Review by Gary Spiller for MPM
It’s a warm, fine evening across Bristol, bathed in spring sunshine we’re almost halfway between spring’s equinox and the approaching solstice of summer.
The evenings are drawing out and it feels all the better for it. Sitting at the eastern end of the island that is Wapping Wharf, sandwiched between the tidal River Avon and the constant waters of the Floating Harbour, tonight’s venue The Louisiana awaits.
Gentrification of the area continues apace but the Grade II listed former Bathurst Hotel stands proud, as it has done since the early 1800s, at the corner of Wapping Road and Bathurst Parade. With its distinctive ironwork verandah, it’s easy to see how this venue came about its name. Close your eyes and the hustle and bustle of the area’s industrious past comes flooding back. Marine crew, dockside workers all channelling their energies in a multitude of purposes and directions.
Within The Louisiana’s interior posters of gigs past dot the walls, acts as diverse as Amy Winehouse, Muse, Dua Lipa and The White Stripes have all played here before going on to their respective stellar successes. Tonight, we have two burgeoning artists in the substantive forms of Oli Brown and his special guest Dan Byrne performing, if justice is to be served fairly then these two quiet and unassuming talents should follow in those aforementioned lauded footsteps.
Back in ’85 John Parr sung of seeing a new horizon beneath a blazing sky; here in warm and sunny Bristol we’ll bear witness to a pair of eagles continuing to mellifluously ascend in their flights of hard rock at this very point Parr had observed.
Since departing the ranks of his first band Dan Byrne has worked with a few lineups about him but the one assembled for this tour – comprising of bassist Colin Parkinson (Inglorioius), guitarist Glen Quinn and drummer Max Rhead (Tribeless, Kira Mac) – seems the most balanced. I have expectant hope that stability has been discovered too as several rungs have been climbed in the production and despatch.
By the time Byrne follows his band on to the intimate surrounds of The Louisiana’s stage the upstairs room has filled up nicely. There’s thunder over the hills and a darkened stage suddenly bursts into life with the hard driving forces of ‘Hard To Breathe’ off the aptly entitled debut EP ‘Beginnings’. Astutely employed backing tracks expand upon an already solid sound weaving about Byrne’s powering vocals and Quinn’s studiously delivered guitaring.
The crowd singalong with the wild beast of ‘Control’ before a new track heavyweight powerhouse ‘Hate Me’ shifts motions into top gear where they remain until the set-closing tear-jerking atmospherics of ‘Death Of Me’ which ensures the quartet of tracks from ‘Beginnings’ all, quite rightfully, aired.
It’s been a couple of years since Byrne spread his wings into a solo career and he now finally seems at ease with the histories as he briefly touches upon his previous band. Time the healer as the saying goes, there’s time for one reflection upon Revival Black with the elevated plane of ‘Wide Awake’ later in the set.
‘Easier’ demonstrates the emotive side of Byrne as he atop layering tracking of keys, he lights up the room before his hard rocking colleagues return to the fold building up to a muscular level. ‘Sentimental’ swaggers at hip level with Quinn striking a bluesy perspective as the catchy hook ebbs and flows with the rock n’ roll tide.
Byrne engages throughout and with a support slot on tour with Tyketto, an appearance at Chepstow Castle with Kris Barras Band and his spiritual home Steelhouse much larger stages surely beckon. The Planet Rock rubber-stamped ‘Like Animals’ rears and bucks with chest-pounding rhythms courtesy of Rhead and Parkinson whilst Quinn’s low-slung six-string wields sharp contrasts.
Forty minutes have elapsed in the veritable blink of an eye with Byrne et al placing a firm marker in the sand. Further polish has been added to an already glorious product and a high bar has been set for The Dead Collective of Oli Brown, Sam Wood and Wayne Proctor to clear.
With the assistance of an earthquake-inducing intro hard as nails triumvirate Oli Brown & The Dead Collective efficiently introduce themselves to the Louisiana ensemble. With just a hue of red bathing the stage the ghost ship has arrived wharf side.
Alongside Proctor (King King, Ben Poole, Sari Schorr) and Wood (Wayward Sons, Black Star Riders) Brown has gone from ‘Prelude’ to ‘Epilogue’ via ‘Prologue’ over the course of the past 18 months or so with three deservedly praised EPs.
The nine tracks to be found across that fine hat-trick of EPs are majestically despatched tonight alongside two yet-to-be-released tracks. The striking bluesy notes of ‘Goliath’, that pulse and surge, and the enthralling enwrapping of ‘Estranged’ provide a glimpse into the future endeavours.
A brace of tracks from ‘Prologue’, the second of the trio of EPs, set things in motion with the demonic growls of ‘Father’ outpour in an efflux of sensitivities. Fellow EP-dweller ‘Everything You Want’ and its bluesy fringes follows this dimension bending banshee to profound effect.
With the briefest of engagements this is deliberately pitched, with expert craftmanship, as more of an immersive experience with the trio of musicians permitting the music to take front and centre. Like waves upon a shoreline so the quaking deliveries wash over all gathered within in a magical sort of cogence.
Like Bynre an extra layer of ‘oomph’ has been added to the broth by Brown. Expansive backing tracks envelop and segue whilst a pre-programmed lighting rig provides an eerie kinetic. Oli later explains to me that the lighting required eight hours of programming per track!
With a shimmering of Proctor’s drums The Louisiana shakes to its core as ‘Sinking Ship’ berths. Dodging both shadows and moonlight the cobra strikes twinned with a rough-hewn, raucous element. Think a roughed-up Fleetwood Mac in an ethereal environment.
A captivating sonic assault ‘Another Day Lost’, from recent EP ‘Epilogue’, is gentle and emotive on one hand but morphs into a rage with phasers set to ‘deadly’ in the flick of a switch. Shrouded in blues the sentiments of a trusted hand come forth in ‘I Won’t Leave’ with Brown’s soulful vocals resonating.
A swift “Thank you”, and an equally rapid swig of water, it’s headlong into ‘Haunted’. Proctor’s cascading percussives along with the maelstromic guitaring of Wood and Brown continue to mesmerise and bewitch through the strenghty ethereals.
Seismic rumblings courtesy of a raw Southern groove from Brown emerges in ‘Heard It All Before’ as the hour-long set winds up to a scintillating crescendo. An emotive ‘Your Love’ runs on a short fuse wire oozing sentiment; Wood and Brown’s complimentary bluesy riffs soar effortlessly. Such is the focus a pin dropping would shatter the moment.
The call of the sirens that is ‘Home Sweet Home’ is a soulful lament; there’s a clear, deep understanding between Brown and his close friends Proctor and Wood. Something unwritten yet tangible in its existence, completely steeped in purity and unforced in its genuineness.
Much bigger nights await as Brown expresses his gratitude emoting “Thank you for an amazing last night of the tour.” A trek up a large Welsh hill awaits for a Steelhouse slot along with festivals in Shrewsbury, Dorset, and Scotland and, of course, a very bright future on that new horizon underneath skies aflame.
Photography by Kelly Spiller for MPM
