Live Review from Planetrox China Final 2017
1. Something Blue
2. Wild Love
3. Thief
4. A Wrong Turn
I remember these guys well from a gig they played a couple of months ago in the Wanch and I was super impressed, particularly by Daryl’s vocals and Lenny’s sick guitar licks. This time they’re first up to play in tonight’s final with a trip to Canada at stake. Rather than the after work boozers at the Wanch to contend with they have a capacity Doghouse to entertain and impress to book their place on that plane.
There’s gotta be a story behind why this band have a song named after them, or are they named after the song? Either way, it’s a gentle start to the night. I get the feeling Daryl may be feeling a little uncomfortable, understandably as it’s a big occasion and probably the most important gig for this band in a long time. None of it seems to phase Lenny at all and he flies around his fret board like he’s in his own living room. Also using his tremolo bar to great effect. Ah Yip keeping it tight on the drums
Tonnes of Red Hot Chilli Peppers vibes on Wild Love. A real doff of the cap to Under The Bridge. Lenny is just taking it to another level on this song. The rest of the band are good, but he has star quality. Thief is a much darker song, not that the last two were especially cheery, Simon on bass is really coming through here. His bass lines are much more of a centrepiece to this song. Lenny’s solo could have been taken right out of one of Carlos Santana’s books. Nothing wrong with that, but does feels bit too much like the Mexican guitar hero, with a sprinkling of Brian May. Love the change in tempo at the end of the song.
Final song A Wrong Turn has a beautiful baseline which flows like lapping water up the side of a boat, just before they take It up a notch to a bit of a Jamiroquai. Nice falsetto from Daryl as Something Blue draw their set to a close. They’ve been solid tonight but not quite there enough to win for me.
– Simon Donald Jones
