On the recommendation of my know-it-all indie loving music friend (that is no diss, she really does know it all), I went to see Dry The River perform on Tuesday night. Apart from seeing an ad that they were supporting Bombay Bicycle Club on their upcoming tour, I hadn’t the faintest idea who this band were or what their music was like. Apparently they ‘really go for it on stage’ and will ‘blow you away with their talent’ (again, words from my clued-up friend) so I wanted to see what I was missing and give them my own review…
Support came from the band Worship who I know far less about than DTR – it seems the internet doesn’t know too much about them either, providing me with nothing but religious worship songs and church groups. Made up of four boys all dressed in uniform of grey and black, this was no average matching boy band as although they could belt out some rather lovely melodies, they could also play instruments very well and didn’t have choreographed dance routines. Their music is dark, sombre and atmospheric with guitars, a dubby production and a totally awesome drummer who really stands out as the maker of each tune. These guys have a future, they are completely unique and their music is so haunting that it makes a lasting impression on you. It was the perfect opening for such an intimate gig. Check out the video for Collateral below and give us your opinion…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAk7H6EiIL4&feature=player_embedded
Next up it was the headliners Dry The River, and pressure was mounting on my friend to prove her glittering review of the band was justified. As they emerged on to the stage, I was first struck by the tattoos, the long hair and the beards… yet another generic rock band? Well not quite, what took me by absolute surprise though was their ability to go from looking like they are about to smash up the stage and hurl abuse at the crowd, into shy and very humble guys who really connected with the audience from the get-go.
Their music has a really interesting and somewhat chaotic edge to it with a violin accompaniment to the guitars and drums, but what impressed me over and above that were the incredible harmonies and vocal range of lead singer Peter Liddle. I was moved by the emotion and intensity of each song which genuinely felt like the band loved what they were doing and wanted to connect that with their crowd. There was no over-the-top bravado or arsey showmanship that comes hand in hand with indie bands who are getting a name for themselves, this was a proper enjoyable performance with the boys getting stuck in to every song with great power and pleasure. A stand out song for me was (erm… nameless) when the three singing-guitarist stepped forward to do a completely spine-tingling accoustic harmony without any loud music interfering… for want of a better word, it was angelic! These boys have real talent and their infectious music will have you hooked from the start. They do not mess around, are clearly not in it for the fame and so, in my eyes they deserve all the success they get. Yes my indie-loving know-it-all-friend, you were right once again! This is folk-gospel-indie-progressive-rock at it’s best. Check them out for yourselves below and tell us your honest opinion…
[yframe url=’httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqYPUFx5bS4′]
