Foley (2) @ Royal Park Cellars
By Holden DeForge
My first trip of 2004 into the deep dark depths of the Royal Park Cellars. It's often dirty rock you find emanating from the cellars but this evening it's an altogether more mellow collection of bands. Opening the evening are Nikoli, with two acoustic guitars, piano and percussion I guess maybe they are Leeds' answer to Keane. Maybe there is a national shortage of bass players? Of course the piano fills the gap nicely in Nikoli's gentle ballads and the four part harmonies give the band a nice big sound. The songs are strong, pitched in the middle ground of Coldplay and David Gray - soft and fragile often building up to create a more intense atmosphere. I'm not convinced by the two acoustic guitars that often play exactly the same chords in the same position, it'd be nice to have some more variety from one of the guitar parts to give the songs that little bit extra. It'd be good to see how the band sound with a full drum kit behind the songs too. The Djembe and Bongos are nice here but I think if the band put a little more power behind the songs it would help elevate them that little further.
Well if you haven't seen Jon Gomm then you simply must. That's not some flashing statement that this guy is the greatest in the world - it's just that you have to see him perform to really understand it. As he starts his set I'm stood at the back of the room with a now almost full Cellars obscuring my view. There seems to be an awful lot of sound coming from just one guitar, but it sounds impressive, lots of chorus and other effects and a strong, rich, classical voice that sounds like Richie Sambora or America's latest star John Mayer. As I make my way forward and can actually see what Gomm is doing I'm slightly bewildered for a moment. He uses the guitar as percussive instrument tapping away on the body as he frets the guitar from above the neck, tunes and de-tunes midsong and generally does a load of crazy shit that you'd never even dream of attempting. It's a unique style that's clearly the product of a lot of effort and the result is worth it. Even if you hate the music you should check this guy out because you just won't understand it any other way.
Whoah! What's going on here? Where's the guitar? I can see drums, I can see bass, I can see keys but then where singer Matt should be holding a guitar, according to page 27 of the ethics of rock, he has in his hands a 2 string bass! Well it may seem odd at first but as the band fire up it makes sense. With a sound that will appeal vastly to fans of Grandaddy and The Super Furry Animals everything rocks along nicely with sweet melodies and some cool synth lines layered on top. There's nothing too flash or exciting about the band individually but that then contributes to making the band as a collective rather exciting indeed. Matt has a fine singing voice and is a personable frontman, there's good interaction between the band members and - shock horror - they look like they're enjoying themselves!! Once the two string bass has been downed we do get treated to some guitar and additional keys as Matt flits between the two instruments. The songs are instantly catchy, happy tunes and the band perform them well. If you've not heard of Foley yet then do yourself a favour and go check them out as with more performances like this they look set to be rising to Leeds' elite very soon.
