Review - The Rebs, Jazica, Andy Hunt, Samuel Tingman and Rachel Guyer

I'm quite used to going to gigs by myself, but this was one of those times where everyone seemed to know everyone else, and I felt a teensy bit out of place.

First published on mINtSOUTH.com in June 2009
Words - Suzy Sims
Editor - Rob Ball
(c) mINtSOUTH.com

THE REBS, JAZICA, ANDY HUNT, SAMUEL TINGMAN & RACHEL GUYER @ TALKING HEADS, SOUTHAMPTON 09/06/2009

I didn’t break my chair. Honest, I didn’t. At the Talking Heads, the one seat I chose to rest myself on was particularly creaky and if I shifted, it juddered like it was made of Twiglets which had been stapled together.

The chair occasionally distracted me from the music. A Max’s Records night, it was also a bit of a South Coast Road To V meeting, with one previous winner and one current finalist onboard tonight.

The first act onstage were Samuel Tingman and Rachel Guyer. I didn’t catch all of their set owing to a late-running dinner date with Colonel Sanders, which was finger-lickin’ good. When I arrived the guy/guitar and girl/piano team were struggling along painfully. The vocals are earnest but there are too many stop-starts and a slight inability to play in time with each other. Bands are supposed to gel not compete with each onstage, which is what it sounded like.

Next up is Andy Hunt, clothed like he has just breezed in from a US Civil War battlefield stopping off to borrow some hair from the mid-Eighties. Alternative rock is certainly the description. It’s strangely compelling. He’s a true one man troubadour, singing songs about politics, war, armageddon, Creation and the Book of Revelations – yes, there is a very strong religious theme present - in a classic rock/metal style, a bass guitar lying to one side adding some extra clout and notes of doom. Many of the young ‘uns in the crowd aren’t entirely sure how to react to this dramatic force and back away nervously. Lyrically and musically heavy in nature, it may not be to everyone’s taste, but kudos to Andy who is a talented musician and clearly believes strongly and passionately about the messages in his songs.

Hoping to open this year’s V Festival are Jazica, one of the six finalists in the competition. Their set was hit by a few technical difficulties which rendered the vocals completely silent at some points, but the band shrug this off and play on. Singer Frankie tosses handfuls of glittery confetti into the air adding to the party atmosphere of their fun juicy electro pop. Guitarist Chris is blundering about in front of the stage where there would have been a mosh pit had everyone not been hiding at the back of the room, and Frankie’s looping vocals are mesmerising and innocently attractive. The band are sunny with a mix of gentle floaty songs and full-on blastings of sound. They also nervously showcase some newer material, and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable set.

And back to the wonky chair. I was sitting down to deliberately annoy headliners The Rebs. I’m not always out to wind people up, but my feet hurt from standing up all night and the band kept exhorting people to stay on their feet, so I decided to rest mine. They seemed quite cocky so I figured they’d be secretly pleased with this minor act of rebellion. With a traditionally British rock and roll sound dusted in Sixties organ notes, the band are very confident onstage, personalities clustering together and almost bundling each other off. The bassist has some impressive twitchy dance skills. The Rebs opened V Festival last year after winning plenty of votes from the public. Sadly it doesn’t look like they have any equally big gigs so far this year but give them time; give them time.

The Rebs - http://www.myspace.com/therebsmusic
Jazica - http://www.myspace.com/jazicamusic
Andy Hunt - http://www.overwatermusic.com