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Reviewer's Retreat
Blowout Presents: Sœur / No Violet / Parkview UK / The Tribeless - Live Review
Saturday night I ventured up to my local music venue Jacs Aberdare to see a handful of original artists performing as part of our monthly independent promotional night called Blowout. I’ll keep this review short and honest but seeing as the weekly in-house blogger was having the weekend off to work on a new book, I thought I’d give my thoughts on how Saturday night’s show went.
I was a bit rushed about on Saturday evening, so sadly didn’t get the opportunity to see the opening band ’The Tribeless’ perform their set in full, but luckily, I was around to catch a song at their soundcheck. The band had a quite modern rock sound with great instrumentation and a powerful voice from the young lead singer. I was speaking to some of the members of the next band just as they finished their soundcheck and they told me that the band members of The Tribeless have been floating in and out of different bands over the past couple of years but have now finally found their comfortable niche playing their own upbeat rock music with heavy guitar riffs throughout.
I was able to get to Jacs about halfway into the next band’s set ‘Parkview UK’ and as soon as I walked into the room they created a tension that can only be described as enticing as they performed live on the busy stage. Their overall sound to me consisted of a wild mash-up between Pearl Jam, Billy Talent and Rage Against the Machine with those precise guitar lines, thunderous drums and high robust vocal bursts. The band were a very tight unit and were obviously enjoying themselves as much as the eager audience who were watching them attentively. They are a great bunch of guys and definitely ones to watch out for this year as they are starting to build up considerable traction aroun
The next band ’No Violet’ were a Bristol based quartet that I dragged my 70-year-old father out to see as he really enjoyed one of their songs I showed him on Youtube the night before. It’s always a risk putting out of town bands on higher up the bill for original music nights in the Valleys, but I think it worked out in the favour of the last two bands. No Violet were great, some of the songs had high intense moments which contrasted greatly with the soft and sweet melodic Pink Floyd-esque guitar lines darted throughout some of the songs. Lead singer Ellie’s vocals are unique and came across like the glue holding the rest of the band together as they went off on their math-rock tangents and heavier musical segues. A big highlight for me was seeing the audience getting sucked into their little world, watching some older attendees smiling and clapping along after every song.
The final band of the evening were also Bristol based ’Sœur’ (pronounced SIR) who really impressed me. They are a three-piece band fronted by two singers who share the lead vocal duties in good measure. They are a very melodic trio that control the dynamics of their songs with precision and create very catchy and memorable hooks. I thought I’d be funny at the beginning of their set, so I let off a balloon on the floor with ‘Old Cow’ written on it. Not for any reason at all as I just found it in my pocket leftover from a birthday party, but as soon as it hit the floor, lead guitarist/vocalist Anya stamped on it and it exploded. These girls do NOT take any shit it seems! The band seem to be doing very well in their native homeland but converted the people of Aberdare with ease when requesting them to move their seats closer to the front of the stage for that extra slice of ambience. Speaking of extra ambience, they also lit an incense burner at the front of the stage and it smelt great! Those little touches eh? I thought they were awesome and they picked up a handful of interested new fans after their set, myself included!
All in all, it was a FANTASTIC night of new original music in Aberdare and I was lucky to be part of the evening as a casual observer. I walked away with 2 new CDs that have had repeat plays in the car since Saturday and I’m honestly looking forward to seeing all the bands performing live again somewhere down the line soon.
You can keep an eye on the Blowout page for many more exciting upcoming events at Jacs Aberdare and beyond here: https://www.facebook.com/blowoutnights/
You can find all of the bands on Facebook here also:
The Tribless: https://www.facebook.com/thetribeless/
Parkview UK: https://www.facebook.com/parkviewuk/
No Violet: https://www.facebook.com/novioletuk/
Sœur: https://www.facebook.com/soeursoeursoeur/
Photography credit goes to:
Clint Thomas: https://www.facebook.com/ClintThomasPhotography/
Rosalys Anthony: https://www.facebook.com/FoxyNoirPhotography/
Tags: rock bristol bands soeur noviolet the tribeless aberdare parkview
