THE RAIL + THE PESKI KINGS + THE UNKNOWN + ERGO - Droothy Neebors 02-03-07
This shouldn't be here!! You see, I've got this new section going on the website called "Winter Warmers" where I review one band or part of a gig, largely coz what else was on that night, inspired me about as much as a carthorse on his way to the knackers yard. But to do that to this gig would be sending out the wrong message - let me explain.
I recently saw the first three bands listed here, together with The Hoffs, at a rather fine gig at the Westie - and reviewed it too, since it was a stellar concert. As a result, and based on tonight's performances, there was really nothing to add to what I said in that review regrding The Unknown and The Peski Kings, although I'm still in a quandry over the opening number in the Peski Kings set, but that's for me to tell them and for you to know nothing about. So, two enjoyable sets but nothing so different to merit an update review (unless I review what Becky waz wearing tonight!!!).
In the case of The Rail, that was weird. They played a set that seemed like it was on another planet - the moves were there, the vocals were a tad raw but it somehow didn't seem to gel - one of the closing tracks was superb as they launched into this punky anthemic chorus of a song so my hot-cold realtionship with this band continued. But then something remarkable happened - for the last song, they introduced new guitarist Dave - the same Dave that did the now infamous jam at Dexters with Kyle from The View playing drums, and of which I have photograhic evidence elsewhere on the site. So, they surged into this slightly bluesier closing number, with a fuller sound (natch!!) as this brooding solid song ensued. But the outro to the song became a vehicle for Dave to unleash this superb sounding guitar lead over the rest of the band's backing - and it was electrifying. You suddenly realised that one element Dundee is lacking is that old fashioned thing called "the guitar hero" (the infamous "Clapton is God" phrase from the '60's comes to mind), the only contender up to now being the long haired guy out of Restriction of Liberty or the lead guitarist out of Awaiting Exile, both of whom are great players but never get to stretch out. Anyway, Dave played one blinder of a lead as the band seemed to delight in jamming out of the closing track and I was standing there with visions of "Cream Live Vol 1" floating around in my head. It may seem old fashioned but in the context of what's going on here right now, it came as a breath of fresh air to hear a guitarist really deliver the goods, and if this is a sign of things to come, then The Rail are going to be a band to watch - no doubt, I'll let you know.
So, to the main reason this review's here - Ergo!! I've seen them ona few occasions now and they've slowly progressed from a soulful sort of funky band with a slight touch of rock to a more anthemic type of funk-rock band with a soulful twist and a passionate approach to some solid songs and playing. Now, lord knows what they've been doing , but from the moment they began their set, this was a band on fire. The whole thing took on a much more solid approach and feel, with a veritable blast of a vocal from the lead singer as the arrangement provided this strong sounding track that seemed to be drawing ever closer to rock with a funky heart, but rock in a more studied manner. After this, a couple of tracks that I've got to know, including the memorable composition and potential single "Sylvia", fairly blew the cobwebs off previous performances, as band and, particularly lead vocalist, really proceeded to turn in a quite stunning and blazing performance. But it was left to the last track and encore finally to revelal that missingl link to what I'd noticed about the band but had so far failed to pinpoint - and that was that this band has, somewhat uniquely (one tends to use that word a lot in Dundee, but it's always true!), discovered "AOR funk-rock" - the last track was AOR rock but with this dancefloor injection mixed in with the strident and full sounding guitar work, as the vocalist fairly soared to the greatest heights of the set so far. Fully deserving the encore that the crowd wantedd, they then went into a cover of Toto's AOR anthem "Hold The Line" which, for a song that sounded a bit old fashioned to say the least, here worked a treat in the hands of Ergo and proved every bit as popular as the rest of the original set. A rousing concert for sure from this band and whether or not I'm reading something into their direction that isn't true or whether tonight was just a one-off, further gigs will show, but for now, this is one seriously AOR flavoured commercial slice of dancey rock, putting it about as eloquently as my use of the language will allow, but a band that's seriously worth catching live - and developing with every one they do.