Gaoler’s Daughter at The Relentless Garage
John Garner headed over to Relentless Garage last week to catch up with Gaoler’s Daughter a band I have particularly enjoyed over-time. John had a different take on the night to what I had expected, prior to receiving his gig review.
Gaoler's Daughter
This was certainly a gig of two halves, the first half of which was extremely disappointing. The band started off with a few new songs which they were clearly quite nervous about and this led to a wave of awkwardness around the room. This was typified by a large, empty semi-circle in front of the band where it seemed no-one wanted to stand.
Their front-man, John Sterry, carried the band with his charismatic presence but the remaining band members were glued-to-the-spot. Fair play to the guys as they stuck it out and as they changed instruments and moved on to songs they were more familiar with the gig improved. This prompted onlookers to start moving and get more involved.
The Relentless Garage is an ideal place for small bands like Gaoler’s Daughter to showcase themselves to a few hundred people, but drink prices were slightly extortionate, as a result the night was very dry.
I would strongly disagree with their self proclamation of being a “band that defies categorization …a genre-bending sound, free from boundaries, that is unlike anything you’ll have heard before”. They sound good, but as is always expected they are, obviously, an amalgamation of different influences which include, in my opinion; the Strokes, the Drums and you can almost hear a stolen lyrical tempo and chord sequence in the Sun Coming Up from the Libertines single Time for Heroes.
The pick of the bunch definitely had to be the tantalizingly indie song Angry Eyes which requires a Mandolin and has an interesting and upbeat rhythm with a hint of reggae, coupled with some Latino inspired riffs mid-way through. This particular performance was no awe inspiring but they are good for what they are; an up and coming band of likely lads.
Thanks for the review John and thanks to Ben from Gaoler’s Daughter for organising the ticket.
