Anvil, Bournemouth
A rescheduled gig; originally booked for Southampton’s Joiners Arms has been moved to Bournemouth’s Anvil (Rock Bar), allowing punters to chance their arm and turn up on the night. Tonight sees two Liverpudlian bands on the bill – one new to me, one not. Openers Bandit is a band I hadn’t encountered and is one of a number of tour supports. This quartet is steeped in Scouse Indie with some decent, catchy numbers to boot. They open with little fuss on a song called “Waster”, immediately I’m hooked – it’s the classic set opener. “Peppermints” comes next as they ease into their set. Connor (Lead vocals) gives a long introduction to “I’d Try Anything Twice” as they mellow out a little – that said with a sparse crowd they are literally deafening! Fierce snare in places and a high line in guitar wearing, these guys move very little on this meager stage. Recent single “Goonies” is decent before penultimate track “Nettles”. They thank those who stuck around long enough and depart on another single in the shape of “Ice Cream”. Bandit sight (among others) Oasis as an influence, but to my aged ears, it’s far more in the Arctic Monkeys ballpark. Ok, so there’s nothing here I haven’t heard before but Bandit has a happy-go-lucky manner that might win them some new fans on this tour – I wish them well.
And so to the headliners. Red Rum Club arrives on stage around nine to a half-full room and open with a new song. Sound issues have been perfected and it’s pitched just about right, the band comes across as confident as they debut a few songs from the forthcoming LP “How To Steal The World”. “Ballerino” follows as they hit their stride. Fran (Lead Vocals) banters between just about every song, his Scouse drawl & humour goes down well. “Honey” is an early highlight, Fran compliments one young couple dancing down the front for their energy. He then announces the wrong song before they launch into the brilliant “TV Said So”, which gets people moving. “Angeline” keeps with the energy as Fran tries to move around a little. More banter as he praises a couple who have made the journey from Southampton. A new song in the shape of “Love Me like You Wanna Be Loved” is simply great, with more than a nod to early Beatles. They save the big guns for the latter part of the set, including ‘Calexico’ with its Zutons-esque influence and ‘Angeline’ which is simply superb. With no official encore they depart us on the brilliant ‘Would You Rather Be Lonely’ which gets the whole room singalong it deserves. And that was pretty much that.
We retire to the bar where various band members happily talk with punters. Audience sizes may be smaller down South, but any band who can sell out Liverpool Academy two months in advance must be doing something right. The band didn’t waste their time in Lockdown, they got to work writing album number three which sees a November release date. Red Rum Club dare to do what others only strive for which is to hone a sound totally their own, while borrowing snippets from their Liverpool heroes. I just hope album number three elevates them to greater heights – time will tell…
Set-Lists
Red Rum Club
Ballerino
Honey
TV Said So
Love Me Like You Wanna Be Loved
Calexio
Angeline
Would You Rather Be Lonely
*Not full set list*
Bandit
Waster
Peppermints
I’d Try Anything Twice
Sefton in Summertime
Mean Streak
Here’s To Being Alive
Goonies
Nettles
Ice Cream
Video
Links
https://www.facebook.com/RedRumClubBand
https://www.facebook.com/banditmusicuk
Pictures, Video & Written Content by Ross A Ferrone.
