The Graveltones, The Cadillac Three, Buffalo Summer, The Garage 3/03/14

@Planetmosh reviews @Graveltones, @thecadillac3 and @BuffaloSummerUK live at The Garage, London.

After a delightfully eventful weekend I was more in need of sleep (sad I know) than a night of bands.  However having seen The Graveltones previously at The Underworld I suddenly found that had much more energy than I thought. 

The last time I was at The Garage the venue was crammed and with that image in mind I was somewhat disappointed by the small crowd that had arrived to date.  Though the upside was that I managed to walk up and find myself some barrier room for the first band Buffalo Summer.  All the way from Wales this southern rocking quartet cut a slightly hippy look while bringing a slight southern feel to their rock sound.

I enjoyed the variances in rhythms they kept throughout their songs, with some keeping a slow rhythm from the vocals, while maintaining a high energy feel through the bass and drums, then changing tack to a slower, hip swinger rhythm as well as throwing in some cheeky sounding guitars later on, as well as a little bit of filth from those guitars.  ‘Bird On A Wire’ and ‘Down To The River’ are good examples of where to start if you’re not familiar with this band.

Though clearly some were and with the lyrics as well as I was treated by those around me to additional singing along.  Standing so close to the drum kit it would have been amiss of me not to keep an eye on it and I really liked the mixture of rhythms used throughout the set as well as changing it up during the individual songs, with some clashing nicely with the rest of the song.

http://buffalosummer.net/

https://www.facebook.com/buffalosummer

Up next were The Cadillac Three who had travelled even further for this gig; all the way from Tennessee.  Even before this band arrived on stage you could tell from the off that this was one of the main focusses for the crowd that night and the cheer volume level and focus on the stage during their set just confirmed this.  Though we were not the only audience in London to watch The Cadillac Three that evening.  Having finished their supporting set with Blackberry Smoke over at the Islington Academy at 8pm, they headed straight over to begin a new set at The Garage at 8.30pm.

So, so far a long night for them but you would never have known it.  There was very clearly a big fan base in the audience and you if you had just walked in you could easily mistake them for the headliners of the evening.

There’s a mixture of sounds from rock, to more even tones, which moved towards a ballad after a slower, dirty rhythm with commanding drums and guitars.  Being from Tennessee you would expect to hear that lovely slow southern style and not surprisingly this can be found for in the appropriately titled ‘I’m Southern’ as well as ‘White Lightning’ as a couple of examples…and who doesn’t love that southern style. It was also the first time I’d seen a band that involved a lap steel, and it obviously suited their style very well.

The crowd there that night could not get enough of The Cadillac Three and if you are now a bit tempted to have a listen, their new single ‘The South’ is out now so go listen…and buy.

http://www.thecadillacthree.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheCadillacThree

The audience level had dipped a little after The Cadillac Three which is a shame for those that left, though the venue was still very full indeed for the headliner’s set.  When I went to watch them the first time I did wonder how a two piece could fill up the stage and venue as much as a bigger band, but it didn’t take more than the first few seconds to see that they could indeed do this…and more so than many bands I’ve seen.  In this case size really doesn’t matter.

Now I don’t mind a bit of a build-up when the headliners hits the stage but I have all respect for those that can open with their first song and make an audience feel as if they are at the height of the set.  This is one of those bands that can do that in spades.  Their entire set is full of energy that continues at the same level throughout and takes the audience with them.

I may have been tired earlier in the evening but all that soon melted away.  At only the third night of their European tour, they were full of energy which as I mentioned is contagious  If you’ve never seen them before might I suggest their first song ‘Bang Bang’ which is a good example of the different styles that are combined in their songs, as well as the raw vocals.  This is followed up by more examples, with ‘Forget About The Troubles’ bringing a swing beat and ‘Off The Shelf’ showing you some old fashioned rock.

Though there are plenty of songs on the set list there seemed to be many more, perhaps because the songs seemed to go quickly.  But that’s a good sign and though there are only two people on stage there’s still a lot visually because of their never ending energy.  This is reflected in everything including Mikey Sorbello’s drumming; whether this be with the usual two drum sticks or four, and no one could deny the volume of appreciation shown by the crowd during that drum solo.

By far one of the best finds I’ve seen in a while, if you haven’t yet seen them live then you need to add that to your ‘must do’ list for 2015.

http://www.thegraveltones.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thegraveltones

Set List

1. Bang Bang
2. Forget About The Trouble
3. Off The Shelf
4. Blamin It
5. St. Lucia
6. Lightning Bolt
7. You’re No Good
8. Throw It Over Me
9. Catch Me On The Fly
10. Never Going Back
11. Money
12. I Want Your Love
13. Sullen Blue
14. Dying On Your Feet
15. Six Billion
16. I Am A Liar