Thee Gold Blooms/Custom Royal
The Bakery
Friday, October 3, 2014
Kicking off an old-style-rock inspired night with their 1970’s garage rock style, Thee Gold Blooms started with their upbeat tune, I Want You So Much. Using their raspy vocals and catchy riffs, they maintained an energetic performance, even when slowing the tempo for some change in dynamics. The band seemed to have really good co-ordination, and as they continued to change their pace throughout their performance, they used really captivating guitar solos and thrashy cymbals, along with killer vocal harmonies to create some really cool combinations.
Custom Royal then followed with an explosively exciting set, immediately pulling out their fast-tempo-ed material with some groovy guitar riffs and tight dynamic changes. With their style sounding somewhat similar to The Hives, they continued to make their performance better and better with each subsequent song, using some tricky instrument fills and catchy chorus lines. Using distortion on the guitars gave a real hard rock feel to the music, which was complemented by mind-blowingly fast guitar and drum solos sure to impress everyone in the room.
The crowd was filled from the back to the front as The High Learys came on stage. Michael Nutt started the show off with his Doors-esque sounding organ, leading into an array of hip shakin’ tunes. The second song was welcomed with The Beehives Go-Go dancers, who shook and shimmied with all their might. Singer/bassist Jamie Turner’s John Lennon-like vocal style mixed well with the Beach Boys-sounding guitar tones, giving a unique twist to their ’60s style setlist. They performed a newer song, the B-side to their new single, called I’m a Fool For You, which maintained a retro rock sound, before proceeding to the single being launched, Clear My Mind. Their new single had an effortlessly great sound about it, using interesting strumming techniques and a smooth flowing melody.
They held the audience’s interest with another ‘newer’ song called Medicine Man, laying out some awesome bass lines and an excitingly good organ solo. The High Learys persisted to play the hit song, Let You Down, despite having broken the harmonica prior to the event, and so it was replaced with an amazing keyboard solo instead. With even more upcoming music, the band got a harder edge with more aggressive sounding vocals, epic guitar solos and solid drum beats while still keeping to their retro style, followed by a smashing finish.
Once off stage, the crowd demanded they come back on for an encore, which they then returned and delivered yet another dance-able rock tune. While Turner was thanking the band members on stage, Nutt re-started the show for one last cover song, which was none other than The Kingsmen’s take on Richard Berry’s Louie Louie. Also accompanying the bands for the night was burlesque entertainer, Vivian Marlowe, who put on a sensational performance, and had an artist paint an amazing portrait of her live in front of the stage.
ASHLEIGH BYRNE
