First of all a word about the Bristol “Louisiana”, what a great place!It’s an upstairs room in a pub, 120 capacity & Red Stripe on tap! I
should add that you should read the rest of this review with the clear
understanding that if I am placed within close proximity of a Red Stripe tap I
have to try & empty it, thus, the ensuing memory loss & digestive
interference play their part in this review! Haven’t been to a gig in a place
this small for many a year, even makes the Barfly in Cardiff seem cavernous!I
like the sort of intimacy these gigs allow & with tonight’s opener Pip Dylan, a one man, singer / pedal
steel / acoustic guitar player it really worked.He is the sort of performer that could really
go down well anywhere, from a small room to a hall, as his music is varied,
moving from the pedal steel down south bluesy feel through to more country
& even a bit of Spanish coming through there sometimes.All of this is really well played &
enjoyed by the Bristol audience, the Scotsman is a good opener for the evening……..Talk of things Scottish leads us to tonight’s
headline band:
“King Biscuit Time”.This
being Steve Mason’s post “Beta band”
project, whether it is seen to be a solo project or a band I am not sure, but
for tonight it was a 3 piece, with Steve on guitar & vox, & occasional
drums, accompanied by a guy on guitar & bass (alternately) & a guy
fiddling with knobs & buttons.If
like me you mourned the demise of the “Beta
band” last year you will be well pleased to see Mr Mason back out on the
road & with “King Biscuit Time”
he seems to be picking up the same theme at least, as he was writing &
playing with the “Beta band”, even
playing “Doctor Baker” from the “3 EP’s” & “Simple” from “Heroes to Zeroes”
in tonight’s set, which went down extremely well with the crowd!The newer songs such as “Way you walk”, “Izium” “Kwangchow”, could all easily be “Beta band” tracks.I am not
sure whether this is primarily to do with “Steve
Masons” vocals, which are by the way bang on or, are genuinely similar. I’m looking forward to the album to have a
better listen.The new single “C I am 15” which is out this week is a
rousing chant, sort of track you know after 1 listen, so probably a good
single?The main drum tracks are
electronic with “Mr Mason” adding
drums across some of the tracks, again, much the same as he would do with the “Beta band”, this is not a criticism,
why stop doing bits that work!It was a
fairly short 11 song set, with a couple of encores.The first interestingly, being a sort of dub
version of “Anarchy in the UK” which
was heartily sung along to by the whole crowd.Reminded me a bit of the “Jerizmy”
version on the “Great Rock n Roll
Swindle” album”, with the second encore being another blast @ the “C I am 15” single.
Again, good to see him back, a
bloody good evening, Tidy!
