By Lewis Maclean.
Echobelly are a big deal to me because they are the first ever band I saw live. My first ever gig was Echobelly at Southampton Guildhall 26th February 1996 and it remains one of my most treasured memories. I remember them being loud, confident and sleek with the sound of guitars everywhere. Now skip ahead 30 years and very little has changed.
I have been fortunate enough to see them live three times in the last year or so and they still evoke those memories from 1996. Singer Sonya smiles brightly enough to own the room, with a strong voice and presence that captivates any audience. I am amazed at how she seems to find the energy and enthusiasm to look out in to the crowd and connect with every single person. Stood next to her as always is guitarist and other founding member Glenn, still thrashing some decent guitar chops as the newcomers in the band keep up.
When Echobelly casually launch into their iconic 90s singles; Great Things and King of the Kerb, the energy of the crowd always hits the roof. Yet they are a band blessed with more unsung classics. Their committed following calling requests of lesser known but equally loved songs like Insomniac, Natural Animal, Dark Therapy (which they eventually played). Echobelly even snuck a new country style number on us tonight, having the crowd singing back the new lyrics.
A predominantly middle aged crowd dropped the temporary restrictions of age tonight. They didn’t want to compromise as they hopped and danced like born again teenagers. It is also reassuring to see younger people (unlikely even born before 1996) equally enjoying the band’s music. There were people of all ages, still eagerly wanting to know what life is.
The support act tonight Blue Violet did well and got the approval of the Echobelly fandom as the crowd really took to them. They have that same female singer/male guitarist paradigm so comparisons could be made but personally in Britpop era terms, I would place to them closer to the likes of Saint Etienne or Elastica. The person next to me pointed out that their songs was uniquely different each time. This originality bodes well for their future.
Anyone in Brighton on Sunday 1st December, will be lucky enough to catch them at the Concorde 2.
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