The Anvil, Bournemouth
After Empire’s impressive first visit here in February 2015, the band are back after releasing their new EP, “Our Simple Truths” in the May. The band fronted by Joe Green have continued to excel in making exciting music that is certainly in time destined for great things. Tonight’s Lifeboat Promotions show also features a host of quality support acts to warm us up for the main attraction.
The first of these is Bournemouth’s very own Deltorers, who open the show in some style with a beautiful atmospheric enhanced guitars combined with an incredible drummer and equally competent bassist, who deliver in all areas. Guitarist, Nathan uses the guitar as an extension of himself and covers every inch of the fretboard to create an impressive grunge infused sound with a vocal range that goes from scream to clean in a matter of seconds. A really energetic performance that shows all the band’s hard work is paying off, with a momentum like this you give them another six months and they will be headlining many of their own shows.
Next up are six-piece experimental rock band Veridian from Reading who sadly take so long in setting up, they virtually cut their set time in half. The Anvil stage struggles to contain all their equipment and the keyboard player and vocalist perform from the dance floor. The time they have is certainly made to most of and the band show lots of promise with a totally unique sound of well-crafted songs. They play with a strong belief in themselves and do the damnedest to impress the Bournemouth crowd. Tonight, they would probably admit they are not at their best, but from the evidence here they have loads to give and with a bigger stage, I’m sure they can create loads of fireworks in the future.
Three piece Black Orchid Empire made up of Paul Visser (Vocals/Guitars), Dave Ferguson (Bass/Vocals) and Billy Freedom (Drums) have no such equipment struggles with their simple set up. They arrive shrouded in dry ice and breeze through a set full of highlights including the epic “God is Awake” which features a great driving rhythm complimented with some seriously good guitar riffage. These guys are literally the whole package with all three players excelling in the own areas making for one powerful trio with a real ability to deliver. They leave the Anvil stage to plenty of positive well-deserved applause.
The penultimate band of the night are In Dynamics, an impeccably turned out trio who impress from the off with tunes from their recently released album “Everything I See”. Front man, Beau Boulden has more than a passing resemblance to 80’s pop star Rick Astley but there the similarities stop. The band deliver some delicious three vocal harmonies with some energetically delivered skilful guitar work. Their stand-out track of the evening “We are Liars” takes us to the softer side or the rock spectrum, a very radio friendly tune that could easily reach out to a wide range of listeners.
And so to the headliners Emp!re, who all have patiently watched each band that have performed this evening giving them each the support and respect that they deserve. They quickly and efficiently get their equipment together and get started. The band’s twin guitar sound immediately makes an impact on the audience drawing the now larger crowd much closer to them. Front Man Joe continues to impress with his extraordinary vocal range giving life to tunes such as the brilliant “Future, Past and Present” and the epic “Black Hearts”. In between numbers the surprisingly softly spoken Joe playfully banters with the audience building on the previous visits rapport. The band ends the evening on a euphoric high showing us all what a totally entertaining and capable band they have become, I just know there is so much more to come from these guys in the future. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on them on the InMe tour in October.
For further Lifeboat Promotions click here.
Links
http://www.shoutempire.com/
http://www.indynamics.co.uk/
http://www.blackorchidempire.com/
https://www.facebook.com/veridianuk
https://www.facebook.com/Deltorers
Words & Videos by Dave Chinery.
