The Anvil, Bournemouth
Getting people off their sofas on a Saturday night into a live music venue is no mean feat, especially on cold winter evenings such as tonight. Hampshire band Palms & Pelicans have worked their socks off and have managed to completely sell out Bournemouth’s Anvil tonight. This is their first headline show in the town and they have not even got any release to promote. Giving them a helping hand are two hand-picked supports to warm things up before their arrival on stage.
The first of these of is Bournemouth singer/songwriter Joe Boiling, a guy who is very warm and friendly with an original style of vocal delivery. Joe; with his high slung guitar, brings some social commentary-based songs with urban and reggae influences to the appreciative crowd. Joe captivates the crowd’s attention with ease combining comedy banter along with a host of well-crafted songs that both educate and entertain. He gets the crowd singing along to his addictive chorus with his final number “Go to Tokyo”, leaving the stage with well-deserved, loud applause.
Next we have an up and coming 4 piece band from Southampton called The Manatees, who have no similarities with the cute American aquatic creatures of the same name. They do however have a great collection of original songs that show masses of promise. Their catchy twin-guitar melodies combined with Jay Harris’s distinctive vocals really do hit the spot, and they have already gained themselves a large following of loyal fans who willingly sing-a-long to all their words. The songs include opening number “Boring Saturday” and one with the fantastic title of “Pissed on Prosecco”, that includes some great guitar work from Tyler Bloor. This band have a lot to say and through their songs have a very likeable delivery that easily holds any audience’s attention. A pleasure to watch and I’m hoping to see much more of them in the future.
The headliners arrive on stage to a terrific welcome from the Anvil crowd, who are keen to hear a collection of live favourites with a few new songs. They get off to a shaky start with lots of technical issues and carry on professionally working to get things fixed. Once the first few songs are out of the ways things improve and the band hit their stride. The effect-laden guitars of Mattea and Jack make for a really atmospheric sound that has its roots in the 90’s shoegaze scene, with lots further modern influences in there too. The new tunes come in the form of “Evaporate” and a tune called “Lanterns” with the band stating that this is one of the most personal songs that they have ever written.
The tunes show quite a different heavier direction from the band’s previous material with both vocal and guitar work showing some nice creative skills. I admire this band at keeping to their original goals of making a particular experimental sound; they want to push barriers, not settling until they find their right direction. They at times though struggle to find the right sort of bands to perform with, however their confidence and determination will hopefully lead them on to greater things. Tonight is a brilliant achievement for this band, selling out a venue many miles away from their home turf. The fans that turned out were certainly rewarded with a great night, very worthy of leaving their sofas for on this chilly Saturday evening.
Set Lists
Palms and Pelicans
Cut the Sky
Walls
Evaporate
Drowsy
Sungaze
Lanterns
Glowing
Unbelievable
Comfortable
The Manatees
Boring Saturday
Through and Through
Pissed on Prosecco
Young Hearts
Better Than This
Last Minute Man
Links
https://www.facebook.com/palmsandpelicans/
http://www.facebook.com/themanateesofficial
http://www.joeboiling.com
Words & Pictures by David Chinery (Chinners)
