25th January 2013
Resin debut album, ‘Embrace the Fall’
launch gig, 19th December 2013
Trevor Locke reports.
A big crowd, a big line-up of bands and a well organised show. Resin’s debut album launch gig was a great success, despite it being a wet Wednesday evening. All of the support bands were good. The evening had a sense of magic about it, a feeling that it was a special occasion.
Home made Resin cup cakes © Kevin Gaughan
The band had gone to a lot of trouble to make this a special event: free champagne on arrival at the door, specially prepared cakes and the names of each act projected on to the back of the stage – it was those thoughtful extras that added value to the whole event.
Firebug proved to an an excellent choice of venue, with its high stage that enabled the musicians to be seen over the heads of the crowd and sound and lighting that was most satisfactory.
The Dedbeats © Kevin Gaughan
The four members of Leicester’s The Dedbeats opened the show. Rhett Barrow’s band took to the stage as the audience dribbled in from the cold wet streets of Leicester. Plenty of rumbling riffs filled the room with some serious drum beats over which Rhett’s voice sailed with ease. Rolling rhythms and stomping beats backed with great guitar work
The Dedbeats © Kevin Gaughan
At the end of the first song shouts of “alrrrrrright” echoed from the audience (Rhett’s trademark greeting). The room was warming up as the band delivered some dramatic sounding chords for their metal-esq tunes.
Formed earlier this year, the band has earned a following and established itself in the consciousness of Leicester’s gig-going public, fuelled by the legendary reputation of singer extraordinaire Rhett Barrow.
Click here to see The Dedbeats perform at the gig (video © Artisticdazvideoman).
The Dedbeats on Facebook.
The lead singer of Ronin appeared on stage dressed all in white with a full length coat making his mark as an artist with a good deal of eye-catching presence.
Ronin © Kevin Gaughan
The songs had plenty of energy, laced with crashing highlights from the cymbals and driven by pounding beats. With the room filling up nicely, the show was well under way and the audience warmed to the band from Worcester, giving them an enthusiastic acclaim at the end of each song.
Ronin © Kevin Gaughan
Sparkling guitar work and compelling rhythms went down well, the lead singer’s strong voice giving it all plenty of appeal.
You can see Ronin again at The Shed on 26th January.
Click here to see Ronin perform at the gig (video © Artisticdazvideoman).
Ronin on Reverbnation.
From the Ashes © Kevin Gaughan
From London, From The Ashes continued the theme, their songs being reminiscent of AC/DC, having plenty of rolling intros and thumping beats, backed by vocals from the guitarist and bassist for their fired-up set.
Click here to see From the Ashes perform at the gig (video © Artisticdazvideoman).
The audience was now at maximum capacity, the crowd packing down to the front of stage area, as Leicester’s Raptusound picked up their guitars. This is one local band that has made its mark and built up a strong following. We have already written about this band and you can tell that we are enthusiastic fans of their work.
Raptusound © Kevin Gaughan
Layered with ear-licking electro sounds from the synth of Leigh Dunning and charged with the powerful voice of lead singer Christopher Brown, the songs lit up the room with sweeping phrases to create a rich and complex offering. Raptusound has a particular knack at building up the dynamics of their songs. Their songs are now, contemporary in feel, full of ear-catching melodic phrases and engaging harmonies.
Tonight’s performance was special for the band because musician Leigh Dunning was playing his last gig with the band. The band played a cover in his honour. Their stormingly good set went down well with the audience.
Click here to see Raptusound perform at the gig (video © Artisticdazvideoman).
Raptusound on Facebook.
The headline event arrived.
With a back of stage projection and a pre-recorded track forming the intro, the musicians came on the the stage to cheers and whistles from the audience. This was the night on which Resin launched their album Embrace The Fall. As the band performed, photos of them were projected on to the back of the stage.
Resin © Portraitable Art and Photography
After the cheering had subsided, Resin’s first song got under way. The richly mixed sounds and well blended instrumentals delivered a captivating listening experience to the packed house. On the sound desk, Resin’s own sound engineer, Dean Sharman, was in control of the mixing.
Resin © Portraitable Art and Photography
As breath-taking guitar solos soared across the hall, the Album Launch took the audience through the songs that appear in the album.
Like many of the fans, we had got to know several of these songs really well. We have always liked Resin’s music, ever since they first formed as a band. The band has exceptional abilities across the board, not just in making incredibly good music but in their professional approach to organising themselves and in their mature professionalism as a well organised team of hard working musicians.
Resin © Portraitable Art and Photography
Resin’s songs have an iconic, world-class feel to them. The audience seemed to agree, judging from the enthusiastic applaud at the end of each song. A feature of the distinctive Resin music is the chromatic sound of lead guitarist Mark Roseby, producing a highly recognisable twang, not found in many other bands. The voice of James Botha is also a feature that makes Resin’s songs so immediately recognisable.
Click here to see Resin perform at the gig (video © Artisticdazvideoman).
Resin on Facebook.
Resin’s web site.
Entrance to the show was free; as a result fans spent money on merchandise and albums. Money thrown into the donations buckets went to help the expenses of the support bands.
A night of top class music from remarkably good bands and a capacity audience – even for a Wednesday night. An event of which Leicester music scene can be proud.
December 2014
On the Resin website it says
For the foreseeable future you won’t be seeing Resin out gigging after our Xmas party.
Our final gig will be at Firebug Dec 20th let’s go out with a bang !!! And we have Mark back on drums for that one so please let’s have a party to remember and who knows what the future holds ?
Credits
Many thanks to Artisticdazvideoman (Darren Hines) for the use of his videos and also to Portraitable Art and Photography (Kate Knight) for the use of her photographs of Resin in this review.
See also: