South Street

The Grove, Southbourne

South Street retuned to the Grove in Southbourne high street following their successful gig of a couple of months ago. This was another local opportunity to see this young band and hear what they had been practicing for the last month. I strolled up to Southbourne and popped into “Syd’s” for a pint and from my window seat could see the lads unloading the gear from their tour bus (Dads’ camper), well unloading most of the gear.

The set was due to start at around 8-30 but this time came and went without any sign of a note being played. I wandered over to the Grove and spoke to the drummer who said there was a slight delay as the bass player had forgot to bring his guitar! Very Rock n Roll. One of the “roadies” was dispatched to collect the said Bass and by nine they opened the set with a classic, a cover of The Jam’s “This is the Modern World” which instantly got a few heads bobbing about at the front. Next up was “Space Suit”, a great original and one of the first tunes they wrote.

South Street 1

Track three was an excellent cover of “The Letter” first done by the Box Tops back in 1967, lead singer Albi’s vocals really suit this song and I’m sure this will become a mainstay of their set for some time. The Grove as always was a mixture of young fans of the band; older gig goers like myself, football lads in to watch the late sky game and general Saturday night drinkers. By playing a mixture of their own original songs and a few covers they kept the crowd engaged and half the pub was joining in with The Specials “Rat Race” and “Come Together” by The Beatles which together with another new original “St Swithuns” closed their first part of the set.

The sound wasn’t as good as when they played the Cellar Bar but then again, the Grove is a boozer not a specific gig venue with its own sound engineer. They are playing at the Anvil this coming Friday the 15th and can only benefit from the better acoustics this venue will provide. After the break a cover of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” went down very well; as did set regulars “Ape Man” and “Budgie Smugglers” before they launched into “Busy Body”, this tune is fast becoming a favourite of mine as the noise builds during the track and reaches a crescendo with Findlay & Phoenix joining lead singer Albi with the vocals. This song needs to be heard in larger venues with more powerful sound systems, it would go down a treat at Brixton Academy……..one day lads.

The Jam’s “A Town Called Malice” was followed by another newly written song making its debut, “Urbanization”. This closed the set but there was always going to be an encore, Shed 7’s “Chasing Rainbows” brought the biggest sing-a-long of the night with arms and pints held aloft. More shouts of ‘one more’ coaxed them into a final cover of “Champagne Supernova” which finally brought the gig to an end. It was another step and another triumph for this up-and-coming band. The covers of The Jam, The Kinks, Bowie, Shed Seven etc show that these lads have impeccable taste but it’s the originals which make them stand out. Still in their teens they write their own songs and the 60’s/Brit Beat sound they create with their harmonies should stand them in good stead.

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Article by Robert Davro.