Band Night - part 2!
Bournemouth Creative’s August meeting showcased a range of local bands, all displaying an impressive array of talent. Eclectic was the theme of the night – laid-back jazz, mournful love songs and raucous rock and roll beats filled the Winchester with delicious melodies.
The Brothers Grimmer delivered a gut-stirring mix of heavy rock with super-sexy funk. And lots of body hair. An unbelievable amount of body hair, in fact. The guitarists boasted beards grown to suitable (rock) god length. And the drummer made up for his lack of beard with a chest as thick as the rain forest. Together, this group of siblings sounded like Status Quo meets Outkast. Little bro’ wowed the crowd with incredible hip hop moves, which he learnt by watching MTV.
You wouldn’t normally put break-dance beside rock, yet somehow, this boy made it work. He did cartwheels and spun round on one arm, revealing incredible strength, while his older brothers delivered anarchic tracks such as ‘The Ghetto’, featuring heavy funk and firing shots that took me straight to the opening scene of the movie, ‘Apocalypse Now’. They were a hard act to follow but G P Hall managed it with a completely different sound – kind of like watching a Spaghetti Western movie while on acid.
G P’s set boasted an array of gorgeous Spanish guitar riffs from deft fingers that took you on a journey to hot hacienda nights and spit-and-saw-dust bars. What’s great about music is that each artist can make any song his own, giving the audience a fresh take on an old classic. That’s why cover-versions make up 90 per cent of the charts, of course. And G P certainly managed to make Jackson Browne’s beautiful melancholic song, ‘Please Don’t Confront Me With My Failures (I Haven’t Forgotten Them)’, his own.
It’s not one of Browne’s famous songs, however, it felt special in the Winchester that night. Those sad lyrics must have struck a chord with everyone in the pub. After all, part of what makes growing up so painful is the realisation that nobody’s perfect – least of all yourself. GP Hall kept the mood sombre with a mournful version of ‘You Were Always on My Mind’.
Music is special because it can take you to dark places, then – straight away – a new melody has lifted you out of the pit and up into the clouds – other forms of expression aren’t as immediate with their highs and lows. And Bournemouth Creatives band night made sure its audience moved from light to dark and back to light again. Mathew Neil had everyone laughing when he walked on-stage singing ‘Oh Now Go, walk out the door….’ as a joke. Half the battle is won, however, when you capture your audience before going on to deliver your special sound. Last but not least, Sofi Reed delivered another set to remind us of our own broken dreams and life’s bittersweet journey through the good and the bad. Music should be an emotional rollercoaster – and the selection of local talent showcasing their work this August certainly gave us a heady ride.
From Claire Wyburn.
PSI - no website at present. Contact Elanor for details if needed.
http://www.brothersgrimmer.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/matthewneilmusic
http://www.myspace.com/sofireed
I would just like to add that I was very impressed by all our bands and singers - they were all very professional and played great music and I'd like to thank them all for making Band Night a success. If you are looking to book bands, each and every person that played for us comes very highly recommended.
Can't wait to hear them play again,
Elanor :)
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