 
I wasn't sure to expect from tonight. Bournemouth's
iBar is a tiny venue
in a town with virtually no music scene, and it
could have gone either
way. However Vagabond's appearances supporting
James Morrison seemed to
be on everyone's lips, and no doubt had a lot
to do with the impressive
turn out – although the room's population
did consist mainly of little
girls.
First on were The Other Half, a local Bournemouth
four-piece who provide
reasonably generic indie rock music, but it's
not bad at all. The
drumming did seem to have a significantly punkier
sound than the rest of
the band, and the vocals didn't seem to quite
work – although on closer
inspection I think that would be down to the room's
acoustics. But alas
these are minor drawbacks, and overall they played
well. The little
girls seemed to be enjoying themselves too, “woo”-ing
aimlessly at every
opportunity possible. Larger drawbacks for a band,
might be that they
have an awful rapor with an audience, far from
funny and arrogant to
match. Had they been playing to a room full of
guys in their early
twenties like myself, I doubt there'd have been
much “woo”-ing, to say
the least. Fair enough this is your hometown but
we've never heard of
you so don't assume everyone loves you. But that's
the key gripe,
musically I liked what was going on, even if it
was a little generic.
Many of the songs seemed to vary in style, from
your regular indie
numbers right through to those with a far more
punky edge – a repetoire
that should be refined and focussed in one clear
direction, I feel. But
no, in all seriousness, rants aside, they weren't
bad at all.
Next up was another local act, the Michael Ricketts
Band. Although the
opening track started promisingly, it wasn't long
before an outrageously
out-of-place classic eighties rock solo burst
out of nowhere, and really
seemed to grate with the melodic alternative indie
beneath it. And
amazingly, that's the only criticism I have. Aside
from a couple of
questionable solos, the music was of a high standard,
and was blessed
with the consistency of style and attitude that
the previous act lacked.
On his website, influcnes such as Kings of Convenience
and Radiohead
were mentioned, both of which really came through
in the sound. With
well-written songs like this, I'd be extremely
interested to catch
Ricketts at a solo acoustic show – very
promising indeed.
The main act Vagabond took to stage as the little
room reached near full
capacity, and the “woo”-ing commenced
yet again. Opening with “Don't
Wanna Run No More,” a song that shows the
poppier cheesier side of
Vagabond, popular with the young crowd and no
doubt what wooed them on
the Morrison tour. However aside from that, Vagabond
are about much more
than cheesey pop. It's all about the easy-listening
funky tunes, oozing
groove from the bass, wah-wah-ing guitars galore
and an awesome vocal
line too. This is where Vagabond shine, such as
in “I Know A Girl” a
personal favourite. Vagabond are a great band
who have the potential to
make the charts listenable again. Really impressive,
and that vocal,
oof! It's almost Toploader-esque but with the
slightly harsh edge
removed. Deep and sensual – meant in the
straightest way possible, of
course. As far as stage-shows go, it would be
unreasonable to expect
anything from a band playing in a blacked out
shoebox, so we'll let that
one pass – but they played everything perfectly.
In the upstairs bar
there was a live audio feed from downstairs being
streamed and it only
emphasised my thoughts about the skill of these
guys, and the vocals in
particular. Vagabond are one to watch –
without a doubt.
Vagabond 4/5
Michael Ricketts Band 4/5
The Other Half 2.5/5
Review By Thom |
