Grand National

This was a gig I was personally looking forward to, having been immersed in the nostalgic debut album “Kicking the National Habit” for roughly a month.

It goes dark. The musicians arrives. The two band member Rupert Lyddon and Lawrence 'La' Rudd then appear. The strobe lights start flashing the synth sounds the beginning of “Talk amongst yourselves”. The guitar comes in. . . . . Unfortunately in the wrong key. It all goes silent. The band members look at each other as if trying to locate the problem and point a finger at the culprit. The frantic tuning session begins. A false start. They might have been fazed by this mishap but it did not show once they got going. With this unscheduled window of opportunity, I slipped off to the bar to replenish a half Empty/Half Full pint.

The band starts the synth going again signalling that their technical difficulties are over. The Guitar starts and it's a nice feeling when the rest of the band join in and it sounds harmonious. Thank F**k for that.

You can almost immediately discern the bands influences even if you did not know the history behind them. They use the sounds from the police mostly in vocal style as well as beat with songs like “Cherry Tree”,“Daylight goes” & “North Sound Off”. .Also showing through, the distinctive sound of Ska in “Boner”. A strange blend but mixed to give a pleasant sound.

The rest of the gig went seamlessly though they did not lift the roof as some bands might do. When all said and done I did enjoy the evening immensely. Even though their set was probably one of the shortest I have seen from a signed band.

Grand National if given the chance with enough airplay could be big. Well bigish. Come on people give them a listen. I would love to hear what they can come up with next.