aaamusic | On 29, Jan 2011

London, 24th January

In the dim red light of the basement bar of Fitzrovia’s The Social, Richard Warren took to the stage. Acoustic guitar in hand, his dark and dirty country-tinged style has very favourable echoes of Nick Cave. Playing songs from his debut solo album ‘Laments’, Warren is at times a soft crooner, at times bathed in such feedback he’s almost unlistenable. Although not necessarily for everyone, he is defiantly worth catching live if you like your troubadours heartbroken and whisky soaked.

Warren is the opening act of a night curated by The Tenebrous Liar, described as ‘an evening of sound, land and skyscapes’. This is a reference to the accompanying photography exhibition by T.L.’s frontman Steve Gullick. A prolific band photographer, Gullick’s pictures, exhibited in the beautiful upstairs bar, are a series of dreamy landscapes that perfectly compliment the soaring and hallucinogenic music of the band.

When The Tenebrous Liar come onstage, the space is so small for the four piece to squeeze into, I never even see the drummer, hidden behind a speaker stack.

After Richard Warren, The Tenebrous Liar are not at all what I was expecting, loud, thrashing post-rock to lose your head to. However, despite not being musically similar, Warren and T.L.’s dark and brooding styles complement each other and present an overall feel for the evening.

The tiny bar is packed out to see the headliners and they don’t disappoint. Playing songs from their latest album ‘Run Run Run’, the band have the right combination of sonic muscle and fragile, dreamy melody to hold the room enthralled.

At one point the bassist and guitarist swap instruments, which only adds to the range of sound the band can produce.  During another song, Gullick spends nearly five minutes simply banging the body of his guitar to create an imense wall of noise.

There are quieter moments too, with Gullick’s moody drawl taking centre stage. These patches of menacing calm within a set filled with pent up energy exploding across the stage work beautifully.

My only complaint is the choice of venue. The Social is a seriously cool venue, but with long thin space and many tables for sitting and eating right near the stage, it doesn’t really suit such an energetic live and loud band. As an audience member I felt slightly disconnected from what was going onstage and slightly awkward.

However, that small gripe aside, The Tenebrous Liar played a brilliant set and are establishing themselves as a great live act. The decision for them not to simply play a gig, but to curate the whole night into a connected, fuller experience was really interesting and is something I’d love to see more bands experimenting with.

Author: Laura Oliver