VENUE REVIEW: The Spice of Life
- Posted on May 1, 2007 9:16 AM
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SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
The Spice of Life, Soho Friday 27 April
By Peter Coulston
The Spice of Life is a pub on Romilly Street in Soho, where it connects with Charing Cross Road. It has a basement that provides all kinds of entertainment, including live music on weekends. Located between Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road tubes, it can be reached on the Northern, Piccadilly and Central Lines as well as by lots of buses that appear to run every ten seconds. On street parking can be found after 5:30, but watch out for Residents Only Parking; they will clamp you. The venue is sparsely furnished with too many pillars blocking views of the stage; but if the music is always as good as it was on Friday, it’s worth a visit. The drinks are reasonable for the West End and they serve food (the bangers and mash was great).
The show started on schedule at 8pm with Cherry, a singer songwriter from Brighton who was accompanied by a very good guitarist. She used to work with her brother in a rap act called Red Cherry and I remember seeing them at the Original Songwriters. They were good and the lyrics were fun, which is, of course, what rap is all about. She gave a good account of herself on Friday with some nice material that moved easily between jazzy R&B and soul. She has a good voice, but she sounded a little challenged in the higher register. I particularly liked “Knocking On Another Door”, and she closed with a good ballad. Keep it up, Cherry.
I like to think that I, sort of, discovered Bethany Packer. I met her dad one Monday at the Original Songwriters, and he said that he had a daughter who could sing and write songs. I suggested that he send me a CD, which he did, and, upon receipt, I thought, oh no, not another father who thinks that his daughter can sing and write songs. I played the CD to find that she actually could sing and write songs, very well indeed. I helped her get a gig at Original Songwriters, and she hasn’t looked back since. She is also a talented actress, particularly in the comedy genre, but on Friday, it was about the songs. Supported by two excellent guitarists, she began with “Falling Down”, which had a bit of gypsy/jazz about it. “Getting Sleepy” was bluesy while “Coming Home” was darker and punchy. There was some nice slide guitar being played while all this was going on, but we slowed down temporarily for “Country and Easter”, which was a ballad, and then it wasn’t. “Where Do They All Go?” was a ballad and “Why Don’t You Do Right?” was a good crack at a cover (Peggy Lee, among others) of an old jazz blues. She rocked us out in style with “Going Under”, with that old slide still doing it’s stuff. Bethany is an excellent singer/songwriter who loves to perform. Consequently, you are guaranteed a good show. So, check her out on myspace, she’s getting lot’s of gigs these days.
The first of the evening’s two bands was Hansom Pilot, a rock/pop five piece that do all the right things. They look great, they sound great, and work well as a band. The format is quite eighties and reminded me of Abba on occasions, which is no bad thing. The mix of male and female lead and the strong vocals and instrumentals all work for them, but the fact is that there are a lot of bands doing the same sort of thing just as well as they do. When they switched the line up around and became a little more keyboard oriented, they grabbed my attention; maybe they should do it more often. Don’t get me wrong; they are a very good band and will probably be mega over the next year. They are on at this venue again on 25 May so check them out, you will certainly enjoy it. What can I say about Playmaker? Northern Indie at it’s best, plain and simple. This band have been around for four years, toured Canada and played what is now the Cavern in Liverpool. The experience and hard graft shows; when this band knock out great songs, one after another, without pausing for breath, you have to listen. They deserve to be up there with the best, and will be if there is any justice. Don’t miss any chance you get to see these guys. I went home feeling very happy at the good music that I had heard, even if it was Friday night and I had to stand on the tube all the way to Balham. That’s rock ‘n roll.
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