Gig Review

Warped Tour Acoustic 2014
Geoff Rickly, Koji, Rob Lynch, Brian Marquis
London, The Borderline
22nd April 2014


Geoff Rickly  
    Koji                         Rob Lynch            Brian Marquis
                         

April the 22nd saw the arrival of the Vans Warped Tour Acoustic Basement UK to London, to Soho’s Borderline club, to be slightly more precise. A ten day low key amble through some of the UK’s most intimate music venues was a chance to showcase the unplugged talent’s of Thursday’s perma-youthful lead singer Geoff Rickly accompanied on the bill by a few unsung and up and coming artists from the alternative acoustic scene. Without plundering through email addresses and record label PR departments, it’s impossible for me to say how well attended the tour was as a whole, but if the turnout at the cosy central London venue is anything to go by, it’s safe to say there are fair few post-hardcore casualties still willing enough to head down and support one of the movement’s figureheads. I spent a few minutes standing next to Charlie Simpson from Fightstar while plucking up the courage to ask him whether he was planning to persuade his current bandmates rejoin his old ones on the McBusted tour. I considered offering the suggestion they call themselves McFisted. Sadly, he mumbled something to his mate about a party in Islington and left after the second act’s set. I’m sure it will remain one of my life’s regrets.

Right, down to the music then. The first act worth mentioning was Brian Marquis of Therefore I Am ‘fame’ over in London from his current residence in LA to showcase material from his forthcoming album ‘Blood & Spirits’. Apparently, the Acoustic Basement tour was the brainchild of Marquis, and bearded Mr Marquis threw himself into the set with plenty of fire and passion, with no little amount of technical ability, gamely tooting his harmonica and stomping his feet along with each number. His gruff, powerful vocal stood out particularly during slow burner ‘Breathing in Ghosts’. Another stand out from the set was the up-tempo ‘Drink you Up’, after which Marquis revealed that he was last year struck by lightning during the Warped Tour. It’s not often you share a room with someone who can say that. All in all, with the imminent release of Blood & Spirits, the immediate future looks bright for Marquis – as long as he avoids shielding himself with tin foil during thunderstorms.

Rob Lynch was next on stage, armed with his acoustic guitar and mildly amusing cheeky chappie presence. In certain circles, there has been a buzz around Lynch. Recently signed to Xtra Mile Recordings, his debut album ‘All These Nights In Bars Will Somehow Save My Soul’ is due for release on the label, and he is supporting the aforementioned Charlie Simpson, not the McFisted tour, but on an acoustic run throughout the UK later this month. The set the Englishman played at Borderline was my first time hearing his music, and while inoffensive and jolly enough, it seems the majority of his work is essentially Frank Turner-lite. The pop-laden and hooky single ‘Broken Bones’ lent itself well to good old upbeat sing along, and ‘My Friends & I’ was crammed with positivity, even if Lynch’s attempts to involve the audience fell somewhat flat. ‘Whisky’ was a poignant moment during a generally jovial set, and was undoubtedly his strongest moment of the evening. Lynch is certainly armed with a decent ability to write a good pop song and further exposure could well see him enter the mainstream, even if he does possess a somewhat irksome stage presence – though most would probably deem that endearing.

Occupying the final supporting slot of the evening was Pennsylvania’s Andrew Koji Shiraki, known simply as Koji when holding a guitar. His introverted style could not have been further removed from the previous act, introducing a more introspective and lo-fi feel to proceedings. The shy and retiring Koji began the set with some choppy guitar work and heartfelt vocals, delivered with pitch-perfect accuracy and bundles of emotion and continued throughout, ‘Giants Sleeping’ embodied the general tone of the set, the intricate harmony perfectly suited to the intimate venue. Before his final song, Koji predicted that 2014 would be year of ‘peace, love and harmony’. “Not if you’re Vladimir Putin!” I refrained from shouting out in reply.

The final act of the night was of course Geoff Rickly of Thursday. With the post-hardcore favourites having officially been on a hiatus since 2011, Rickly hasn’t found himself short of projects. He is currently fronting United Nations, and has appeared as a guest vocalist on a number of songs, however this Basement tour provided the opportunity for him to demonstrate his talents as a one man show, and in London, he didn’t hold back.

As the frontman of Thursday, Rickly’s distinctive delivery helped set the band apart from the also rans of the scene – his unpredictable, sometimes off-key vocals created an urgency and drama to the band’s songs that complimented the wall of noise behind them. It would be far easier to comprehensively butcher an acoustic performance by attempting to transfer such a delivery to stripped back set of songs than it would to nail it spot on, and the jury’s still out on which side of the fence Rickly’s performance fell. For instance, the juxtaposition between unplugged guitar and full throttle vocal worked perfectly when he covered Thursday classics ‘Standing on the Edge of Summer’ and Understanding in a Car Crash’ but sounded a touch jarred and unbalanced during some of his own songs. There was however a stirring cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Atlantic City’ during which Rob Lynch, Brian Marquis and Koji joined in backing vocals on stage, and a good Springsteen cover, in my opinion, is more than enough to turn a decent enough set into a bloody good one.

Brian Marquis 3/5
Rob Lynch 3/5
Koji 4/5
Geoff Rickly 3/5

Review By Jack Turner

 Geoff Rickly


Geoff Rickly

 Koji


Koji

 Rob Lynch


Rob Lynch

 Brian Marquis


Brian Marquis

 Band Related Links
Geoff Rickly Facebook
Koji Facebook
Rob Lynch Facebook
Brian Marquis Facebook
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?