This Is Guernsey

By Emily Burden

The Paperboys’ Tom Edwards is a showman in the vein of The Hives’ Pelle Almqvist. (Picture by Simon Prince, 0551141)

FRIDAY of last week saw local bands at the Fermain Tavern doing their bit for charity.

The gig was a fund-raiser for The Prince’s Trust and The Paperboys, Schema and The Tracey Barlows took to the stage. But the attendance was dismal and it leaves me wondering if any money was raised at all, especially as the door charge wasn’t being enforced when I arrived.

Those issues aside, the bands all performed to a typically high standard and got the crowd that was there dancing.

The Paperboys kick-started the night with their interpretations of an eclectic selection of other artists’ work, such as Abba, the White Stripes and one of the catchy tunes from Disney’s animation classic, The Jungle Book.

With such diversity in their song choices, it made for a vibrant and unpredictable set.

Lead singer and guitar player Tom Edwards has a great stage presence and a showmanship that brings to mind the restless antics of The Hives’ Pelle Almqvist. A strong rhythm section supported well throughout and enabled Tom to ‘perform’.

The performance was a bit more sloppy than I’ve seen from these guys previously, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, who ever wants rock ’n’ roll to be tidy and polished?

I’ll keep my hopes up for some original Paperboys material some time in the future.

While Schema have performed several times since forming in the summer, they have been focusing on original material only for the two most recent gigs. On that Friday, they treated the audience to an almost exclusively self-penned set, with only one cover (an obscure rendition of Apparently Nothing by the Young Disciples) out of the nine songs played.

So what do they sound like?

Jazz and funk influences clearly prevail, but with some fresh thinking. It is hard to locate Schema’s style in any one genre because there’s a heck of a lot going on. Utilising acoustic guitar, slap bass, up-tempo drumbeats and three-part harmonies, the trio blend a range of musical styles into their own brand of melodic funk and pop, full of twists and turns.

Friday’s set incorporated the spectacle of singer James Morvan having his head shaved in aid of Macmillan Cancer Trust. Before the band started, one side of his shoulder-length hair had been dispensed with and James quickly gave himself a comb-over in a futile attempt to retain some dignity as the band kicked off with their opening song, Purple Velvet. That fast, catchy number sounded a bit like uptempo country, while more-funky songs, such as One More Card and Shots From a Gun, followed.

James then had a bit more hair cut off, this time by an audience member, after which Schema slowed the tempo with The Phone Song, a love ballad with a swing feel. A highlight for me (apart from the hair-shaving shenanigans) had to be when the band performed Flowers and Washing Lines, for which James laid the acoustic guitar across his lap, using the strings for melody and the body for percussion. Impressive.

Guernsey Press reporter Joel de Woolfson soon stepped forward to give James a bit more of a trim before the trio reformed to play Broken, a song bassist Tom Bradshaw introduced ‘as a bit dark’. With haunting melodies and confusing tempo changes, it is about as menacing as Schema gets. Tom announced the only cover as such, Apparently Nothing, and offered the prize of shaving off the last bit of James’s hair to anyone who could name the song and artist.

No one could. James introduced the penultimate song as something ‘a little different’, before the band launched into some drum and bass.

The set was wrapped up with a two-minute punchy pop song, People at the Party.

The evening was ended by the ever-popular Tracy Barlows with a mix of note-perfect covers and five-part harmonies. With a diverse set that included classics such as Martha and The Muffins’ Echo Beach and recent favourites such as the Scissor Sisters’ I don’t feel like dancing, there was certainly something for everyone.

Luckily, the crowd had built slightly and the dance floor was busy enough to create a lively atmosphere.

The Barlows’ bassist Jim Delbridge later volunteered to finish James’s rather drastic haircut.

It was a shame about the lack of audience earlier in the evening as the night was not only a great way of raising money for charity.

It was a cracking night out which showcased local bands who are doing something a little out of the ordinary and urging us all to sit up and listen.