Turin Brakes/Tom Speight

Regent Centre, Christchurch

Friday evening at the Regent Centre in Christchurch; a mature, sold out crowd had gathered expectantly for Turin Brakes’ return. They previously graced this venue in 2019. But first up was the support act, Tom Speight. First impressions were good, Nike Cortez and a cool jean jacket. He opened with “Little Love”, a tune he co-wrote with Turin Brakes and was straight into asking for audience participation, bit early in my book but he got a decent response. He’s basically a fella with a guitar ably assisted by “Scarlett” on vocals, they both have excellent voices and I enjoyed all of the tunes. “Heartshaker” was one of the more uplifting songs and got a good response from the generous crowd. How would I describe their sound? Is Dream/Folk a genre? It is now!

When I’m next in a chilled mood I will definitely spend a cheeky half hour on Spotify as Tom certainly deserves some further listening. He commented on the 50’s décor of the Regent and questioned whether most of us were also from this time? This is what gives the place its magic; if you’ve not been, get yourself down to this classic venue.

Tom Speight 

The interval gave plenty of time to invest in a couple of Peroni beers and when we got the 5 minute heads up we all took our seats for the main event. Turin Brakes took to the stage to wild applause which was encouraged by the wild looking fella (Eddie Myers) – he looks a cross between Frank Zappa and Jesus, possibly under the influence of LSD!

Olly & Gale provide the majority of the vocals and also join Jesus on guitars, plus Rob Allum on a single drum make up this acoustic 4-piece. They have a 10th album out soon which confirms their longevity having first been around in the early 2000’s. They played a tune from this upcoming album which got a decent response with great harmonies from the three guitar players. Lead singer Olly (Knight) has a very distinctive voice which does give the band their unique sound, they don’t really sound like anyone else which is part of the appeal but if pushed I would say Starsailor were in a similar ballpark.

I didn’t get a set list and they didn’t introduce many of the songs so forgive me if I’ve missed a fair few tracks. There were some excellent tunes and I’ve made a note to revisit their back catalogue as there are some true gems. The excellent “Painkiller” had everyone singing along and “Save You” was another stand out. “Keep me Around” really showcased the soothing vocals of Olly Knights and the chorus had everyone humming/whistling along to this delight of a record. “Save You” sounded as fresh as ever and “Dark on Fire” again displayed the vocal range and harmonies.

Turin Brakes 

“Average Man” was well received and then “Fishing for a Dream” had me in a dreamlike state for three minutes – what a tune. In absolutely no time an hour and a half had flown by. Did they get asked back for an encore? What do you think?! After a standing ovation they closed their set with the outstanding “Underdog” from 2001 album “The Optimist” which brought to an end a very enjoyable evening in this gem of a venue. The majority of the crowd then went home for a Horlicks and an early night, Eddie Meyers left Cameron’s at 9am the next morning after setting fire to the bar after drinking one to many Dark n Stormies!

Links
https://www.turinbrakes.com
https://www.tomspeightmusic.com

Article by Robert Davro.