I received an email out of the blue a few weeks ago from a guy who’s in a band called THE EXPERIMENTAL, he said that we’d met at the South West Music Expo in Bath a while ago and I must admit that having met loads of talented people that day, I can’t say I recall the encounter. Fast forward a few weeks and I find myself driving to Totnes to attend the launch party of ‘What Do We Want’, the new album by The Experimental, I was running late and I half hoped that they were also running behind schedule as I really wanted to check out all three acts on the bill!
I arrived as Truro based indie rockers THE REZNOR took to the stage, I had heard BIG things about these guys via their manager and having played their recent track ‘Mickey’ on my radio show, I was keen to see them in the flesh. Their set was action packed from start to finish and with their high octane guitar riffs, tight vocals and an awesome rhythm section, I can see these guys doing very well for themselves.
Their sound harked back to the early days of Arctic Monkeys when they were riding high on a wave of online attention created by millions of YouTube views before they even signed to a record label but one thing I really picked up on from the band was their confidence, they demonstrated a real swagger and I don’t mean in an arrogant kind of way. It’s refreshing to see such a young band taking control of the crowd and really ‘owning’ the stage. If you like the sound of these guys (and to be honest, what’s NOT to like?) they’ll be playing in Torquay on August 31st at the BURN IT DOWN FESTIVAL alongside a ton of other quality acts.
Next to take to the stage were Exeter based genre bending electro-pop-funk trio PATTERN PUSHER, now I’ll admit, I have a man crush on these guys, they’re SO BLOODY TALENTED, I used to play bass in a band but I can’t even touch the talents of Ben Green whose fingers were flying all over the fretboard whilst he was jumping about with the audience and performing high kicks on stage….
Their set was really well received by the Totnes audience, a new track called ‘Take Your Own Way Home’ received a tremendous reaction as did older material such as ‘Layla & Madman’ which was full of sonic twists and turns and reminded me of a 70’s prog rock track with the various tempos and sounds that it consisted of. You’d be a fool not to track these guys down at future shows and if you’re in the Torbay area, get along to PARROTFEST XXIII which takes place at The Apple & Parrot pub on the Harbourside on April 21st from 3pm where you can see the band performing alongside acts such as DEAD GROUND, HYPOPHORA and the mighty ANAVAE.
Onto the main act and the reason why we were all crammed into The Barrelhouse on this chilly March evening. As I said at the start of the write up, I had met the bass player at a music expo event in Bath a few months ago and having played a track from the new album on my recent radio show, I was excited to see if their live show would stand up to the high quality output that my listeners were treated too a couple of weeks back. Their set was varied, one minute, you were rocking along to a solid bass line accompanied by tight guitar riffs and solid drums and the next, you were bouncing about the room to something that wouldn’t have sounded out of place at a dance music night! The rhythm section was incredible, the drummer was a machine, he didn’t drop beat all night long and by the looks of the bass players pedal board, I thought that we were off to 1955 when the music hit 88 miles per hour (for anyone who hasn’t see Back to the Future, go check it out and all will make sense!)
Releasing the new album What Do We Want on the same day as we SHOULD have been leaving the EU was a gutsy move but one that paid off, whilst the Brexiteers were left dwelling over the christ knows how many options our Teresa had dreamt up to try and salvage the complete car crash that she and her fellow Tory comrades have created, me and a hundred of so revellers were enjoying some kick ass music from this incredibly talented Torbay trio. You’d be wise to keep your eyes peeled for these guys playing in the future, they really are a breath of fresh air that need to be seen to be believed. To sum them up, killer riffs, catchy stadium sized choruses and songs more addictive than crystal meth, what a combination!
Review & pics by Steve Muscutt
For more photos from the night, please click HERE