VENUE OF THE WEEK : The Bedford
- Posted on April 20, 2007 9:22 AM
- 1 comment
VENUE OF THE WEEK : The Bedford, Balham 17 April 2007
By Peter Coulston
The Bedford, Balham features as Venue of the Week once again this week due to the excellent line ups that this establishment manages to secure. On Tuesday, the Bedford website promised us extended sets from Sam Beer, Jonas & Plunkett and Bailey. I had heard good things about the first two and am among the converted as far as Bailey are concerned, so it looked like a good evening. Unfortunately, Sam Beer was not there, but, given that the gig was not listed on his website, I am assuming that the Bedford was responsible for the error rather than Mr Beer. Catch you another time, Sam.
I have always preferred the extended sets to the split sets often favoured by this venue and the Troubadour, as I feel that it allows the artists a better opportunity to settle in. I know that the artists prefer the extended sets also, and it certainly showed on Tuesday. Jonas & Plunkett kicked off the proceedings with a very relaxed set of well written songs in a variety of styles. Jonas takes care of the lead vocals, effortlessly hitting all the right notes, while Plunkett adds faultless acoustic guitar and harmony vocals to the catchy melodies of their songs. The first few numbers were quite jazzy, after which they moved on to some more commercial material with strummy guitar and Jonas on the piano. “A Surprise” was particularly catchy. They split the vocals nicely on “Milk and Honey”, and “This Is Who We Are”, the title track of their album, turned a little folky to good effect. They ended with the gutsy “What Have I Done?” only to succumb to demands for an encore by the delighted audience. A nice set with intelligent lyrics, topped off with excellent cello backing by a young lady whose name I have forgotten. Their album will be out on May 28, distributed by Right Track Distribution/Universal Records. Check them out on myspace.
I briefly reviewed Bailey back in March when I stumbled upon them (not literally) at the Half Moon in Putney, a venue that I frequented in my youth. In those days I often stumbled on things at the Half Moon, but for quite different reasons. To return to the matter in hand, Bailey are a four piece power rock outfit fronted by Dominic and Oliver Bailey and supported by bass and drums that compliment them, and then some. With Dominic on soaring lead vocals and guitar, and Oliver providing awesome piano and harmonies, this band has to be one of the most impressive on the London music scene right now. They gave an awesome performance on Tuesday, starting with “Satellite”, a solid rock ballad which set the pace for things to come. “Empires” was dark with classical influences while “Conform To You” slowed it down with great structure and lyrics. “Fighting For A Cause” rocked with great jazzy piano and drums and “Biology” slowed it down again; very commercial.
“Bullet Proof” gave us a classy piano intro to a solid song while “Better Days” moved back into ballad with a slight country feel and nice harmonies. By this time, the band was really warming up, and “In My Shoes” was a mid tempo rocker that hit the spot. “100 Times” is a strong ballad that builds up and, theoretically, ends the set. However, a Bailey gig is incomplete without “My Condition” as an encore. This tour de force of vocals and piano leaves you in no doubt of what this band can do. “Biology” and “In My Shoes” are now being played by Janice Long on BBC Radio Two if you want to hear them, and the boys are due to do a live set there in June. You can also listen to and download Bailey tracks on bailey.info and myspace.
Comments (1)
SHAZ
ANY INFO ON MICHAEL BOLTON HOW TO GET ANY PASSES TO SEE THIS GREAT MAN JUST ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM THANKS SHAZ
Posted on April 20, 2007 11:27 PM
Post a comment
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.seatwaveblogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/669
