Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
It seemed like The Temperance Movement were all poised to break into the superleagues when in 2020 singer Phil Campbell announced he was standing down and going his own way.
Without their talismanic frontman the band decided to call it a day but here we are, five years later and the gods of rock ‘n’ roll have smiled down, the band reformed.
To say this phoenix-like resurrection has been met with open arms is something of an understatement, the sold out shows and lively and loud reception the band have been getting tells its own irrefutable story.
Whilst the swagger is most definitely there, you can sense a very tangible appreciation from the band that the crowds have returned in such strength and this mutual love affair carries the evening to even greater heights. It certainly doesn’t harm things that the outfit have a stack of absolute killer tunes and tonight’s set is a cherry-picked selection arranged for maximum impact.
There’s elements of both the Rolling Stones and Black Crowes here but the whole is dirtied up with a healthy amount of scallywag Glasgow grit, the band imbued with the freewheeling spirit of those two acts but also adding their own healthy big punch.
With the sense that they’re making up for lost time, high kicking rock ‘n’ roll barnstormer ‘Take It Back’ is an explosion of adrenaline and the funky dad dancing of Campbell during ‘Built In Forgetter’ shows the effervescent frontman at his lithe and most joyous best.
Guitarists Luke Potashnick and Paul Sayer tear into the riffs, the big stutter of ‘Caught in the Middle’ to the smoky blues of ‘Pride’ dappled with sunshine, showing their range of playing with heft and subtlety. Drummer Simon Lea and bass player Nick Fyffe add their own weight to the sound, a constant stream of deep grooves and swing driving the engine as the terrace chant of ‘Be Lucky’ powers through with their stomp and the subtle playing on Southern Gothic hymnal ‘Smouldering’ lays a classy and soulful base.
Sure, the quintet can do slow but it’s when they turn up the heat that they really prove their pedigree and the guitar wall of sound that’s ‘Lorraine’ races along at 300mph to thrilling effect, the Stonesy feel of ‘Magnify’ impossible not to dance to.
Playing with a fire that is barely contained within the four walls, the highlights come thick and fast and moments like Potashnick’s phenomenal solo on ‘Another Spiral’ and the epic main set closer ‘Deeper Cut’ are going to be hard to beat on the thrilling sonic stakes this year.
With the singalong encore of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain’, a furious ‘Midnight Black’ and overwhelming ‘Serenity’ sealing the night, this resurrection was complete. Ladies and gentle, all hail the return of one of the finest rock ‘n’ roll bands on the planet. The stadiums are calling.
Photography by Jon Theobald for MPM
