Anyhoo, we stopped off at a pub called Duck and fox, it reminded me of the place I was a glass collect at in Manchester, 1995. Tonight we found there was a band playing, Gronk and The Body Doubles. A six-piece, three guitars, drums, bass and a trumpeter.
The bass player wore a cowboy hat, so I was wary. Some might say three guitars is two too many, but here it sounded okay.
Gronk, the lead singer, stood centre-stage, looked tiny, this was cos of his over-sized guitar and taller bandmates.
The songs are bluesy rock, at times a halfway house between Bruce Springsteen and Supergrass. There are nice friendly harmonies and some rather neat lead guitar noodles from at least two of the guitarists. The guitar especially gives them that FM Rick Rubin sound.
The audience seemed quite into them too, judging by the ages it was a friends and family sort of show, but folk were dancing and I was a little confused how people continued dancing even when they wandered outside for a smoke. That doesn't happen at the gigs I usually go to.
Not much on Songkick, just one of Gronk's gigs at The BarFly in Camden. From their website, they've played other gigs, but they're hardly the most prolific, or scenesterish, are they even part of a 'scene'?
Extra cheese points for using the line "Gonna take it down a little bit " before a slower number.
Ooh, trumpet takes it up to a whole nother level. I do like guitar bands with trumpets. More of that sort of thing.
Anyhoo, so Gronk is there centre stage, doing some fine blues, mincing a bit like he's practising in front of the mirror in his bedroom, but strangely he's relaxed as he's in front of a the crowd. Its a breath of fresh air, he's completely unaffected on stage, hardly up himself at all. I'll chalk that up as being another difference to the usual gigs I go to.
They ought to gig more.
