It’s become something of a joke that MuddiBrooke are the MV house band at this point. And yet if they were we could do a lot worse. This is my third time seeing them in less than two months, which is testament to their work ethic of course, but also to the fact they keep getting support slots. They do this because they are exceptionally good.
The likes of “ADHD” and “Liverpool Guy” are as excellent as ever but what impresses this time around is that the Derby three-piece include a couple of new songs in their set. “Float” was one which they played last month with Wayward Sons, but it is the other new tune “Inside” which suggests MuddiBrooke have something special. It was only finished yesterday, and is so new that according to singer Brooke ”it has blood on its face” but more importantly the inclusion of new material proves that this is a band that is brimming with ideas at the moment. As ever with MuddiBrooke songs it appears to be from the heart although given that on first listen it seems to rhyme “naked” with “frustrated’ we won’t pry to whether it’s autobiographical…… They finish with the wonderful “Cellar’ and again this is very much job done for a band that really could be anything it wants to be.
Given that last year, with a typical lack of understatement I claimed on these pages that James And The Cold Gun’s debut album was the best of its type in years, it’s fair to say that their set was one I’d been looking forward to. It’s equally fair to say it did not disappoint.
As scuzzy as they are energetic, the Welsh band begin with “Seven” and keep up the breakneck pace with an absolutely sensational “Chewing Glass”. A little like the band before them, they are not content with mere rehashes, instead they premiere a new track debuted on this tour and “Fagile” is a hint that the next material could be as thrilling as their previous stuff. An insight into why they do this perhaps comes with “Cheating On The Sun” which singer James Joseph explains he wrote in a difficult period in his life and still music is the one thing that keeps him going. So, there is a serious side to their rock’n’roll (and make no mistake they have the real presence of a proper rock band) this is underlined by the lyrics to another new song “Meet My Maker” but by the time they finish their set with “Long Way Home”, it is clear to see but their natural habitat is onstage, instead of their rehearsal room. The band has gained the personal patronage of Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard and given they already are sprinkling their set with new material it would appear for James And The Cold Gun, the good stuff is only just beginning.
What’s three weeks between friends? So it’s five years – give or take – since I wrote these words: “Ones to look out for, because you imagine Florence Black could go to a lot of places and the ride might be all kinds of fun”. It was on the 21st of February 2019,I’d just seen Florence Black for the first time – second on the bill in a pub in Birmingham. Yet it was inescapable then just as it is now but they were a special brand.
The difference is now of course they’re headliners on the biggest tour of their lives, while four days ago they dropped a genuine album of the year contender. If the air of expectation is with them here it does not appear to be weighing heavy, instead, Tristan Thomas, Jordan Evans and Perry Davies simply stroll out on stage as they have so many times before as if it is not a big deal.
It is telling however that they begin with the new album’s title track, Bed Of Nails” is an absolute beauty too but rather more in context it is one of the 11 from the new album that they play. This only happens when a band has total confidence in the new material and as I wrote in my review last week, well they might.
It is as noticeable as ever that they stand apart from any of their obvious contemporaries by being heavier than the rest and yet the likes of “Solid 9” still have that wonderful singalong quality (and of course the album is a 10)
To watch them on stage is to watch a band who is getting everything they dreamed of, the solo the Thomas plays on “The Deep End” or the chorus to the clear highlight “Look Up”, are in their own way, signposts to just how good the Merthyr Tydfil trio are.
Middle fingers go up in the air for “Taxman” and although they are still clearly a young band, the experience they have gained and all their time on the road, means they can pace a set with the best of them. There is a pair of ballads in the middle, with “Warning Sign” and “Black Cat” both changing the pace and giving some real texture to things.
But that only serves to steel them for the crescendo that the best arena gigs have, and it might be this is a practise run for Florence Black. “Can You Feel It?” is almost an adrenaline shot, and there is a near grandiose groove to the wonderful “Rockin’ Ring”.
As ever they play a cover of Budgie’s classic “Breadfan” and as ever Thomas’ delivery suggests that for him this is some sort of pilgrimage. After this, they play a couple of old songs and even these seem to have that aura about them that comes when a band knows it’s on the top of its game. Certainly, that is true for both “Bird On A Chain” and the anthemic-sounding “Zulu” here.
They afford themselves an encore, as befits a headline band of course, and “Sun And The Moon” is greeted like an old friend.
As they leave the stage, after the usual thank you’s Thomas says to the crowd, “Remember to buy our album”. Many are as MV leaves and as much as this feels like a pivotal moment for Florence Black, they are so good right now that it is tempting to think that there could be a lot more of them in the future. Who knows how far this band from the valleys can go but in another five years time if I’m there reviewing it, I wouldn’t bet against it being somewhere very big indeed.
