This is an excerpt of an article written by Tom Girard
Since St James Concert Hall started their ‘Presents…’ series of events showcasing Guernsey bands in a different way a few have certainly stood out; the inaugural one from Track Not Found saw them present their music as time line showing their songwriting evolving while Lord Vapour became the Buds In Bloom and created a whole new album’s worth of material just for the gig (and I still hope we get to hear it as an album someday…).
Now, to mark the launch of their second album, Pathways, WaterColour Matchbox presented an expanded version of their progressive metal with support showcasing three varied up and coming young acts on the island’s music scene.
After being a stand out in the School Of Popular Music Showcase at the Vale Earth Fair, Rachel Dawson continued to impress here.
While she had her work cut out cutting through in the big hall of St James she still showed a great voice and good playing across a selection of acoustic covers a highlight of which came with a slowed down version of The Monkees I’m A Believer that, I’ll admit, I’d didn’t expect to work (particularly being a fan of the boisterous Vic & Bob’s novelty version) but it really did.
After that the quieter start Case On The Base kicked up the volume starting out with a desert rock style beginning before launching into an extended version of their past grunge punk sets.
While their sound got a bit lost in the big hall as they experienced the unfortunately common phenomenon of the audience ‘semi-circle of doom’, amplified by the bigger venue, they showed off a lot of promising new material that particular saw bass player and lead vocalist Francesco Rega start to find the attitude to match the music.
As they reached a climax with a track that’s becoming their signature, Hypocrisy, (after a couple of choice Nirvana covers), guitarist Alex Mauger headed off stage to try and fill some of the space left by the distant audience and, while it’s not quite as advanced as Francesco, showed he’s starting to find some extra performance with his playing too.
Isle Stone are a step or two further advanced than the night’s first two acts and, with the hall beginning to fill up, grabbed the interest of the crowd from the off as they hit the stage dressed in suits (I think the last time I saw a rock band do that was Brutus Stonefist in the more intimate surroundings of Pieces in Fountain Street around a decade ago, and I remember them vowing to never do it again).
I seem to think this pretty much every time I see them but once again this was the best I’ve heard from Isle Stone with all five members really coming into their own and more originals filling out the set while the covers they’ve been playing for a while keep getting better too, in fact their version of Pearl Jam’s Alive that had been a bit of bug bear of mine in the past was the best I’ve heard them do it.
While they may still have something of the ‘school of rock’ look (to quote a member of the audience tonight) Isle Stone are certainly beginning to move beyond that sonically and they seemed to win over a fair number of new fans tonight.
And then, with the stage busier than I recall ever seeing it for a rock gig, it was time for the night’s main event as WaterColour Matchbox took to the stage backed by a string section and choir, with some bonus keys thrown in for good measure too.
Dividing their set in two they started by playing through new album, Pathways, in full and, much like on the record itself, this was the best I’ve heard them live as the new songs have a much more direct and energetic feel that makes them all the more engaging.
The extra instrumentation added to this, handled and balanced by sound man Bob Klein better than I think many expected given the notorious reputation of the hall, elevated the live performance and made for a far closer representation of what they do on record in a live setting.
What WaterColour Matchbox shows have often lacked in the past is a connection with the audience but here that was well and truly present and, while it wasn’t a moshing maelstrom of a crowd, the fact that everyone pushed to the front and was clearly invested really helped with even the often somewhat reserved lead guitarist Mikey Ferbrache becoming more animated than usual.
Hearing the album rendered in this way showed some extra sides of it too while showing that WaterColour Matchbox are a fantastically tight band and even some issues with the bass during one song were not only quickly fixed but covered in such a way that if I hadn’t been at the front I’m not sure how much I would have noticed.
As the first part of the set ended they had many calling for more so it was a bit of luck that after a very brief break they were back on stage.
With the serious part of the evening out of the way the second section of WaterColour Matchbox’s set took on something of a karaoke feel for them and some of those who’d joined them on stage for the first half.
With a range of guest vocalist (and one particularly impressive guest guitarist on a track by As I Lay Dying) they rocked through a varied set of hard rock and metal covers with both band and audience having a great time.
This all culminated in Granite Wolf’s Tom ‘Shinfo’ Domaille joining them for a raging finale that finally got a pit going and ended the night on something of a high, about as tight to the venue’s curfew as possible.
This rounded off another stand out night of live music that, particularly in this case, demonstrated the breadth of young musical on the island in an even wider set of styles than many of us are maybe used to.
