Gaoler’s Daughter at the Flowerpot Camden

On a freezing cold night in Camden on Friday, Gaoler’s Daughter braved the elements to play at Flowerpot in Camden and they weren’t alone. The attraction of the band saw a decent sized audience turn up, including people from well outside London, such is their developing draw.

Gaoler's Daughter

Gaoler's Daughter

The guys who make up the band are a really good bunch of hard working and dedicated musicians, who obviously enjoy their craft and are dedicated to music, this comes out both in their attitude and evident pleasure in playing live.

The good things about bands like Gaoler’s Daughter, is that genuinely like meeting their fan-base and were busy talking to various people around the venue, when a few taps on the shoulder and they appeared on stage. With no effort they launched in to their opening track, Boomerang Boy, which is taken from their upcoming EP.

These are highly competent musicians, who work superbly together. It is always good to get a chance to see a band live, as the structure of a band is much more evident in live performance and the music is always fresher to my ears. By the end of Boomerang Boy the crowd was completely in to the evening.

I had enjoyed the EP versions of From Russia with Love and Jumbo Jet, but in performance they take on an extra dimension. Many drummers can appear slightly lost behind their drum kit, but with Gaoler’s Daughter, Ben is an integral part of the band, and unusually works closely with the lead guitar, rather than just through the bass, as he dictates the pace of the set. Watching Alex, who appears to be lost in a world of his own as he gets his guitar to sing is an absolute delight, yet don’t be deluded by that appearance, the whole band is tightly focused.

Halfway through the set I was that engrossed, I took another chance to look round the venue and even the far reaches at the back, people were craning their necks to see the band and there was a swaying motion among the audience. With a superb reggae number, Man at Gate 9, Alfie on bass kept up a great rhythm and the dancers in the audience broke out in full force.

John had the crowd in hs hands throughout the set with his distinctive voice and strong stage presence and as he announced the final song for the evening, there was a palpable feeling of disappointment, that it was almost over.

The final song for the set, Bad News, taken from the new EP left me feeling that Gaoler’s Daughter have plenty in the tanks and should be around for some time to come. Their disparate influences and undoubted creative abilities, make them a band well worth seeing live and listening to on recorded output.

I had a chance to talk to all of the guys for quite a long time, which I really appreciate, if you get to see them on their upcoming tour, I will get the dates up pretty soon, I would recommend it, failing that, failing to get your hands on the soon to be released Alchemy EP would be a sin.

I was intrigued how a band made up of experienced musicians with strong opinions could ever manage to agree on anything. It works because these guys believe in what they are doing and do get on well together and I was struck with the respect they had for what each of them brought to the band.

With talk of a European tour coming up in the not too distant future, Gaoler’s Daughter deserve a great year as they continue to plough a furrow that is their own.

Thanks to all the guys for taking the time out to chat and even taking my phone call in the middle of preparing for the set that night. Keep doing what you are doing.

For more on Gaoler’s Daughter, including a review of their most recent EP follow the link

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  1. [...] There’s a good review of our gig at the Flowerpot here. [...]



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