Samiam, Leeds Josephs Well
Calcutecs are three fifths ex-Dugong and they’re in a similar sort of vein. Passionate and fairly intricate as their set was, and they don’t, as yet, live up to the legacy they’ve set down. Matt Broadbent’s vocal range is impressive, and he keeps those high notes well, but at the moment they don’t have that instant ‘likeability’ that Dugong possessed. 5/10
I didn’t see
Vanilla Pod.
Now we come to
The Draft. When I was talking to the singer in an interview beforehand you could tell that he was literally pissing his pants with excitement to be playing on this tour. And when you’ve seen fads come and go whilst playing in Hot Water Music for over a decade, you couldn’t help but share his excitement. And my own excitement was not placed with false hope as The Draft began belting out the already powerful and singalong melodies from In A Million Pieces. The fact that a lot of the guitar work is less frenetic than their predecessors means that greater importance is heaped onto the vocal delivery and the tightness of the performance. Again, you couldn’t have been disappointed with what was offered up. ‘Alive or Dead’ and ‘New Eyes Open’ resonated around the Well with a wave of positive energy to accompany it. But the singer’s excitement and the band’s performance was summed up by set closer ‘Lo Zee Rose’. That song is just absolutely massive. Listening to its cries of ‘Burn away, burn away!’ now as I write this brings the shivers back. Brilliant. 9/10
I don’t know what to make of
Samiam’s singer, I really don’t. A funny guy, but he’s clearly a nutter. Anyway, this part of the review could almost write itself. Samiam’s show was very powerful, and clearly meant a great deal to a large section of the crowd, many of whom had presumably waited a good few years to see this. My only criticism is directed at the setlist. There was no room for ‘Ordinary life’, ‘Look, no hand’ or ‘How long’, unless my memory deceives me. But it was a list which clearly pleased the vast majority of the crowd so I guess I must be a deviant, or something. As the actual performance showed few, if any, flaws, your rating of their set probably depends on how big a fan you are and how much liked the setlist. So grade from 8 to 10 according to your personal stance. 8.5/10
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