aaamusic | On 02, Dec 2010

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London, 29th November

It’s a long way to the Kings College London Student Union if you wanna Rock n’ Roll!! (especially if the Tube’s on strike!)
The KCLSU saw some really nice bands on the bill for the night: “Matt Berry” and the supporting band “The Cordelier Club”. (Unfortunately we missed the first band: The Intraverse).
When we arrived, Richard and Alice Smith (brother and sister duet) were on stage playing with The Cordelier Club, and you could sense the atmosphere was awesome! The crowd really enjoyed it and danced to “Don’t let it go by”, the A-side of the forthcoming album coming out next week. They also showcased the B side of their new single entitled “We Can Dance”: a really nice disco feel with some funky guitars; it is impossible to be quiet while listening to it, you gotta shake your body, baby!!!
Energy is the first word that comes to mind to describe their performance. The band proved to be capable of owning the audience and the stage, with a nice colourful display mixing electronic pop and rock sounds on a really accurate arranging of the songs, that didn’t sound like indie music but reminded strongly of the 80s’ sound. If you haven’t already seen them live, you should seriously consider doing so!
Next up was the already famous Matt Berry, actor, writer, comedian and musician, probably best known by his work on the TV series “Snuff Box”. Once switched off the lights, people started to push nervously under the stage, when a psychedelic sound completely embraced the audience.

A sweet clarinet melody sounded through a massive electro base and here we were! The guitar started to play an agitated riff leading all the band towards the main melody of “Love is a Fool”, probably the fan favourite. In that moment, Berry joined the band on the stage so people were simply going crazy!! A massive mix of Funk, Pop, Rock, Prog and Soul sounds which affect all of us and drew a smile in our face, boy, we were enjoying the gig!! After a couple of songs, Berry let his fans take a breath with “Reach for the ground”, but it was just the beginning. Berry’s band is sublime and often proved their talent with long instrumental parts that never bore the audience, but excite them as the amazing call and response between the guitar and the trombone, which was played by the pianist of the band. It left us all breathless! “The hangman”, “Jet setter”, “One track lover”, you name it…Berry played several songs from his first album “Opium”(2006), often mixing theme in a fantastic medley, but he presented also songs from his new album ,“Witchazel”, his proper debut album that will be out on the street in March 2011. The closing tracks are amazing, “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Woman” are just magnificent.

If I have to be honest, I never heard about Matt Berry before, but I seriously recommend you to assist to his next gig.

Author: Francesco Morello

Photos: Stefania Sorice