Exeter rocked last night as The Answer returned to the South West and played at The Phoenix, Exeter, having last visited and planted their grassroots take on retro-into-today rock husbandry at The Cavern in October 2011. The band was ably supported by locals [Torquay] Empire of Fools and the nationally emerging but relatively local too [Bristol] BlackWolf, two offshoots from the same rowdy roots, EoF perhaps leaning to some grunge but also some anthemic AOR a la fellow Torquayians Muse, though I may have just extrapolated rather than fully heard this. Listening to their EP Unstoppable today, I don’t think it’s my imagination, and in lead singer/bass player Mark Pascall, the trio has a vocalist who can soar with a prettier clarity than the growling of the other two bands’ singers. Ex Treatment’s guitarist Ben Brookland guested in the absence of EoF’s Steve Cobbin and he fronted some impressive licks.
The hirsute BlackWolf certainly looked the part, and I liked
the vertical line of the 5-piece across the front of the stage, placed so
because of The Answer’s waiting gear behind. This also placed BW’s drummer
Thomas Lennox-Brown to the fore with his machine-gun drumming an excellent
feature, and it’s good to hear this dominating on their album The Hunt too.
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| BlackWolf |
The Answer were justified headliners, and whilst I’m not
going to write much this isn’t to reflect less satisfaction but rather an
acknowledgement of their established class. And I have reviewed the band and
their work elsewhere on this blog. What struck me the most last night about
their performance is just how much the band clearly love what they do. There’s
no pretence; no grandstanding. These guys didn’t attend any posh Agricultural
College of Rock. They are innate farmworkers in this extended figurative referencing
which harks back to singer Cormac Neeson’s declaration of the band’s intention
to revive rock’n’roll from the grassroots
up. They continue to plough this furrow with gutsy conviction.
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