Neon Dawn at Hope FM

Hope Fm Studio, Bournemouth

The four members of Bournemouth’s very own Neon Dawn piled into the Hope Fm studio this week, with a fair bit of equipment in the hope of putting in a performance up there with their recent top notch live gigs. The set-up featured a semi-acoustic guitar with a few simple effects, a full electric bass through a low volume amplifier, another unplugged acoustic guitar and a few simple percussion items. The band, apart from a few rehearsals have never played with this semi acoustic set up before and this was really taking them out of their comfort zone.

The rehearsals must have gone well because the performance of three songs from their recent “Homegrown” Ep and a cover were quite possibly one the best myself and Tim had seen in all our years on the “Live Wire Live” show. It is hard to describe but the band simply gave their all with bags of energy and enthusiasm, playing their well-written original songs with a real passion that I have not seen in a long time. The great chemistry that they all have between them is clearly one of the reasons that they work so well as a unit.

Their sound is heavily influenced by one of their favourite bands the “Kings Of Leon”; and as their former band “Lucky 13” they used to perform 80% of their material, it is understandable why the influence is there. This is no bad thing as the “Kings” are one great band. However Neon Dawn are slowly developing their own unique sound and given time this should blossom. The bands full live set-up features epic twin effect-laden guitars which creates one big sound that really needs to be heard. If this is your thing you would do no better than to check them out live at one of their gigs around the local area.