Now that I'm living in London, I'm looking forward to checking out the smaller live music venues and hopefully find some favourites. Other than the Monarch in Camden I'm pretty clueless, but as I find some places, I'll try to remember to post about them here.
First discovery:
Fiddler's Elbow in Kentish Town.
Was looking for something interesting and close by since the closer the venue, the more likely it will become a regular haunt for me. After some googling and listening to some online tracks I chose to go check out The Soul Traders at The Fiddler's Elbow. It was a 3-band lineup but as my guy agreed to go with me, I was pretty sure it wouldn't be an all-nighter for us. We only stayed for the first band, as the second was too 90s American-style grunge (in a bad Pearl Jam way) for my taste.
The venue is very bare bones but pretty awesome. Couple tables, couple couches, a back bar, main bar and a big open floor in front of a small, raised stage with not bad sight lines from most spots. 150 capacity makes it intimate. Bar service was friendly and pretty quick. Sound was clean and good volume.
The crowd tonight was pretty basic in the sense that it wasn't all subculture looks - just normal, mainly younger people; although there were a few older folk too which is great to see, us included!
The Soul Traders really impressed me. They were four young guys, but pretty tight and demonstrating some impressive songwriting chops. Some songs, like Ghost Train were guitar-centred 90's Britpop singalongs, similar to Supergrass. They definitely like their 50s rockabilly guitar. Think Eddy Cochran. Then I had flashes of Beach Boys melodies, followed by almost Libertines, twangyiness with dual-vocals. The song Fun recalls the Cribs, but this is a cover of a Skegss song. The vocals were pretty off-key frequently but not enough to ruin the overall infectious and upbeat sound. Jerusalem is chugging, pretty, but lyrically reaching for something more than just a standard pop song. I hope they are knowingly quoting Lennon's "you may call me a dreamer, but I'm not the only one". I was almost reminded of the Magic Numbers, but I'm not sure they would take that as a compliment. It is, unless they want to go in a weightier direction. The single guitar notes intro is reaching for epicness.
The Soul Traders capture the excitement and energy of all the artists I name above, but as they are such a young band their less than captivating stage presence isn't surprising. I hope it comes for them. Audibly, they are drawing from some excellent inspirations, and sound as though they have the talent to continue molding their own sound.
In writing this, I see they are next playing live on October 23, but the venue is across the city from me - The George Tavern in Stepney/Shadwell area - and on a Tuesday, and the day before I have another concert. Doubtful, but we'll see. Venue looks awesome tho...
Setlist (partial with some guesswork)
I Only Want to Hang Around With People Just Like You
Ghost Train
Jerusalem
Footsteps
Darker Shades
Yeah, Yeah, Not Too Bad
Notes: The show was put on by NLTS, so I'll watch for future shows. The Soul Traders name is being used by at least two pretty popular cover bands, so that might cause some issues down the road.
