with Revival, Conflare and Her Burden
Reviewed by Trevor Locke.
Another good night at The Shed, this time in the Vault. The stage downstairs.
Her Burden. A Leicester band I have seen several time before. They were very good. They were at The Shed on 15th March. A review of that is on Music in Leicester’s page. where it says ‘Tonight’s show opened with Her Burden, a band from Leicester devoted to rock, punk rock and pop rock. Delicious flavours. They plied their audience with lashings of vitality. Mainly their own songs. And how good they were, too. Born and raised in Leicestershire, the four members of the band were led by Joshua Jones. We have been enjoying them since 2015. Good songs, ear-pleasing melodies and amazing guitar-playing, this is a band that has not failed to please.’
That can be echoed for tonight’s performance.
A four member band I had not seen before, Conflare were from Leeds. Rock music with no shortage of punch, sounds influenced by pop rock. They clearly pleased the audience gathered in front of the stage.
Plenty of vocal colour from the band’s lead singer. Instrumental playing that was loaded with impact. They played Dirt from their New York EP. I loved what they did though, personally, I would have liked more in the way of backing vocals. Not that the lead singer was not strong; he was. But a richer vocal layer would have added something good.
Revival. They brought us classic rock influence from south Wales. Not to be confused with Leicester band Revival. Alternative metal with lashings of zeal. Good stuff. One lead vocalist.
Dark Bloom. Morrisey’s gladioli came to mind. Nice reference. Seeing a bunch of blooms attached to the mic stand. The child of singer and song writer Sully Archer, this is a new band from Leicester following on from the The World Can Wait. Once again, Archer demonstrates both his superb song-writing ability and his phenomenal stage performance.
Headlining tonight’s show, their performance crated a real buzz in the house. Archer’s vocal style is distinctive.
Today we were given a rockier offering than before, with the old band. The same richly resonant rhythms and finely tuned melodies delivered with lashings of passion. Pushed forward by pounding beats. On stage were Sulley Archer on guitar and vocals, his old running mate Robbie Birnie.
Impressed to see Archer’s music career moving on from strength to strength. It was really good to see a musician who is still learning the craft of music even though he had a considerable amount of experience and academic knowledge. This is one composer and musician who has long earned my respect and admiration.
If you want to sample Dark Bloom’s music, they have a recording on Facebook.
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