11 Rivers, Kristian Purcell, Rob Miller.

Bedford Esquires Lev 1. 10th May. 2007.

If its Thursday, then it must be showcase night here in the bar. Tonight, Northampton's 11 Rivers headline , with the acoustic portion filled firstly with ROB MILLER, and latterly Kristian Purcell, who both shared two twenty minute segments. Rob's set is more consumer friendly. A covers compendium that stretches from Guns'n'Roses to Dire Straits to Alice Cooper, although my favourite is his moving tribute to the tragically short career of Elliot Smith.

Fellow acoustic buddy KRISTIAN PURCELL excels at present as a member of the wonderful Tinker Jack. However, his solo work here at Esquires is prolific and spans all of the decade. It's a lot darker and more intense than Rob, and includes a lot of his own compositions. I rather liked 'I'll Be There For You' and the penultimate song which mutates into the Stooges 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'.

11 RIVERS are the consummate classic rock band. Four musicians, very tight, and in their home county appear to be making real progress since their formation almost a year ago. All are in their thirties and have previously played in other bands. Unfortunately tonight their style of music is not witnessed by the sort of people who would really appreciate it. It's very competent, but does not appear to be going anywhere and the B-word (boredom) sets in very early. Nice people to chat to, but the music flows around in a river of mediocrity for this reviewer.