The Tonic @ CJ's Music Bar
By Sean Langan
Well this was my first time to the new live venue on the Leeds circuit that is The Kirkstall Lites, and boy was I impressed after the night was over! The actual venue is in the downstairs section of the venue, and this really reminded me of the Royal Park Cellars, and also because the size of the venues were similar as well. The major difference between the two is that the Lites were just that: lights! (reminded me of a cruise ship venue your gran might see, or a Butlins stage)
Well, it wasn't as dingy as the Royal Park Cellars, however I for one prefer dingy for my music venues, so less light and a bit more smoke wouldn't have gone amiss to make it look like the St. Louis blues bar that it really wants to be.
I found George Best by the bar, or rather he found me by the bar, and I'm pleasantly glad to see that he has cut down on killing his own liver and would rather have me killing my liver, as a bottle of Carlsberg was rarely out of my hands. I am also glad to see that he is helping out the music scene in a big way by promoting great bands at good venues all over West Yorkshire. And so, onto the bands:
Booth 13 were first up on the bill and as soon as they started, that ugly monster from '95-'97, 'Britpop' reared its ugly five heads! Tried to think of which band from this era that their first song reminded me of, hang on, oh god! Ocean Colour Scene! Like didn't they die out with the dinosaurs? Mind you, it wasn't a bad song, and had a nice riff running through. Their second reminded me of 'The Bends' period Radiohead: emotional vocals, check. Nice guitar bits, with the discords there, but not everywhere, check. Johnny Greenwood crunch guitar bit, etc etc, check.
They brought back OCS for an instrumental third song, that just over did it a little on the time mark, but still the riff wasn't just nicked, and did seem to have some originality about it. However my suspicions were confirmed when out came the cover of 'Street Spirit'! Whilst it was played well, the singer just isn't Thom and they didn't really add anything to the cover, which I guess was a shame. All I would say is we have one Radiohead (and they've moved on), we don't need to relive their past glories, we need to make our own.
Later that night though, during the second band, I was told that their performance had only been their second ever gig together. My opinion gently changed from thinking they were just ok, to actually, that was quite good. 7/10 (need to relax the old 'head influence a little bit).
The Agents were up next and the first thing that was obvious, was that this band cared about its image. White ties, black shirts anyone? However The Hives they are most certainly not!
I found it hard to compare this band to anyone, because I don't really have too much knowledge about the genres that they play in, however it was really enjoyable and made you want to dance with their crossover styles ranging from Indie, Jazz, Soul, and Blues. With the best moment coming after a slow burner, when the drummer pummelled the venue with this up-tempo acid jazz (!?) beat. I was dying to dance, but as I didn't know anybody in the room I refrained from doing so, my loss really.
The drummer was fantastic full of energy, maybe too much on some of the fills where he maybe lost it, but as he was singing as well, this more than made up for the lightest of mistakes, (sings better than that muppet from Jet anyhow!). The keyboard player was like Jools Holland tripping on acid, whilst the bassist, and guitarist were having a private party of their own, and they smiled!!!! Something very rare on the Leeds Music Scene circuit! The singer however was the star attraction, and her beautiful warm voice would have warmed up even the coldest of cold, stone hearts. Throw in a good cover of Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good' and you get the words that describe The Agents: Feel Good!!!! 8/10
And so, to The Tonic. I had so many good rumours about this band I just had to come and check them out for myself.
'Damn Me' was a brilliant opener by the band and sound very much like Jeff Buckley to a certain extent, however Buckley never wrote 'Damn Me' and The Tonic did, showing how much potential they have.
'Fast Enough' had backing vocals harmonising with Brooke's soothing warm voice, just like Simon & Garfunkle. The bassist and acoustic guitars showing that Brooke isn't the only singer in the band, and that the show is a team effort. 'April Showers' and 'Love gets so cold' are both great songs in their own right, whilst the opening guitar riff to 'Steve' makes me want to like The Thrills! (I don't, I like The Tonic instead.)
Then it's cover time again, Coldplay's 'Yellow', oh dear, this is gunna ruin the set isn't it? Er, no. No it doesn't. Not at all. In fact 'Yellow' is one of the high points in The Tonic's set tonight, they make the song completely their own, and it is absolutely magnificent. True beauty, real emotion. 'Couldn't stop the fall' reminds me of The Beatles jamming country style, and is a good contrast to 'Yellow' as it makes you want to tap your feet, grab your partner, one, two, three!
'Close to me' is the highlight of all the set, with its beautiful melodies, and harmonies, and the set closer 'Follow me' is a fantastic way to end in a gospel sort of style reminding me of R.E.S.P.E.C.T by good old Aretha Franklin. Making it a memorable way to close the set.
A semi premature finish to the songs leaves the audience wanting more. The only thing The Tonic could do better is maybe make more use of the fact of Brooke being the star attraction, little bit more stage presence wouldn't go a miss, but really that is me being extremely picking when I don't need to be. The perfect Tonic to a wonderful evening out. 8.5/10
