White Clouds and Gunfire at The Met Lounge

When a band come back from a two year absence, there is a thought that they may be nervous. On Friday night at The Met Lounge in Peterborough, White Clouds and Gunfire set aside any such consideration.

Whiteclouds and Gunfire

Whiteclouds and Gunfire

After considerable dithering on my part, I finally decided I would make the short trip up the A1 to see the return gig of White Clouds and Gunfire, who I last reviewed just over 2 years ago and I’m glad I did. Thanks to Rob for sorting out the entry for me, just as they were about to go on for sound-check. The all important parking, easy and nearby, other than the back roads were unusually busy and it transpired there had a plane accident further up near the A1 which had resulted in the traffic taking detours.

Never having been to The Met Lounge, what struck me while watching the support acts, was how low the ceiling was above the stage. Not the easiest venue for tall acts who want to move vertically, that aside, a decent stage area, mosh-pit and viewing. With the low ceiling the sound is prone to distortion, which can often work well for live performance.

Enough of that… White Clouds and Gunfire. Just after 22:37 with a rock and roll tribute like boxers entering the ring – on came the band, with a slight change to line-up Ben has been replaced by Jake Matthews on Guitar. A confident Spread Your Dreams opened the set, with no sign of nerves they performed with the ease of seasoned players, as Eveline remarked at the end of the track , it’s been two and a half years since we did that.

There was a strong core of fans and if you didn’t know would have thought the band were a regular fixture of the Peterborough scene, not a provincial band who have been off the scene for a while. Their relative inexperience was only evident during breaks between songs, which despite some banter from the band members, good to see them interacting, did on occasion drag, but that is a minor point. Following on with Sail Home, the band grew in confidence on the stage. The effervescent Eveline appearing all over the stage (and off it) with scorching vocal, while keeping track of the path of Rob and Jake on bass and lead was like watching a game of tennis as they switch from side to side throughout an energetic set.

Promises and Poison were the next two songs on the set list. White Clouds and Gunfire play a fairly complicated construct, which requires strong interaction between the guitars and Lewis on drum, as pace changes, tracks suddenly stop mid-flow before restarting to a different tempo and they handled them all with ease, as importantly it wasn’t necessary for them all to huddle watching each other to get the changes right, a testament to plenty of time in the rehearsal studio, which was replicated live. I loved the few bars of exposé a bass solo was given, but then as a fan of Bass guitar, why wouldn’t I.

A call for audience participation for Let Go, seemed to find the band a little nervous, but volunteers stepped up to the stage and the audience got involved.

Following on the set took on a surreal air, as we were treated to a Rocked up Lionel Richie Cover – All Night Long. Whilst in theory this should have been a disaster, it was a fun and well received interlude.

With a flourish White Clouds and Gunfire brought their set to a close with what I think is perhaps the real meat and potatoes of the band – Satellite.

White Clouds and Gunfire Satellite

With that at just turned 23:10 the return gig was completed. They did a great job, produced an entertaining and engaging half an hour of powerful guitar, drum and intoxicating vocal. The next gig, will I’m sure be even stronger and more spontaneous. To keep abreast of news of the band join their facebook page.

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