Things couldn’t be going much better for Portsmouth’s Brave Rival. After all, its not every day that a genuine legend explains to his millions of fans that “They’re [Brave Rival] a great band. I love the music. I love what they are doing” but Joe Bonamassa did. There are new projects, new videos, UK tour dates like this one and it all adds to a band on the up.
There is though, just one problem. The group’s moniker is causing people problems. Not helped, when Lyndsey Bonnick – one of Rival’s two sensational vocalists – makes the merch and has got a bracelet on that proclaims them to be “Barve Rival”.
This is just one of the things we learn during in the course of a wonderfully warm, intimate set. Maybe it’s the room (it feels as if they’ve set up the equipment in the corner of someone’s living room such is the friendly feel) but whatever, Bonnick and co-singer Chloe Josephine are revelling in telling stories across the two sets they play here.
Make no mistake through, the chatty, laid back feel goes when they play their songs. “Heart Attack” – their opener – is actually a very good window into this world – they rock (Ed “The Shred” Clarke is a real guitar hero in waiting) and their blues licks scorch with the best of them. The rhythm section of Donna Peters and Billy Dedman thunders, but there’s a soul, there really is. There’s a funky sass, and there’s two singers in Josephine and Bonnick that gives this a unique feel.
“Guilty Love” (“this one is a true story, its up to you to work out which are true and which are made up” offers Josephine) and a stunning cover of Etta James’ “Damn Your Eyes”, which recalls Sari Schoor are as good as it gets, as is “Long Time Coming” – one of many that have a solo that makes you understand how good Clarke is.
Rival seem to be one of those bands who will keep developing. A fact they underline with the acoustic section they do mid-set. “For The Ones” – written about struggles in lockdown – is especially poignant, while their reworking of “Run And Hide” from their debut “Life’s Machine” is more evidence for my long standing belief that a great song can always translate.
There’s a cover of “The Sound Of Silence” which proves the only band that couldn’t do that properly were Disturbed, but after that one with a singalong “Thin Ice”, one of the catchiest moments in their canon along with “Secrets” (which they’d played earlier) changes gear.
The title track of the album is superb thing, and listening to the lyrics as you are almost compelled to do in a venue of this size, you really get a sense of how deep this music goes. It seems to for all of them, but it seems to go beyond music and there’s a bond here you can’t fake.
“The Letter” is a chance for the two singers to trade off in wonderful fashion (although they are upstaged by a lady in the crowd, trust me!) before “What’s Your Name Again?” is where an encore would usually be. If MV might interject here, we hope that one is one of the “made up” ones, otherwise we’ll blush, frankly).
This though, is just a lovely couple of hours. The vibe – and this is meant as the biggest compliment – wasn’t that of a normal “gig” and this is not your usual rock n soul band, not one bit. A band that firstly you can only wish well, but secondly, so organic do they seem that it will be interesting to see where they end up.
So, they are Brave Rival. Remember the name…..
