SCOTLAND LIVE - BANDS TO WATCH!!
PESKI KINGS + SCOTTY + PAULA KNIGHT + GHOSTS OF PROGRESS - Hustlers 28-06-08
To what became the largest audience that the venue had witnessed all day, The Peski KIngs took the stage and immediately caught the attention of the people there, many of whom had never before heard of or seen the band. With a sound that had to go down as one of the best to bring out everything the band has to offer, they launched into a rollercoaster ride of seriously addictive and memorable songs, with vocalist Becki ever the visual focal point, her mid-range vocal positively soaring out of the PA system, as the band rocked, with lead guitarist Nicky looking the most relaxed at a gig that I'd seen him in a while, unleashing some deliciously high-flying leads and riffs against co-vocalist Barry's acoustic guitar depths. Through a set that included the dancer's choice of "Hey Now", through the glorious commerciality of "To Be Loved" and even a brand new song that was absolutely the right direction for the band, they didn't put a foot wrong. Arguably one of the finest "good-time" bands in Scotland right now, they've got the potential to grow and develop into something that could really prove incredibly popular, and they went down a storm with the audience - which tells its own tale!
Ex-Blinshall guitarist/vocalist Scotty came on and presented a set on acoustic guitar and vocals, his twangy rasp of a voice delivering the songs in a kind of intense Scottish folk manner, only with much more of an edge and a sharpness that takes no prisoners and divided the audience into those that enjoyed it and those that found it less so - no middle ground, here!!
Paula Knight, known around the Dundee circuit for a few years now, played as special guest, delivering a 30 minute solo acoustic set featuring tracks from her forthcoming debut album, "Wonder", and, once again, to an audience unafmiliar with her original songs, she got a rousing reception as they proved to be both catchy and hypnotic, her strong, mid-range vocal soaring out of the speakers as the songs held you captive. Her guitar playing didn't put a hand wrong as the strongly strummed and chorded depth rang out. The fact that the original songs held the attention of the crowd and held their own as regards interpretations of the electric versions on the album, is tetament indeed to a seriously excellent songwriter who knows what a timeless song is all about.
To call Ghosts of Progress "bluesy" is both accurate yet way off the mark. To call them innovative is correct but to call them jaw-dropingly enjoyable is pinpoint with deadly accuracy. Taking time and apologising to the audience for the setting up, eventually they'd got the drums together - a snare and kick drum and cymbal all operated by the guy on electric guitar who was also doing the singing. The other guy - for there are just two of them - played a second electric guitar - and that's it!! But what they produce is just out of this world. The first time I'd seen them play, I was knocked out by what I heard - this time I was prepared - would I get the same reaction? To which the answer turned out to be "oh hell, YEH!!"
Like a vast railway engine starting its journey, the songs were initially a slowly building head of steam as this barrage of guitars burst out of the system, at first seemingly a bit disparate, but you could see and hear the true purpose of the journey become ever clearer. Then, allof a sudden, the engine hits its stride, takes the home straight, and never looks back as the sheer power of the guitars, the singer's voice and the incredibly insistent drum rhythms, all combine to provide this spine-tingling, adrenaline-rousing explosion of incendiary nuclear blues, only with a songwriting anger and angst that takes the compositions way beyond that into an altogether diferent musical universe. The audience were astounded - many eyes were just drawn towards the stage - several of The Peski Kings were going around saying how amazing this band were - the whole place stoped and just absorbed the sheer sonic stun that this band were throwing out from the PA. After 30 minutes, you might ahve thought that it would be over - but they didn't stop - the army marched on relentlessly, hitting a wall (of guitars) at one point, but then coming up with this track where the whole thing was so dense, so intense, and yet played with a conviction and emotion as to prove absolutely mind-blowing. That they received a well deserved cry for an encore, and that they dedicated the second run-through of the remarkable "Anal Blues" to my good self, just put the icing on the cake of what amounts to one of the most riveting, adictive and original live bands in Scotland right now. They're back on August 30th - you have to be there!!
Overall, a fantastic night and 4 artists and bands from Dundee and East Scotland that more than made up for the largely mundane, timid and downright lacklustre stuff that the Blues Festival had thrown my way earlier on in the day. Guess I'm just not old enough to get the blues!!
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