Under The Bridge, London, UK29th May 2015
Republica, Tenek & Kenelis
The chance to see AMANDA PALMER & NEIL GAIMAN live led my way to London for a short trip. My lovely host informed me before I started my travel that just the other day REPUBLICA will perform in London and supporting act will be TENEK and if I would like to see them also. Of course I wanted to as this would mean to see a full show of REPUBLICA, which I saw for the first time at the Pluswelt Festival last year and was overwhelmed by the energetic show. It also meant that I could see TENEK finally again which I saw the last time four years ago in Germany. Under The Bridge is quite a new club, not easy to find, near the Chelsea FC’s stadium at Stamford Bridge. The owner prides himself in having the best sound system in the UK. The venue is really lush and everything, including the lavatories is bright and shiny.
Kenelis
Opener of the evening was KENELIS, a Brighton based band which won the Brighton Music Awards “Viewers Choice” in 2013. The debut album, ‘Remember how it felt‘, was released in 2009 under their own label Black Grass Records. The band has performed alongside with bands like REPUBLICA, THE LEVELLERS and REUBEN to mention just a few. The musical style of the bands embraces Alt Rock, Punk Rock and Grunge. KENELIS are Mel Sanson (vocals/ guitar), Jack Rowan (guitar), Dan Ely (bass) and Alec Greaves (drums). http://www.kenelis.com / https://www.facebook.com/kenelis
Music & Performance
I have to admit that I haven’t heard of this band before but the powerful performance of this female fronted band was a good start for the evening. What is it that the short ladies have so much power? Mel’s appearance reminded me a bit of DORO except the fact that Mel plays also guitar to some of the songs and her vocals are more like COURTNEY LOVE: powerful and also a bit dirty. The venue was not filled yet but apparently there were already some fans of the band, gathering in front of the stage. But unfortunately the volume of the sound was not adjusted to the actual number of people and thus it was far too loud. Nevertheless the show was a good start for the evening.
Setlist
01. We could die any minute
02. Sick
03. No one wins the war
04. Moving to BTV
05. With scars
06. Prodigy witch
Rating
Music: 7.5
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10
Tenek
Another Brighton based band hit the stage after the rebuilding time. Founded in 2007, TENEK is actually a duo of Peter Steer and Geoff Pinckney but on this evening Steve Clark had his debut as live drummer on an electro drum set. Having seen TENEK live several times this was definitely a good idea, as live drums gives always more energy to Electronic/ Synth Pop sound, not only from the audio but also the visual sensation. But apart from the drummer not much has changed since I have seen them the last time. http://www.tenek.info / https://www.facebook.com/tenekinfo
Music & Performance
The guys still make a big party on stage and constantly invite the people to join them and in no time you see most of the audience dancing and those who know the lyrics by heart sing along to the songs. Geoff still gives photographers a hard time to get a decent photo of him as he dances and moves permanently at his keyboard. He just can’t keep his feet still. With his beard he has now, he looks a bit like Smudo from FANTA 4 (DIE FANTASTISCHEN 4= the fab 4). I mentioned the extraordinary sound system. Well, what’s the use of an outstanding equipment if the sound engineer is not able to work with it properly? And once again the sound was far too loud that it was almost painful and then the band had to start one song anew as at the first time the sound was helplessly over-modulated.
Anyway we experienced the live debut of a new song and later another new song of the upcoming album. Both songs were well received by the audience and were surely a good appetizer for the upcoming album.
Setlist
01. Losing something
02. If I should fall
03. Imitation of life (new song)
04. Elusive
05. Another day
06. What kind of friend (new song)
07. Submission
08. Blinded by you
09. No time for fighting
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8.5
Light: 7.5
Total: 8 / 10
Republica
Actually this British, London based, band is an old stager, starting 20 years ago with their Synth Rock/ Alternative Rock/ Crossover music. Their first self-titled album, released in 1996, with several hit singles, was critically acclaimed. Unfortunately the following albums didn’t get so much attention and it has become a bit silent around Saffron Sprackling and her guys. But especially since last year they started touring more again, mainly in the UK. And of course we are looking forward to a new album now. REPUBLICA is Saffron Sparkling (vocals), Tim Dorney (keyboard) and Jonny Glue (guitar). http://www.republicamusic.co.uk / https://www.facebook.com/officialrepublica
Music & Performance
In the course of the stage rebuilding the venue filled with lots of fans eager to see REPUBLICA and when Saffron and her band members entered the stage, they were greeted loudly. It didn’t need much for the charismatic singer to get the crowd going. Especially to the hit singles ‘From rush hour with love’, ‘Ready to go‘ or ‘Drop dead gorgeous’ there was a big party going on with the audience singing and dancing along. Saffron’s positive energy transferred directly to the people. With such a long musical career it was no wonder that the audience was of mixed ages from 60 down to 20. The show was underlined with a great light show and videos that were displayed in the background.
We were also presented a new song that was just finished which was liked immediately by the crowd. As the die-hard fans and friends knew that Saffron soon will have birthday, they sang her a birthday song and some even brought her gifts. She was very moved by this gesture. For one song, Mel Sanson from KENELIS joined her in the singing. The evening with such a fantastic concert could have lasted much longer for my taste and I’m sure that most of the audience felt the same but of course even this show had to end. But we got at least one encore with another new song and once more ‘Ready to go‘.
Setlist
01. Bloke
02. Rush hour with love
03. Out of the darkness
04. Glittering
05. Drop dead gorgeous
06. German accent
07. Rollerskates
08. Hallelulja
09. Christiana obey
10. Ready to go
11. New York
12. Holly
---
13. New song (?)
14. Ready to go
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8.5
Light: 8.5
Total: 9 / 10
And so a fantastic evening ended with great music in a very nice club and overall I met a lot of dear friends again I haven’t seen quite a while.
Photos by Simon Watson (http://simonwatson-photography.co.uk)
Comments powered by CComment