Rochelle @ Faversham
By Rachel Wilson
The Faversham hustled and bustled with Leeds' scenesters and industry moguls aplenty this evening. Despite the Easter holidays being upon us once again (where do the years go ... ?) and the students having gone home and finally given us some peace for a week or two, there was still a rather impressive turnout for Rochelle's debut Faversham appearance. The Cribs made a cameo and members of the now-disbanded The Playmates could be found in various corners of the venue.
The first thing no red-blooded man or woman (or animal, vegetable or mineral for that matter) could fail to notice about Rochelle is their frankly stunning lead singer Lydia Kaye. Her rich soulful vocals complement the electro pop backing beats (provided by the various synth, bass and guitar contributions of the Rochelle boys) perfectly and her slender brunette looks are more than a little easy on the eye. She cites her solo influences as including Zero 7 and it's safe to say she wouldn't sound out of place on any one of their albums.
It's easy to see why Lydia's 'always a lead and never a backing' - she owns the stage and truly shines with a mic in her hand and a crowd in her sights; strutting, skipping and gliding around with dance moves that reminded me of a more graceful Singai Shoniwa of The Noisettes.
Anyway, enough gushing for now, about the music - new bands so often don't live up to the buzz created around them but Rochelle played a fantastic set full of catchy dance-a-long tunes which thoroughly impressed and made it difficult to believe that they've only been together as a band for a few short months.
Tracks flowed seamlessly from one to the next and a cover of Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" was met with rapturous applause, with the crowd grooving on through 'til Bad Sneakers - The Faversham's regular Saturday night shindig.
If there's any justice in the crazy world of electro pop, this won't be the last you hear about Rochelle and fingers crossed one day in the not too distant future I'll be able to use one of my favourite phrases - "Yeah, I saw them before they were even signed".
