I haven’t been to the Croft for some years but things haven’t changed much in that time, the smell, the poor lighting and a ‘soundsystem’ that could use a little more top end.

The evening kicked off with The Random Family,  whom  I didn’t know before, but really liked from the first. They’re a Liverpool  band and have been around since 2007 with the current line up, I understand.  They have some really well crafted song writing skills, warm, quirky lyrics and  lovely melody lines. They can all sing well, and combine for great harmonies. These people are good musicians who displayed a lot of confidence, musical empathy with one another, and a real friendly stage presence. This act was a real pleasure.

Band Members since 22/01/2007 

Joe Keelan - vocals, guitars, mandolin, banjo, harmonica.
Kathy Halter - vocals, flute, wooden flute, clarinet, tambourine, gloc (plinky plonk), harmonica.
Paulie Riley - vocals, double bass.
Billy Lazareni - vocals, guitars, mandolin, ukulele, bouzouki
The Random Family have recently released their second e.p. 'Caught in a Lullaby' and are currently to be found playing gigs of all shapes and sizes all over the country...

The Miserable Rich, (www.themiserablerich.co.uk), a band  from the Brighton area played the second set, with barely a pause between theirs and the previous act....... hats off to the sound engineer. Again I didn’t know of this band before seeing them, but again I found myself  stunned by musicians who were very, very  good. The pre-eminence of ‘top drawer’ cellists, violinists and bassists, (possibly with classical or jazz backgrounds), working their skills within the context of this type of acoustic music brought significant shift in the texture and  background  wash that swirled  around these songs. This act was delivered with poise,  and commitment, and the singer had real stage presence. I note from their website that they’ve toured frequently on the continent, and have a recent CD release, called ‘12 ways to count’. (Note a different bassist)

LINEUP ON "12 ways to count":

James de Malplaquet - Voc
Will Calderbank - Cello
Mike Siddell - Violin
Lindsey Oliver - Double Bass
Jim Briffet - Guitar

I first saw this band a couple of years ago playing  a packed pub in Bath, one rain swept night in late September 2007,  I think.  I remember it as a rather chaotic gig held together by the lead singer who simply carried on regardless of who was doing what, elsewhere in the band. He cut a rather austere figure whom I didn’t take to at the time. I also recall a clever cellist who seemed cheery and added her stuff to embellish a quirky, yet rather strange set.

I’ve now seen Babel around the Bristol / Bath  area about 5 times since then, and I really warm to them now. They really are still kind of chaotic with huge energy still bursting out of the singer , but it’s now a much more shared experience where all the band members indulge, and the energy is channeled into  quite a wild set of tunes that often evolve into dervish like swirls. There’s something a bit menacing about the lead man, (in a Nick Cave kind of way),  and his lyrics aren’t always clear. He  ended the set  crashing around the stage with mic stands flying, and him trying to elicit feedback from a beat up acoustic guitar through the stage monitors. It reminds me of the raw energy of those early Who concerts, but it’s really really great.

The standard of musicianship has improved hugely in the couple of years I’ve been tracking them, in that they are now a really ‘tight little band’. The cheery female drummer smiled or laughed throughout, she really enjoyed herself and played some stomping rhythm.  It helped with the drum kit being ‘miked up’ as all the accenting, rim shots and snare drum flourishes added volumes  to the overall drive and energy.  This  drummer  coupled to my favorite Bristol cellist, and accompanied by a sharp violinist + bass player, provided a solid base for the singer to ‘surf on’ and indulge his stage antics.

The songs this band sings are worth hearing, though I was often distracted by the stage antics and wild rhythms, swirling across the stage. A great act, and an evolving band.

www.babelmusic.co.uk