Talking to a full house, the Texan singer-songwriter announces: “When I decided to do this solo album – they said ‘you are nothing without Jaret Reddick’,” speaking as member of Reddick’s ‘other’ band People On Vacation, and former front-man of Smile Smile. Yet Hamilton has certainly proved those people wrong by releasing a fan-funded solo album which charted in the iTunes UK top 20. Now on his first UK headline tour – we will surely see if he needs his mate from Bowling For Soup or not.
Newcastle’s Think Tank is slowly becoming a legendary music venue in it’s own right. Every gig here holds enough to attract a band’s core fans, the real music lovers. Still, it isn’t expensive or ‘small’ enough to put off those who want to take a chance on a new act or band they don’t know much about. This gig being no exception. Support coming from neo-acoustic songwriter Danny Gruff. (Who also supported Ryan on his house party tour, and with People On Vacation). Danny shows a great stage presence by getting the crowd on his side before he even plays a note. This man’s humour is the key to his performance. Although they aren’t comedic in the same way Tenacious D or Steel Panther are – these tracks do reflect his shining personality. For a man who wrote 52 songs in the same year – he has a pretty tight set. Have you ever seen a support act and thought ‘Why isn’t this guy more well known?’ Danny Gruff is one of those.
Our headline act -Ryan Hamilton -takes to the stage in a REO Speedwagon tee, headband and black Levi’s. Along with with drummer Micky and guitarist Rob – these guys could easily be mistaken for fellow fans. Amps decorated with action figures – this is as down to earth as you can get. Starting off strong with singles ‘Karaoke With No Crowd’ and ‘Records And Needles’ Hamilton doesn’t waste time in keeping his audience happy.The lyrics of the latter track lay his influences on the table: I got Bob/ The Beatles/ Tom Petty and The Rolling Stones/ records and needles to remind me/ how the song should go – in addition to using Bowie as intro music – this is a man who is truly living his boyhood dream. Of course Ryan’s previous projects have assisted him in the business, but tracks from his début solo album ‘Hell Of a Day’ show this is someone who has spent his life perfecting the art of pop/ rock song-writing.
The mid-song banter further confirms he is honoured to be on that stage in front of these people. It may be related to his personal connection to Newcastle, but the realisation his dreams have come true might have made him smile so much during the performance. He even takes us back to his roots by performing Smile Smile’s biggest hit ‘Truth On Tape’ which sounds very down-beat compared to his current material.
We even get a humourous take on the REO Speedwagon track ‘Take It On The Run’ which Ryan describes as ‘one of the world’s greatest love songs’ and changes it to the schoolboy-ish ‘Take it up the bum’ giving the lyrics a whole new meaning. Although this shows off his funnier side, the personal investment in the original is still there. Going back to his solo work with misfit anthem ‘Freak Flag’ and ‘Four Letter Verb’ ease us back in to the swing of things. If anything, this gig has shown how great these songs sound live.
As brilliant as POV, Bowling For Soup and Jaret Reddick is himself – it seems he doesn’t define Ryan Hamilton as a musician / artist, at all. POV is a brilliant collaboration but they are both different performers all together. As Ryan said himself in the show – Smile Smile were as far away from BFS as you can be, and it was hard to believe Jaret wanted to work with an artist who is another world apart. Yet it worked. What we have learnt to day is – those who said Ryan was ‘nothing’ without him (‘knobs’ as he recalls) -couldn’t be more wrong. Ryan Hamilton is an amazing songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and all-around entertainer. It’s hard to believe such a learned artist is only touring his first solo record. If anything, we have much more greatness to come. Ryan can stand on his own two feet. The songs speak for themselves.
Photos by Sarah F Martin
