Wednesday 18th February 2015
Omaha
at the Soundhouse
Words by Trevor Locke; photos by RhinoferoSs.
A night presented by Dreaming In Colour Productions, with four good bands on the stage:
Cavalier, Super73, Pavilions and Omaha.
It was a night of solidly good music; the kind of night that makes you want to go to gigs.
The show was started by Cavalier, a five-piece band from Surrey. Broadly speaking they play ‘alternative rock.’ Not having seen them before, I was not sure what to expect.
I was not disappointed; they were strikingly good. As soon as they started to play I liked them. The leader singer had a good voice; that is always a bonus and a good place to start. Backing vocals were provided by the guitarist. The band’s songs were quality – providing ear-pleasing melodies, a well varied selection of paces and beats and their stage presence was engaging.
They all looked committed, living their passion for the songs, putting themselves into their music. Their well-written songs were strong on attack and they got the evening off to a flying start.
The lead singer announced the title of each song before they played it, adding comments such as which of their EPs it was from. It was a polished performance from a really good band – one you would like to see again. Job done.
Follow Cavalier on Facebook
Watch a clip from their performance tonight on YouTube
Super73 is a Leicester band I have seen before – a few times. They have four musicians: Mark Whinkless – Vocals/Guitars, Steve Potter – Vocals/Guitars, Andy Winfield – Vocals/Drums and Rob Ellis – Bass/Atmospherics.
I saw Super73 when they supported Sonic Boom Six in July last year; I wrote: ‘From start to finish, Super73 proved that they are one of our definitive power-rock bands’ [Music in Leicester magazine]
I added ‘Tonight they demonstrated how to deliver a jet-propelled, incandescent half hour of driven music that created a totally electric atmosphere. Sounds that were full of explosive ordnances were relentlessly driven along by the vocals of Mark Whinkless, backed by Stephen Potter (when not himself leading the singing) and by Andrew Winfield on the drums.’
Well what more can I say? Super73’s music has edge, strong attack and their songs are powerful and commanding. Music that throbs with power and energy. ‘When it comes to super-charged rock, it doesn’t get better than this’ sums it up.
Follow Super73 on Facebook
Listen to a few of their songs on ReverbNation
Another band I have not seen before is Pavilions. They are from The Wirral.
Armed with a strong lead singer – Tezz Roberts – they delivered a set of drivingly powerful songs that were not short on ear-pleasing melodic riffs. Music that was inventive, exhilarating and exciting, all the elements that you would expect from a top-class band offering post-hardcore, alternative.
Pavilions are currently debuting their album The Future’s Mine to Make and have released a debut single Futures from this. What stood out for me was the superb vocals of their lead singer.
Rhythms, drummer and beats that had relentlessly good dynamics. One of the songs they played tonight was A Stitch In Time which you hear on YouTube.
Follow Pavilions on Facebook
Get a taste of Pavilions from YouTube
As the production lighting flooded the stage in reds light and the smoke rose round the band, Omaha launched their opening song in a blaze of atmosphere.
The thing I noticed straight away was the lyrics – extraordinarily good. Omaha is an alternative rock band from Leicester – members are Jack Voss – Vocals, Ben Corbett – Guitar, Freddie Goli – Guitar, Arron Bailey – Bass and Jake Clark – Drums.
Voss got on to the floor to sing, getting closer to the band’s ardent and enthusiastic fans. They gave a strongly attractive performance offering exciting songs played with passion.
The band is signed to Monument Music, an independent management and booking agency that has an impressive roster of bands. The band’s new EP Chapters is being released by the US label We Are Triumphant.
Omaha’s appearance tonight was a valuable opportunity to hear them live in their home town; my guess is that we will sadly not see much of them around here as they will be on tour for much of the time. Omaha’s songs have been likened to the sounds of You Me At Six and Kids in Glass Houses. A superb finale to a night of stunningly good band music.
Follow Omaha on Facebook
or see the band’s website
and read about Chapters EP on Already Heard (it’s a pretty good write-up.)
See also:
Upstairs/Downstairs: a strong line-up of bands at The Shed
The finales of obsUnplugged shows for singers and acoustic artists
Leicester’s Linear headline at Sumo
