Jamnesty is always entertaining and obviously always for a great cause, so I had high expectations about this gig. First on stage were Decadence. When I looked at them as they were about to kick off their set and before they had played a note I thought that they looked like the school or college swots who always turned their homework in on time. Then they started playing and oh my fucking god they rock like some of the heaviest rocking motherfuckers in the universe. They are a very tight band with a singer who has great style and reminded me at times of Eddie Vedder, Michael Stipe and even Chris Martin. Their songs are well formed and show great promise for the future. Their cover of a song by the Retinas (?), who were the guitarists previous band was excellent. I would love to see them play a longer set. I will definitely see them again. If their Jamnesty homework assignment was to rock like bastards then they get an A+, they nailed it!
Next up it was Wysteria, they have elements of psych, 60s garage and at times a real folky pop feel. The singer is abundantly talented and has a clarity in her voice akin to a rockier Karen Carpenter. Their original songs are raw but will become awesome with time. This was an almost faultless set which I would have enjoyed even more if so many punters didn’t spend the whole set talking so loud. Why do some people at gigs feel the need to do this? JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN!
Scrap That were the next band on stage. The singer has a voice that is on another level, truly magnificent. Sadly I can’t say the same for the band. It seemed like they were all playing in different bands and for me they really struggled to gel in any coherent way. The drummer in particular was way too loud. Their cover of the Santana and Rob Thomas classic “Smooth” was pretty good vocally, but musically it was as if most of the band had put on huge boots and stomped the subtlety of the original song into the ground. Mid set with just keys and voice was a high point until the rest of the band kicked in and did their damnedest to drown out the voice. The band needs to get a lot tighter and probably rehearse more or the alternative may be that the singer finds a new band.
The headliners tonight were Barbasco. This was a stunning performance and every member of the band was on fire. Every song saw a near perfect performance. The guitar solos, soaring vocals and harmonies were incredible. They were reminiscent of th Band, the Eagles and 100cc for me. If Barbasco had emerged in the 70s they would have been fucking huge. Jeff Buckley would have been proud of their penultimate song, “Little Things”. They closed with a monumental cover of “Black Magic Woman”. I would walk over hot coals to see Barbasco again. They are born to headline.
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