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Smoulty's Review 22/5/03
http://www.angelfire.com/scary/anthem/riffs.8m.com/colinspage.html
'ANTHEM, ... A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION'
Another 'Rush' tribute, "Do we really need them" you might think? YES! This is a band that are doing right what so many other tribute acts out there are doing so wrong. Often you get a set of musicians who are basically just an average pub 'covers' band, who suddenly decide to play a full show of 'one' well-known group's material. They then take this around the major 'national' circuit and pass themselves off as a bonafide tribute band, and then advertise themselves as the "Best ******* tribute in the U.K.!" There's a lot of dross out there who consider themselves to be good tribute bands but are quite honestly no better than many of the excellent covers bands currently playing around this region. I've seen both of the major Rush tributes ('2112' & 'YYZ') and had them both perform here at the Office. Neither one of them really impressed me that much, and both of them had huge flaws in their performances and choice of material. So with the arrival of Anthem on the scene I hoped that they could provide me with the type of Rush show that I wanted to see, and provide the goods that these other 2 tributes were lacking. And what swayed my decision the most in booking them was that they didn't demand huge fees that would have made it a 'ticket' event. They decided to play for basic pub money which meant that the Office could put the band on downstairs and have public entrance free of charge. Now that's what I like to hear!
Anthem approached the venue originally hoping to hire the upstairs room just to be able to set up their gear properly and to perform in an environment normally used by live acts. I then persuaded them to do a proper gig in which we would pay them, and not the other way around. All the Friday and Saturday slots had gone and the band desperately needed to get a dress-rehearsal styled gig in before they played a bike festival at the end of the month. We opted to give them a special 'showcase' gig on a Thursday night even though it's not normally a popular evening for live music in South Shields. The 22nd of May now became their first official gig, and even though the date was only booked in about 3 weeks in advance, there was still a superb turn out for them. Probably close to 100 people in the room with around half of them being the band's close fiends and family who had come along especially to give them support on their first outing together. I was impressed with the group's enthusiasm, and as they were all local then it wasn't that much of a risk as I knew they'd bring along a decent sized audience off their own backs. They didn't let me down and there was also a good squad of die-hard Rush fans assembled who had seen the posters and wanted to check them out. The band had come across as nervous and anxious during the soundcheck, so regardless of how many people were there to urge them on, it all came down to whether they were capable of delivering the goods.
Anthem tentatively walked on stage around 9:15 and then nervously set themselves ready for their self-induced 'trial by fire'. The sci-fi space sounds that echoed through the PA system heralded the opening passage of Rush's breakthrough epic, '2112'. As the sampled synth sounds faded in to the distance, the band broke in to the 'Overture' section from the '2112' album. From the very first chords this audience were right behind the band. The musicianship was excellent, the sound was pretty good, and the group were playing songs close to everyone's hearts. A very good instrumental opening and now the crowd waited for the first vocal performance of the night. As the first number finished it quickly broke in to 'Temples Of Syrinx' and now their singer at last appeared on stage. 'Temples' is a very hard song to sing and it's played in a key that's far too high for most vocalists to consider attempting. Although this lad had a high pitched voice, he unfortunately struggled at this song, plus the following 2 numbers as well. The band's friends and family cheered on regardless, but I could distinctly see some puzzled expressions on the faces of many of the regular rock fans at the Office. Was this just a temporary glitch, or was this basically going to be the way the band were going to perform and sound for the rest of the gig? I had my heart in my mouth, and things were looking decidedly shaky if Anthem couldn't get their act together and pull this one back from the brink of doom.
