‘Bourne music club, Sittingbourne, Kent .. 5th Sept 2024
Currently touring across the UK in support of their splendid new album, The Southern, The Cold Stares, from Indiana via Kentucky, returned to perform before a decently sized crowd at the ‘bourne music club and they bring a taste of the South to a generation of southern rock fans a little too young to have seen Skynyrd and the Allmans, with their music firmly rooted in the heart and soul of the South.
The evening was opened by support act, from Newbury Berkshire, The Revenant, who began sounding like a heavy metal band and proceeded to play a very lively set indeed. They perform a couple of their own songs, ‘Best Medicine’ and the poignant ‘The Healer’, with the message about how we should always look out for our friends, especially when they’re at their lowest ebb because you just never know what might happen. Then it’s on to audience participation time, we’re asked, do we like Led Zep? And, of course, a huge cheer goes up. Do we like Sabbath? Another cheer. They then proceed to perform a mash-up of ‘War Pigs’ and ‘Whole Lotta Love’. They repeat the process with AC/DC and Queen with ‘Back In Black’ and ‘Thing Called Love’ and, then, rather oddly they follow up with with Nirvana and Michael Jackson and a couple of others, and they all work very well. They conclude a raucous set with ‘Rolling On My Back’ and leave the stage to well-deserved applause.
The Cold Stares then calmly stroll on stage, unannounced and 15 minutes early, and begin with ‘Horse To Water’, the single from their new album. They’re a traditional format three-piece band, guitar/vocals, bass and drums and tonight’s set consists of a series of rugged guitar riffs, chugging rhythms and songs of emotional depth. The Stares take us on a trawl through their back catalogue, even going right the way back with the slow, bluesy 3rd Degree, from their 2014 debut album. There’s a touch of Boogie Woogie with ‘Going Down Easy’ off the Ways album, from which we also get ‘Any Way The Wind Blows’ and ‘I Was A Fool’. Guitar man Chris Tapp is the main composer and he’s also a blinding guitar player, tearing off some quite delicious runs during the solos, especially on ‘Confession’ from the new album, and he’s able to off and play as he has an amazingly tight rhythm section in Bryce Khuel (bass) and Brian Mullins (drums) behind him. He tells the crowd how they love playing the smaller places because ‘the fans are more appreciative’ .. they certainly were tonight.
Tapp changes to a Dobro for ’61 Blues’ and we get the rocky ‘Evil Eye’ plus another up-tempo tune, ‘Giving It Up’, from the latest album, and a great version of ‘Prosecution Blues’.
Tonight’s gig is what live music on the ground floor is all about. For not too much of an outlay, fans get two bands offering good music and both playing their hearts out, now compare this to the bank loan required for the blatant money grab which is the Oasis reunion (In my opinion). It’s worth catching The Cold Stares now because, on this form and with a hot new album out now, you’ll have to go to bigger venues to see them soon.
