The Raffle, left to right, Ben Hewlett, Will Tostivin, Matt Ward and Seb Kirk. (Picture by Lucy Hill, 0912262)
SMALL, chaotic and rather crammed – this was how upstairs in the Albion House Tavern turned out to be as a venue on Saturday.
It had character, I suppose, but it’s always going to be a gamble sticking on a local band that is becoming more popular by the week in a bar notorious for having a lot of drunks in it on a weekend night.
This is what I was met with at The Raffle’s gig last Saturday – a lot of drunk people. The band, however, were not intoxicated.
Singer Will was not chewing his mic this time and bassist Matt was back following his no-show at the Haiti fund-raiser at The Townhouse the other week.
Even before the band started performing, things appeared better than the last time – from just looking at them. And then they started playing.
Already they seemed sharper, tighter.
The Townhouse gig seemed marred by one of the band member’s intoxication, making them a bit sloppy.
Their songs are becoming well known among regular gig-goers.
Is A Dream Coming? – ‘Wouda, wouda, woo, woo,’ – it’s addictive. Their originals can only be described as infectious Indie-pop-rock.
They have taken elements of their influences – Oasis, Stone Roses, Neil Young and Motown to name a few – and blended them all into one melting pot. It is a colourful pallet of influences, styles and their own individual tastes.
While the Britpop era had pricked up our ears, making us buy copies of Definitely Maybe, What’s The Story, Parklife, etc, it didn’t exactly have us up and dancing.
The Raffle have cleverly crafted songs with catchy hooks and lyrics with a feel-good factor that makes you smile and dance.
It was the first gig I had been to in a while where you could not move for the number of people dancing. Yes, people actually danced at a gig.
I guess it is easy to pigeonhole The Raffle as an Oasis-type band because of their image, fashion-wise.
OK, yes, Will has the Britpop swagger down to a tee – but
I don’t think it is a good enough reason not to see this band live.
There seems to be a multitude of influences hidden within The Raffle’s music – we just need to hear more songs.
This was the lads’ biggest obstacle on Saturday – not enough material for a set long enough to please the adoring audience.
I have to admit I was a little upset when they finished and I wanted to hear more.
The gig on Saturday reminded me why I had praised them in a feature a few weeks ago and now what I really want is for those contagious originals to keep on coming.
Article posted on 6th February, 2010 - 2.30pm
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