Sunset Sons' Performance Justifies The Hype
Published
So this Subba-Cultcha thing works a treat doesn’t it? I’ve been hearing so many good things about Sunset Sons recently from people whose musical opinions I would trust implicitly to house-sit for me next time I’m away for a big birthday missing weekender…
I managed to bypass them completely the last time they played in London, so I was absolutely ‘pumped’, ‘stoked’ and dead made up to be given the chance to go over to Scala and review the gig. Walked in on the end of the opening band – The Beach – pretty tuneful, nothing to really set them apart from others, but all good. Short break and then Zibra on stage, looking very stripy, pineapple shakers, excellent hair and getting this Tuesday off to a rocking start.
Following on from that little bit of excitement I wriggled round the barrier into the press pit and only found myself sat next to one of my favourite photographers while waiting for Sunset Sons to come on. Completely full house, no room to move an inch, and the sense of something big about to happen was palpable. So much dry ice and then darkness descended as the four from Sunset Sons took to the stage. Don’t know what they were doing with the lighting, maybe trying to recreate the most amazing sunset ever but it was bloody bright and I wished I had my sunglasses and a little shady parasol to stop the glare. But you want to know about the sounds so I’ll stop the sun talk and get to it…
Starting off with "Know my Name" swiftly followed by "Come Easy" and "Medicine" I begin to finally get some of the hype that I’ve heard over the last year about this band. "Come Easy" manages to combine a driving beat with a sparse, husky vocal, sending me off on a Kings of Leon comparison, before "Medicine" diverts me down a more Foo Fighterish path. There’s not a huge amount of interaction between band and crowd, to be honest they all looked a bit tired out (the band not the crowd), but then they have been on the road for a couple of months solid now. Which leads very nicely into the slower more downbeat "No Way Home", giving them all a chance to catch their breath a little and take a look around the packed out venue.
Vocals again on this song giving me flashes of the brilliance of the Followill brothers on Aha Shake Heartbreak. Then "Disco Band"’ felt a little like there were a few wispy clouds just starting to drift across the bright blue sky to me, probably the song I liked least tonight, but the audience all clapped along, slightly off-beat, regardless.
It’s ok though, Sunset Sons more than make up for that slight bit of downtime with "Blondie" love love love it and it gets everybody whipped up once again to high levels of frenziness. Those ooooooh bits even get some of the more stationary ‘blokes’ nodding their heads at each other like little kids at a party sneaking the skittles from the top of the rainbow cake.
After this, the rest of the thirteen song set continues to build, a new, unexpected but firm favourite, "She Wants" and finally the band seem to relax into it all with a few smiles and even some little waves skywards to the packed out gallery. Crowd pleaser "Remember" is the one that is instantly recognisable to me, seems like this has been having a lot of airtime recently. This one gets faster and faster somehow, speeding on to the end of the line, and there’s a lot of clapping going on once more.
Final song actually has every single person in the room smiling, and wow, there’s even some moshy stuff going on at the front, and people climbing onto shoulders and stuff. Party atmosphere to match with the feel good Tuesday sound of set closer "On the Road", which is just a winner whether you like this band or not. Which I’ve decided, I actually do.
To find out more about Sunset Sons click here.
To visit the Sunset Sons Facebook page click here.
Words & pictures by Mary Long
