Caimbo, The Whybirds, The Friday Nights.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. 12th August 2008.

Most of the thin number of people who have bothered to drag themselves in to this, a rare Tuesday night gig, are here to witness THE WHYBIRDS. The country rock quartet who constantly put on a good show. Gigging on the back of their recently released album, tonight is a special occasion as it marks a century of gigs for the band. Congratulations and hopefully here's to the next hundred.

With pounding drums and an all out rocking start "Jenny Can We Take a Ride?" begins the show as it means to go on. "Turn Right (I'll Turn Left)" follows in a similar vein. As always, the bands inbetween song banter is kept to a minimum, but they offer us a cheery "Good evening"! It's then the drummer's turn to take lead vocals on "Make me Numb", a drinkers song which gets a loud cheer from some 'pisshead' at the back of the room! The variation of vocalists is completed on "Four Little Letters". Now each of the four band members have taken lead roles. This interchange is what makes the band so special. The song is gentle, but the build up and the execution of the climactic guitar outro is superb. Sensing that the intimate audience are enjoying themselves, the band engagingly ask "How's everyone doin' on this lovely Tuesday evening?". We are doing fine and the almost singalong "What it Means" raises the enjoyment ante even further.

"Hauling" is The Whybirds' little joker, as the band repetitively sing "Blow out the candles". The delay and false ending to the song catches out a few people! "Something Real" contains an epic guitar intro to a slow burning country rocker. The band repeat, almost hypnotically "Some may fade away". As this is such a special night for The Whybirds, they dedicate "Hard to Find" to us here at Esquires. An ironic choice really, as so many bands and people I have spoken to say "Esquires, such a hard place to find"! To round off the set, the honky-tonk country sound of "Before I go Crazy". Once more the vocals take over amidst the almost soulful cry of "Man I gotta get out". It's a song not on the album, but the perfect end to another enjoyable Whybirds set.

Headlining are CAIMBO, an extremely confident and totally brash Cambridge rock quartet. Initially they are noticeable for their vivid shock of blond hair and old skool no-nonsense, heads down, boogie blues rock songs. With a few mates in the crowd to offer some limited support, this is an impressive Esquires debut. Full of good anthemic tunes, which are highlighted by the newer "Treading in Deep Water". That and forthcoming single "Heart and Soul" are the picks of an impressive set.

To start, we witness local youngsters THE FRIDAY NIGHTS. This trio's best song is "You Dance".