Lighthouse, Poole
Here we are now in January 2022 and tonight the Lighthouse in Poole is once again the place to be for the first Hangover Hill Presents “Live & Unheard” of the year. The line-up for this evening put together by Matt Black & Mel Berkhauer is such a strong one that all of the tickets for tonight’s gig have sold out.
The first act to take to the stage are a five-piece from Southampton called “Vision” featuring Rich Nowik on Lead Vocals/Guitar, Alfie Anniss on Guitar/Backing Vocals, Tom Petch on Guitar, Brogan Tomkins on Bass/Backing Vocals and Bailey Harcourt on Drums. The band lean heavily towards 90’s Britpop for their influences and open with an impressive wall of sound that easily fills this wonderfully acoustic space. It’s clear from the start that we have some accomplished musicians here, who seem really comfortable in each other’s company with firm chemistry. With big tunes like “Sleeping Lions”, which sees Rich picking up a third guitar to further bolster the band’s sound; Tom and Bailey are clearly the stars of the band with plenty of notable moments showing off their considerable assets. With songs like the gutsy “Do What You Want” and the bands own anthem “Rockin’ All Night” they clearly impress tonight’s audience who give them plenty of positive applause at the end of their set.
Next up we have local girl Cherry Morris and her band “Pharaohs” featuring Natalie Betts on Guitar, Chris Tybjerg on Drums, and Rob Plumber on Bass. After releasing their debut EP “Just One Year” under Cherry’s name, they decided to rebrand and came up with the name “Pharaohs”. Tonight they are showcasing some recently written brand new tracks, opening with one called “Brave”. From the start, Cherry’s notable vocal shines; coupled with the acoustic and electric guitar pairing, which creates some distinctive sounds. The substantial rhythm section more than compliments the two girls, powerful enough to make a difference without drowning them out. “Sober” looks at a relationship formed on a drunken night, with the lyric asking “Will you still love me when I’m Sober”. It’s a real joy to be in the same room as these four musicians, as they perform some wonderfully creative original music without any real egos. A couple of the band’s older tracks, the eerie “Through the Night” along with their debut single “Rhythm”; both sound bigger and bolder than ever before with the band giving one of the best performances to date. With all this new material, fingers crossed the band will be putting out a new release soon and hopefully some more live dates.
Way back in January 2020 local band Sirpico came along to this very venue and gave one of Live & Unheard’s most well-received performances with a set full of many highlights. Since then organisers Matt and Mel have had many requests to bring the band back, so by popular demand, tonight sees their return. As they did two years ago they take to the stage with the big opener “Without You”, a track that never fails to uplift anyone that hears it. The band has been busy during lockdown writing new material and as the follow-up to 2015’s “To Be Frank” is well overdue, the band’s fans sincerely hope a new release is not too far away.
Al, Tim, Paul, and Dan as a collective is one of the best local bands around, they have the ability to entertain any audience put in front of them. Tonight their carefully put-together set contains a great mix of new, old, and the odd surprise. The first of the new tracks is “One for the Rebel”, a tower of tune. This is soon followed by “Dancefloor Insomniac” showing the band looking back to the past for inspiration. The song has a real driving beat with some superb danceable rhythms, together with some smoulderingly epic guitar work. Another new track comes along in the form of a Punk-inspired tune written in lockdown called “I’m Feeling Wrong” (or as Al said on stage “I’m Feeling Fu*king Wrong”)! Starting off slowly with some gentle basslines before all hell breaks loose with Tim’s frenetic drums and Dan’s bursts of six-string energy; a great, new, and very different type of song from the band.
As is the norm with Sirpico they usually throw in the odd cover on some of their sets, you might get Foo Fighters or maybe a Green Day song. What happened next really surprised me they played “Glorybox” by 90’s Trip-Hop band “Portishead”. Wow just wow, I am blown away by the way they worked the song to suit their style, along with the way Al and Paul’s vocals nailed every lyrical moment. The set ends with arguably the band’s best song “Jamie Lee” and the band with their high momentum get the audience up on their feet and dancing, bringing to the end another excellent Live & Unheard local live music event.
Set Lists
Vision
Overload
Do What You Want
Sunshine Cove
Sleeping Lions
Too Late To Say You Love Me
Wonderland
Traveller
See The Rain
Rockin’ All Night
Don’t Need You Anymore
Presents of Fate
If
Pharaohs
Blame
Did You Want Me To?
Sober
Jealous
Perfect
Through The Night
Why Do I Feel Like You Felt Yesterday
I Don’t Feel This Anymore
Rhythm
Sirpico
Without You
One For The Rebel
The People
Dancefloor Insomniac
In The River
Digital Me
This City
Too Much Fun
Monsters
I’m Feeling Wrong
Everything She Had
Glorybox (Portishead Cover)
Jamie Lee
Videos
Links
https://www.facebook.com/sirpicoband
https://www.facebook.com/pharaohsbandofficial
https://www.facebook.com/visionthebandofficial
Words & Media by David Chinery (Chinners).
