Tuesday 22nd April 2014
Joel Owen and the Antoine Band
at the Musician. Presented by Snapdragon & Magic Teapot.
By Meri Everitt
It’s nothing but a pleasure to be asked to review Joel Owen and the Antoine Band. I saw them for the first time at Simon Says Festival last year and have been meaning to catch them ever since. To say they are a tight band is an understatement. With a bluesy guitar vibe and solid rock n roll bass and drums to back it up, the vocals and brass section lie beautifully on top. They have just made an album Roll Your Stone which, I’m thinking, I may have to buy soon! Great driving or cooking or chilling music. Joel is seamless in voice, on piano or saxophone. Clearly a great talent. A band that could entertain anyone of any age – apart from a friend of mine who said they didn’t have enough edge! They make you wanna grab a partner and get up and boogie. The guitar solos are bang on and perfectly styled. Bass is interesting enough but always supportive. The drummer clearly loves what he’s doing and sings along often. You can see the band are enjoying themselves and the room has a good vibe.
Photo Rob Gurney (Digital-Mechanic)
I used to bump into Andrea from the well know much loved Leicester band The Brandy Thieves on the open mic scene in Brighton and she’s come a long way since those days. Her band certainly know how to have fun and she’s an amazing, captivating front woman. Her voice pierces your soul in a very good way and you can feel determination, pain and pleasure in every note. Cain owns the bass and is all over it! With trumpet, harmonies and drums all in the perfect places with perfect notes and timings, there are plenty of break down sections where Andrea can show off her stunning voice even more! Lovely drum flourishes! Plenty of drama and a ska reggae feeling in places.
The final band, Birmingham-based band Johnny Kowalski and the Sexy Weirdos are well loved by the crowd and by the end there are some very interesting dance moves by the half naked front man. The bassist pulls the best bass faces I’ve seen – possibly ever. There is some fantastic fiddle playing and plenty of fun and dancing. They are a fun entertaining band and they are properly tight which is especially impressive in the very fast sections. Plenty of folk and piratey vibes. It’s like a punk folk band gone wild. The brass section is by far the best dressed. Keeping his Hawaiian looking shirt on where others have lost theirs. plenty of drama here at the musician tonight. They have done well to pull and keep a good crowd on the 1st Tuesday night after the Easter band holidays.
Follow the bands on Facebook:
Johnny Kowalski and the Sexy Weirdos
Joel Owen and the Antoine Band | Watch this Youtube video of the band playing at this show
See more photos from this show on the Facebook page of Digital Mechanic
See also:
Posts in 2014 for our music diary
