The setting for tonight’s show was the rather cramped downstairs venue in Clwb Ifor Bach, usually good for bands such as Fireworks and La Dispute who have played this floor venue before, but with two of the bands on the bill tonight featuring a fair few members it does make for a rather restricted feel.
On first were The Undivided, who are unknown to the majority of the crowd, but they go down well with a ripple of appreciation surrounding the room as they finish their set. There’s something about them however that shows they are not yet in the same class as the two bands to follow. The sound is there and as more experience rolls around for them, they’ll only get better. An impressive showing.
Up next were Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun. Recently of course they were announced as support on Frank Turner’s upcoming tour in November  and what tonight provided was a taster of what’s to come for those who hadn’t seen the band before, and a stark reminder for those who have that this band is getting better and better. The musicianship and harmonies are spot on here and the band look like they’re having a great time, with the highlight of their set coming as they entered the crowd to play a short acoustic number, much to the delight of those in attendance.
Headlining tonight were The People The Poet who have been holed up writing and recording a new album. The good news is that the album is now done and tonight was a massive taste of what’s to come. The majority of their set was brand new material: new song ‘Stabilisers’ sounds incredible while the likes of ‘Sing’ show off their song writing abilities tenfold. It was disappointing not to hear anything from the Tiger Please era but it is understandable in that they wanted to show off some new material. I can only hope that they don’t turn their backs on the likes of ‘Autumn Came the Fall’ or ‘Without Country’ completely because they are absolutely incredible songs from two incredible releases that don’t deserve to be forgotten about.
All in all, tonight’s show featured two of Britain’s brightest rising talents. If both The People The Poet and Jim Lockey & The Solemn Sun play it correctly then they will be headlining much bigger venues come next year.
Chris Marshman