THE FRETS + THE JOOTS + KALEL + ROOTS SYSTEM - Doghouse, Dundee 23-03-08
As ever, I got there as Native Alien were finishing, which is a pain as I have wanted to catch them for a while. But one of them recognised me and handed me their CD-EP, so at least that'll be a start.
So, first up were The Frets, this time acoustically done, as a trio with the vocalist sitting centre stage and the two acoustic guitarists, either side. I've admired what the band has done for a while but in some ways have still been waiting for a certain spark to ignite. An acoustic set from an electric band can always be a bit tricky, but no such thing tonight. The two guitarists acquitted themselves admirably and played some tasty work throughout, with depth and melody the main factors. There's something hypnotic about hearing the two acoustic players strumming away with a certain emotion behind it all. The songs themselves were probably pretty good - I say "probably" since I know I was listening and I know I wantedd to listen, but right now, none of them have stayed with me. But what I WAS hooked on, was the lead singer's voice - this guy has got one hell of a strong vocal. I know this will probably make the band want to lynch me, but half way through, I really lost track of what the songs were all about - I was listening to this guy's voice! With strength, emotion, passion and even, for an acoustic setting, almost angry, this guy provided a performance from sensitive to soaring, the latter to such an extent, that at one point you could actually hear the vocal echo ever so briefly after he'd delivered the line. At one point, he was sailing up the scale and didn't quite make the last notes in tune, but this was a smal part of what was a great singing performance. I still prefer the electric side, butnext time, I'm gonna look at it in a different light. As to the songs, well, I think it needs one or two more commercial offerings, but it's early days, so let's see....
Now, I'd only seen the Joots recently at Mondo. Tonight, they really had turned a corner. I've seen this band three times - the first at Lyrics where I just didn't rate it at all. The 2nd at Mondo, where I felt that they'd improved, but there was still a fair way to go to reach the part of the ladder marked "good". But tonight, the third time, they really surprised me. For a start, they'd changed the running order, so that they started with one of their strongest songs, something with "Blues" in the title, but with its flowing verses and addictive hook, it immediately put you into their world of music. What surprised me even more is that the next few songs also proved to be equally infectious. With a stronger more jangly guitar sound, they arranged things so that the rhythm section provided the backdrop that would have the audience dancing away, while you'd be standing there thinking "OK - so they're not quite as emotive as The Goodnights and not as powerful as The Defended, but as a potential mid-point between the two, it's definitely getting there". The vocals are delivered well, if not exactly strongly, and the demon in me was thinking "now if the vocalist for The Frets was singing here - bingo!!", but that's not to say that The Joots' singer is lacking - I just think he needs to get a bit of aggression in the vocals and things could get very interesting.The songs themselves were, almost entirely, that effective mixture of catchy and substantial, and I can imagine that, next time I see these guys, a few of them will start hanging around my head (the songs that is, not the guys - hoho!!) Anyway, it was the best set I've heard from them to date, so the progression continues in the right direction.
Kalel - well, all I can say here is that they played a strong set and you should refer back to my previous review to see what this band are all about.
Now you might contrue this as a cop-out, but while I was standing there enjoying the powerfully addictive ska sounds of Roots System that was surging from the PA system, I thought "if ever I have to do any sort of detailed review of this band in concert, then there's something wrong", my thinking being that here is a band whose strong and streaming brew of Scottish ska is built upon such solid foundations, that it simply can't fail to get a crowd of 100 or 10,000 into leaping about uncontrollably on the dancefloor. They exist to give you a great time, and that's exactly what they deliver without any frills, any pretentions and anything that doesn't do exactly what it says on the tin. Each member plays it direct and tighter, while the singer is spot on in his delivery of the ultra-commercial offerings that each song is. Resistance is, indeed, futile.