Institute of Contemporary Arts

DAY EIGHT: Ben's Brother and Ash

Date: 8 July 2007

Sunday night at the ICA, and it’s been one of the only hot days of this miserable July. So it’s no wonder the place isn’t oozing quite the same level of electricity that buzzed away the night before for Groove Armada. However, the support band Ben’s Brothers are not concerned with mega bounce or electric mania, they’re focus is on melody and emotive moods, the chilled out Sunday vibe suiting them rather nicely. The atmosphere in the theatre was relaxed and calm, and if it wasn’t for the photographer’s pit and the elevated nature of the stage, you could have been on a beach or living room somewhere listening to a group of talented boys strumming in harmony on their guitars and singing about love, loss, fear and all the other occupational joys and hazards of life. This is music to pull at your heart strings, it reminded me of early Crowded House, eighties love songs and Rod Stewart’s earlier stuff like ‘I don’t want to talk about it’. (Gosh I’m good, just listened to Rise by Ben’s Brother and I don’t want to talk about it at the same time and the two tracks are in the exact same key) The front man Jamie’s voice even sounds like Rod Stewart too, they both have that strong but husky thing going on; interesting. However, I am not implying this group are not original, it is absolutely their own aptitude for beautiful songwriting that has put these boys on the map.

 Jamie was friendly and honest, telling the audience something about each song before he sung it. Let Me Out, we found out had just gone out on Radio Two and Beauty Queen we learned is the first single release from the their album Beta Male Fairytales. (Available to buy on Itunes, ironically, Jamie joked). A touching moment was when he revealed his inspiration for Bad Dream. He wrote it just after his mother had a near fatal car accident and the audience knowing this added a further dimension to the performance. I managed to pop backstage after the set to request a picture of them before they flew off to other pastures. They duly granted me my wish. These are a friendly talented lot, check out the gallery for a glimpse at the pictures.

Next up Ash, still rocking out to their own blend of hard rock, punk, power pop, and grunge. The band brought with them a crowd of devoted fans, other music masters like Kula Shaker’s Crispin Mills, and a whir of new generation musicians; boys bought up on Ash and now making their own sounds. Two young confidantes (one of whom was Iain Pettifer from Stricken City ) confided to me that band members from Cherubs and the New Cassettes were to be found amongst the crowds. The presence of all these young creative types served as a reminder of where we were;  a germinal melting pot for young creatives. Anyway, back to Ash, and ultimately their good taste in fans is because of their musical expertise. Even with the split from Charlotte Hatherley, the remaining trio can still write and play formidably. From in the pit I saw the sad sight of a hidden guitarist so that their old songs still sounded as full out front as when the band were four, but most people couldn’t see this, they were too busy concentrating on their idols on stage.

The band gave fans a taste of new and older material. Classics included Orpheus, Kung Fu, Burn Baby Burn, and A Life Less Ordinary went down especially well with the fans. They also played the forthcoming single The End of The World from their new album Twilight of The Innocents just before they left the stage; yes, left the stage. A wee bit soon I thought too. Perhaps this had something to do with the 3 day run at KOKO that they had just finished, or because they had sunstroke after July’s only day of sunshine; maybe Tim was just in a mood, I don’t know.. But thankfully they did return to the stage to play a couple more tracks including their latest single release Polaris which fans enjoyed, even with the lyrics a little on the blue side,

‘We know we can’t go on, but we’re still holding on..
Don’t let me be the one to drag you down’.

It shouldn’t be the most enlightening song to listen to, depressing if anything, but that is Ash’s winning ticket. Even when their lyrics are bleak and as black as Mark’s hair, the epic combination of rolling, revolutionary drum beats alongside reverberating guitar passages, romantic keyboard loops, streaking string sections and the voice of Tim Wheeler, well you can’t help but feel somehow uplifted. Clearly the magic of Ash, and just enough for lottery winners to forgive them for what was a short, but neat, little set.
 

 Torie Speyer