Out of the many music venues in Bristol the relatively compressed Croft Bar in Stokes Croft stands out as yet another effective stage for an increasing local musician base. Having entered the premises and left temporarily branded by an X it was pleasant to see that the venue was split into the 3 sections of bar, a lounge type room resplendent with sofas that just begged attention and finally through a short corridor and back door into the band room itself.

The lighting throughout the event was surprisingly quite good with a moderately subtle mix of colour, although at times favouring a little too much red in the quiet moments which made a cameraman’s job most interesting. With clipboard and camera in hand I took up a position to the right of the stage, finding a shelf to rest the clipboard for those moments when I decided to run amok in front of the stage to take pictures.

The first act were a relatively new band called Farthing Wood, a five piece band comprising of 4 guitarists, one of which acted as lead vocalist and another as temporary keyboard player (in fact they were the only band on the bill that used a keyboard) together with a drummer and they hit the stage with a mix of hard rock with a slight modern Emo twinge. It’s not quite McFly but try and imagine a group with all the members on the same stage of the evolutionary scale, but doing their craft with more edge and dare I say it, depth and you’ll get an idea of the band’s direction and focus.

Stage presence was outstanding for such a new band, especially as I believe this was their first gig. They showed no signs of nervousness, confidently blasting through their set with ease and enjoyment, occasionally and also effectively mixing stage banter alongside that with the audience. I particularly remember one of the guitar players disappearing behind an oversized keyboard, a bit like Keith Emerson and his trademark ( Hammond) air raid shelter - OK slightly exaggerated but you get the scene, before emerging with a Wakeman-esque piano opus. The audience left in awe, albeit temporarily as it was actually a pre-programmed, or taped sequence and not played. However this brought about a great deal of jollity in the room.

One piece was dedicated to the late, great John Inman before deciding to play their proposed first single, entitled Burn This Boat.

Farthing Wood may not be favourable to the hard core rockers out there but will probably appeal more to the slightly younger rockers generation. Having said that they are certainly a step up from the aforementioned pop stars and with their stage and audience interaction they are sure to go down well just about anywhere and anytime.

Next on the list were Djute, a female fronted 4 piece band with a blatantly harder indie edge than the previous band. Loud and powerful they stormed through their set list like a Tokaido Shinkansen rumbling towards Osaka. Something odd happened later in the set. Out of no-where came a riff that I (and of course those I expect in a similar age bracket) was most familiar with. It was an exact replica of the opening guitar riff to Yes’s final part of the epic Starship Trooper (Wurm).

The acoustic guitar playing would surely have pleased a certain Steve Howe. However this went off into Djutes’ own direction but added a new progressive element to the performance. If that wasn’t enough the next track played was called Roundabout, although no remnants of the Yes early 70’s classic could be found throughout the time of listening.

Djute appeared a little more nervous on stage than Farthing Wood with far less band and audience interaction and at one point encountered a slight technical hitch with the bass player at the start of one song. However he was a newcomer to the band and other than that did a remarkable job of playing through the set pieces. Djute will appeal to those who like hard hitting indie, with effective hooks and occasional progressive elements thrown in. Their stage presence will surely grow in time as they develop as a new and effective upcoming act in Bristol.

Bizali, sounding for me like some kind of internet service provider were headliners for this event and, I have to use the obvious cliché here, they are uncategorisable. As a four piece band, with a 50/50 split of male and female musicians their music combined the very best elements of soul, rock, swing, lounge and even a decent slice of jazz drumming at one point.

The ability of the musicians on stage was obvious but for me extra focus was applied to Daisy, the drummer who somehow managed to jump between different speeds and styles of music at less than a moment’s notice. There is an uncanny likeness to her ability with that of the legendary Bill Bruford from Yes/Genesis, Earthworks and ABWH. Lead singer Blythe demonstrated her unique talent as a vocalist with a strong soul edge, which proved a perfect accompaniment to the music – certainly one to watch for the future, and the set comprised of effective numbers from the aforementioned list of categoristic elements. A very enjoyable and confident performance by a band that are really going places and their level of appreciation was obvious from the audience response.

In conclusion a fantastic night overall and a definite eye-opener to some major talent on the current local music scene.

Dave Cable for BristolBands.com
Images © Dave Cable and Bristolbands.com