followed or the Ollie's Toilet Break Improv which is pretty self explanatory.

 'This is the second one we wrote' Gruelish this is another quality original track from Red Room. Ollie Troup's string breaks on his guitar and he quickly grabs his spare guitar and continues on unphased while the rest of the band carry on. Uptown Funk has Barney's vocals really wrapping around this tune and Ollie's guitar starts up funky as hell before ripping it up while the rhythm section of Jack Turnbull on Bass and Henry Gilham on Drums deliver the goods. Henry goes into a drum solo and straight into a superb heavy version of Black Skin Head. Red Room really make this rock, with Ollie's guitar sounding really menacing, so good, the audience really get into this and Red Room deliver a great cover. Barney heads off stage, 'Where's Barney?' He's gone to get some water and he's back soon enough but not before Ollie grabs a drum stick and starts making some awesome sounds on his guitar while Henry is slowly building up the momentum on the drums. The Red Room song 50 is next and it is a little freaky which I like, freaky is good. One of my favourite Red Room originals the 'Rules Breed The Rebels' is next and is still does sound like the child of Rage Against The Machine and Black Sabbath, just my cuppa tea. There was a Angus dance circle going on which was fun to watch, Barney is busting some moves and Ollie is on the amp, even I at this point was doing some really bad dancing! The last song of the night was a cover of Young Blood which started off nice and gentle before Red Room ramp it up in their usual style. Well the gig's over and Barney thanks everyone for their support 'Thank you very much guys we are Red Room Signing off '.

Over the year since I first saw Red Room they have improved a great deal and they will be missed.I have only seen them a measly four times and for me that's not much for a band I really like, in fact I rate these guys so highly I gave them Rock Band of 2015 in The Outsider Awards and reviewed the EP last year. I spoke to the Birthday boy Angus after the gig and he like myself was upset that they will be splitting up. It seems like so much potential will go to waste but not so.

Now follows some pearls of wisdom from The Outsider, I am after all ancient so pay attention. Good Bands are like friends, at first you meet them and like them and they become friendly acquaintances, then friends, then good friends and sometimes they become an integral part of your life. Bands, like most friends you meet in life then go off to Universities, go live aboard, go travelling, move for work, new opportunities or just go on adventures. Now you can feel bad about it or count yourself lucky you had some time with them, I prefer the later as to do anything else is kind of selfish. I look forward to what the individuals in the band get up to musically including Ollie's other band The Happy-Sads who are playing the same venue on Friday 27^th of May, don't miss it!

Thank you Red Room long may you rule!

There is excellent video footage of the gig by Martin Hayfield on his marvelous youtube page check it out.

If anyone has some photo's of the night let me know I would love to put some up in this review.

THE RED PAINTINGS AT THE FLEECE WITH LOUISE DISTRAS AND YUMA SUN

The Fleece is an iconic venue in Bristol with it's sticky floors and poster lined walls, it's always a pleasure to watch bands here. Rewire The Time Machine were the first of the two local support bands to play, I did miss half of the set but I did appreciate the brand of Dirty Bluesy Rock they created. Kamino was the next local support band and 'Antidote' from them was a stand out song from this Alternative Rock group.

Louise Distras cut a striking figure as she took to the stage solo, it's always difficult to convey what Louise is like live as she plays with such intensity and passion. There was fire in her eye's during her first song and after it was finished she flashed a warm smile and drew the crowd to her like the pied piper. 'If you don't come to me I'll come out to you!'. Louise demands your full attention and she does invariably get it by sheer force of will. Louise Distras is without doubt one of the finest British artists touring today with a growing catalogue of songs with real depth to them. When Louise lets rip with her visceral roar, like in the song 'The Hand You Hold', it does remind me of Kurt Cobain's work on Bleach. Her album Dreams From The Factory Floor should be on your play list.

Yuma Sun have to be one the most fun acts I have seen for a long time. These handsome Norwegian guys do deliver some impressive 'Doomsday Rock' and it is always good to see an upright Bass being put to good use. They won the audience over very quickly especially the women who warmed to their unique brand of Viking rock. The banter between the songs had everyone smiling with them. Musically they have a distinct sound and deliver one solid rock tune after another, 'St Louise' was a song that stood out for me. The band's own facebook page states of their sound 'brings to mind Nick Cave on acid, amphetamines or a combination of both' and I don't disagree with that description. Watch Us Burn is the lastest album from Yuma Sun.

Alix Kol

Trash McSweeney

The Red Paintings, what can I say about the head-liners, simply they are one of the most unique and astounding bands in music today. I want to make it clear that The Red Paintings are truly a great band, they have that something extra that makes them stand out from the crowd. This four piece is made up of Trash McSweeney on lead Guitar and Vocals in his green coat flanked by two breathtaking geisha's, Ginny Eck on Bass, Alix Kol on Violin and one of best drummers I have seen - Violet Cannibal . All them work so well together while the creepy figure of TIME is his 'V' mask looks on. The band has a Orchestral Rock sound-scape you won't hear anywhere else, a sound that will lift you to a whole different level. The power and vulnerability in the songs like 'Streets Fell Into My Window' is something to behold in all it's strange glory.  

The Red Paintings not only sound unique but look it too, everything about them is fresh with an avant-garde edge that lends itself to a MUSE like stadium rock event with a surreal twist. It was truly a pleasure to hear this band up close in a small venue but they really deserve to be getting a call from a cigar chomping executive to play for much bigger crowds. The Revolution is Never Coming is the current album but the band is raising funds to finish the next album. http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/theredpaintings

This gig was the end of a UK tour with The Red Paintings, Louise Distras and Yuma Sun and it did lend a a climatic feel to the night. It is obvious all the bands got on very well and that spilled over into the audience who felt very much part of the warm atmosphere. Everyone I spoke to on the night was very friendly, from the bands, the crew and the fans. This has to go down as one of my all time favourite gigs and I'd like to thank Louise Distras for inviting me and getting me into the music of The Red Paintings.  

The Outsider

Many Thanks (c) Ulrika Jonsson-Swinburne for the Gig photographs .