THE KAYE LAVELLES + THE RISING SIGNS + THE RISE - "Fresher's Week", Student Union, Dundee 13-09-06
Second night of four (but sadly the only other one I could attend) and it started off with a group I'd never even heard of, let alone seen, The Kaye Lavelles. Have to say that what they did was professional, they write some good songs, are yer more sort of folky, rocky type of band and, at times, quite introspective, some of the songs seeming pretty deep. The vocal harmonies are good, the singer has a strong enough voice while the band play it fairly straight, the songs being the key - but I thought it was a serious case of wrong band, wrong place - OK - they got the exposure, and I'll never argue with that, but with an audience of "fresher" students ready to party on their week of events, this was not the right band for it. To their credit, the audience remained attentive, appreciative and in the hall, but there was a lot of "itchy feet" going around.
Rising Signs were on next and this was the first time I'd caught them in quite a while, and only the second gig they'd done since the extended layoff. Armed with a newly structured set and a couple of new songs, of which one called (I think) "Jekyll and Hyde" was a quite briliant addition to the song roster, the band turned heads and got the place going. A striking rendition of "False Hope" stripped it down to basics as the mid section break took on a sense of urgency rather than thr stretched out feel from before, while oopening (I think) with "Grey Man" is a winner as the way it builds from just the vocals and the band emerging gradually, really has dynamics that work for people new to the band. With a good sound and an excellent performance, a welcome return to a band I still think will be big, sooner or later.
The Rise had been in the place for ages - AND had come on later than planned - so I don't know if they were feeling a tad aggressive or what - either that or there's something potent in the University beer - but they elected to forget dynamics tonight, and launched into a furnace-heat of a set that got the floor stomping right from the start. The trio burned their way through a set of class Rise tracks, that howl of a vocal wailing around the venue as the rhythm section laid down this thundering brew of indie boogie beats, the bass pounding the bowels of everyone there, while Alan's guitar scythed its way through as though the Grim Reaper was playing the thing. The good thing you notice from this is that here you have a band who are writing some great indie-rock songs with an almost seventies feel to them, but way more contempoarry sounding than that implies, and, on the evidence of ther last time I saw them, have an extended set that exercises dyanmics as it builds. Yet, when it comes to the crunch, this band can pull off a set that distills it all down to the dancefloor indie-rock thunder that proves so irresistible to the boogeying throngs.
So, three very different bands - arguably a good move - and three thoroughly entertaining bands in their own styles. Whatever the merits, a great gig and another Univeristy success.