Cardinal/I’m No Chess Man/Adam Pulfer

Winchester Pub, Bournemouth

Tonight is the launch party for one of Bournemouth’s newest 4 piece modern, alt/rock bands called “I’m No Chess Man”. Debuting the four track EP “This Medicine”, they formed just early last year and so far have only just a handful of gigs under their belt.

The band have asked their friends “Cardinal” from Bristol to take the trip down from the West Country to support them, along with an acoustic opening set from Fearne’s Adam Pulfer. Adam opens his set and commands immediate respect from the members of the audience who have turned up early; with the place in virtual silence apart from the chink of beer glasses, with Adam’s voice descending to every corner of this old building. He has only been performing and writing his own solo material for a couple of years now and his confidence seems to be growing faster by the day. With just an acoustic guitar and occasional use of a mouth organ, he entertains with a variety of tunes. Included in his set is a great song called “Waiting For You”, that sounds a little like Radiohead’s “Creep”. Adam merges the aforementioned song perfectly with some really great sounding vocal work. With a shy smile he thanks the audience for their respect and leaves the stage after an impressive 30 minute set.

Adam Pulfer 1

I’m No Chess Man take the middle slot of the evening and arrive onstage at around 8:30pm with a sizeable collection of expectant friends, family and fans in front of them. They open predictably with the title track from the EP “This Medicine”, which compares really well with the studio version. The band suffer from a little lack of confidence and there does not seem to be any real energy within their performance-hopefully as things progress this will eventually improve. The band’s sound incorporates influences that sound like a mixture of the Foo Fighters, Panic At The Disco with a sprinkling of Scouting For Girls in there too.

There is the usual rock emphasis on the twin guitars, and this is coupled with a nice addition of some impressive piano work from Jason. An interesting reworking of Outkast’s “Miss Jackson” and a great choice of a cover of Harvey Danger’s theme tune to Peepshow “Flagpole Sitta” mixes things up in-between the band’s original material. The stand out song of the evening by far is the final number “These are the Good Old Day’s” which kicks of with a Bloc Party style guitar intro, by this time of the band’s set they seem to have found their stride with an injection of energy. Though this performance was not perfect there is certainly some promise with the band’s style and song creation, while it will be interesting to see this develop further.

I’m No Chessman 1–2

For final band of the evening Cardinal, this is their first trip down to play in Bournemouth and there is still a good crowd of people present to greet them as they arrive onstage. They perform a really tight set full of original numbers that seem to be really well rehearsed, with a natural level of comfort when they perform. They play a hard-hitting style of alt/rock that really packs a punch with some impressive momentum, created by a rare female drummer Hannah Layhe and bass player Danny Messaggiero. The guitarist’s, Mike Squire on lead and Matt McGuinness on rhythm create a beautiful bright noise using various effects, especially on the slow burning “Run From The Cold” that builds into an epic tune that shows the Bournemouth crowd just what this Bristol quartet are capable of. Their evening ends with a brand new tune called “Swallowed By The Sea”, seemingly not tried out in public before. This again shows a great deal of promise with more great twin guitar work and some nice vocal harmonies. On this showing Cardinal are more than welcome back in Bournemouth anytime.

Carcinal 1–2

Set Lists
Cardinal
Bailout
The Chase
Stirling
Run From The Cold
The Web
Archer
Swallowed By The Sea

I’m No Chess Man
This Medicine
When Your Older
Mrs Jackson (Outkast)
Blank Page
This is For You
Nothing Behind Your Eyes
Ink
Flagpole Sitta (Harvey Danger Cover)
These are the Good Old Day’s

Adam Pulfer
Tea Break
Waiting For You/Creep (Radiohead)
The Coat Song
Though My Feet Are Cold
Don’t Think Twice it’s Alright(Bob Dylan)
Dote On You(Fearne)
The Big Parade(The Lumineers)

Videos