South West Sound Bristol Fringe – Bristol Louisiana – 23/04/08
Of the various line ups playing Bristol last night, perhaps the
most edgy and raw was to be found in the Louisiana. Opening the
evening, Swindon’s The Alfonz sat a little uncomfortably with
the more raw acts that were to follow later in the evening, but
their enthusiasm and commitment overcame the sparse crowd and
disparity in approach. Recalling The Kooks, the trio delivered
upbeat songs energetically and gradually won over those in
attendance, most convincingly with set closer Light Of Day.
By complete contrast, The John E. Vistic Experience utterly
mauled the crowd with their swampy riffs and surly vocals. John
The Revelator opened the set and immediately hooked the
audience in, a loud spectacle channelling Nick Cave brawling
with The Stooges over a nearly empty bottle of whiskey. Not one
for all the family, but utterly captivating from the off.
Seagull Strange live up to their name and prove near
unclassifiable. Initially generating the fear when slap bass
rears its ugly head, the band seem to thrive on playing four
songs simultaneously. Reggae suddenly mutates into hard rock,
and any band that can play a song called Hell where the chorus
turns the word into a cheerleader’s chant must have an element
of fun at its core.
Closing out the night was Emily Breeze, backed by assorted
Vistic members. Always an exciting live proposition, rattling
from the stage is the sound of red lipstick on Marlboros, rock
and roll at once primitive and urgent. Rockabilly punk slides
into riffs that are taken to their logical conclusion-why
bother with time changes when there really is no need? It makes
perfect sense that the closing song is a cover of Johnny Cash’s
Folsom Prison Blues. The song’s most infamous line ‘I shot a
man in Reno just to watch him die’ is here twisted and
stretched into a feral, feminine howl by Breeze, and it works
perfectly.
Lee Hanson (Bristol Evening Post)