I personally put it all down to 'first-time' nerves with the entire band showing signs of anxiousness, yet undoubtedly it was their vocalist who was the most unsure man on stage. Not sure how to physically present himself in front of a crowd. Unsure of how to move, what to say between songs, and most obviously not confident with his vocal delivery. This situation could have turned in to a disaster, but suddenly from out of nowhere his voice changed. A deeper timbre and a fuller, richer tone started to come out of his mouth and instantly he started to sound more and more like the real Rush singer, Geddy Lee. The change was quite a shock, but an incredibly pleasant one at that. As the first set continued his voice simply got better and better at the same time that his nerves were finally starting to become less visually evident. It was now obvious that these two factors were linked and that his initial shaky pitch was all down to nerves. The musicians in the band weren't faultless either as they too made the odd minor mistake during the course of the first few numbers, yet they were also radically improving as time went on. Lastly it was me doing the PA sound that night. I had a few problems with trying to get the quiet guitar volume on stage amplified without creating any unwanted background noise. Eventually I clicked what the problem was, got the guitarist to turn up his volume (after about 6 songs in) and then the whole band's sound improved beautifully. From the start of that 45 minute set until the last number, the entire performance and sound improved dramatically!
To be honest I have never witnessed anything like that in my entire life! For a group to start off so dodgy and then to finish off so brilliantly, all in the space of one set was unbelievable. The curtain was now set for their second spot, and these next set of performances were fantastic. Most of the previous nerves had disappeared from every band member and Anthem were now truly playing a 'real' Rush tribute show. Their choice of material was marvellous. Not one song past the milestone Rush album from 1981, 'Moving Pictures'. All of the fans favourites were included and they ended up playing a near perfect selection of the best Rush numbers from the 'golden' era of the band's career. A full range of tracks had been picked including selections like 'In The Mood' from the 1973 debut album, right up to mid-period favourites such as 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Red Barchetta'. Not one era of the 70's incarnation of the band was left out, and the group played classic numbers from all 8 of Rush's first studio albums, which quite frankly the majority of rock fans consider these releases to be the finest that the band have ever created. I could list all of the songs that Anthem played that night in a very nerdy fashion, but I won't. Let's just say that nobody was disappointed and YES, the band did indeed play 'Xanadu'. The overall set was much more 'rock' orientated that the other 2 Rush tributes and there was far less keyboards featured. Just a smattering here and there when needed. The emphasis was on guitar, drums, bass, and ROCK!
Anthem played a damn good show to a superb crowd, even though they started off so shaky. Mick the drummer used an 'electronic' drum kit. Not the sort of sound that you'd normally associate with classic Rush, yet between him on his electronic drum console and me on the PA desk, we managed to tweak it here and there to make the drums sound very acceptable. He is a very good drummer and still managed to play a barrage of drum fills on this mass of plastic and leads. The guitarist was a little nervy when he first began playing and even fluffed a few notes during some of his early guitar solos. Yet by the second set he was now flying and played the f**k out of his 2 Paul Reed Smith guitars. Once his confidence kicked in, his fingers were shooting around the guitar neck much more fluently and his true abilities started to shine through. John Roach (ex-Mythra) was the bassist/keyboardist and was easily the most experienced man on stage. Marvellous ability and incredible tone from his 5-string bass, plus perfect keyboard settings and samples which absolutely mimicked the real Rush sound. The musicianship is there in abundance from all of them, but there were still a few raw nerves floating around in the air that night. The size of the crowd probably knocked them for six, but they managed to brave it through and ended up delivering a mega performance. Give this band time and these problems will undoubtedly disappear. But regardless of what I think, the crowd here loved them and the atmosphere was magnificent.
All in all they performed a top class first show. Anthem showed awesome potential and if they can create this sort of quality on their first live outing together, then just think of what they might achieve in the future. The best advice I could give them now is to avoid playing 'major' gigs in big venues. Keep it low key until their confidence levels are raised, and only then think about advancing in to bigger and more critical territory. The band are only just staring out and as such need to be nurtured slowly and carefully. Don't expect any superb things from them just yet, but in about 3 - 6 months time they should be showing more of their true potential. Anthem proved that they are a band worth seeing and by the end of the night performed a show equal to (or even better than) 2112. Considering 2112 will cost you £5 for the privilege of seeing them play, then the obvious choice is to go and see Anthem instead. Keep an eye out for this band and I'm sure in months to come they will become as important a local tribute on the scene as are Black Rose, Maiden England, Prognosis, and the rest. Good tribute bands at NO entry or ticket fee. What more could you want?
Yours, "New wonders of the world they, ..... WROUGHT!" Colin Smoult 29 / 5 / 03
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