Concert Review by Jamie Homer
Hoxton Square Bar & Restaurant, London – 8 February 2007
Today two things worth mentioning happened, and both in London. First, London awoke to 3 inches of overnight snowfall that greeted us for the morning commute, creating a king of mayhem akin to a mini revolution. And secondly, at 10:15 pm, the People’s Revolutionary (Choir) took the main stage at the Hoxton Bar and Restaurant.
With support from the Lea Shores, also a six piece atmospheric psychedelic rock outfit, the PRC took the stage to a three quarter full bar. I could very easily use words like post-rock, experimental, space/indie rock, sprawling, cathartic, intense, soothing, provocative or cerebral to describe what these guys sounds like. But I prefer the following approach: early Stones meets a rocking Bob Dylan, fused into some trippy Velvet Underground and the Stooges, all sharing the same bus with Spaceman 3 and God Speed you Black Emperor. The result is a surprising modern sound (with very clear hints of the past) that is both psychedelic and spacey, taking you up and then down, making you want to close your eyes and drift away.
Tonight we’ll hear THE BREEZE THAT BLOWS (the new single), LOST AND FOUND (the b-side), SALVATION BLUES and ELEVATE. But for me, the absolute highlight is a tune called (I think) YOU GOTTA BELIEVE, or that is the main chorus anyways. In any event, this song sounds great. Lal, harmonica in hand, is very much the front man of this band. He jumps up and down, the disco ball is alight, his brother Jim is at his side. This is the sort of song that can very easily get a band like this known. There is obvious Stones influences here, with that kind of hard 1966 style guitar riff, but it is uplifting and energetic and you almost want to know the lyrics so you can sing along with Lal.
This was a good show, too short in my opinion, but I guess when you are slotted as the 2nd band of 3 for a single night, you take what you can. My advice, check out the PRC, they will impress, the sound will remind you of something, but yet still seem new enough to be innovative, and it is quite catchy.
