The Rifles, The Ravines, Fruition, The Newtones.
Esquires Bedford Lev 2 6th July 2006.
Reviewed by Martin Stapleton / Pictures by Suzy Cook.
Ah! At last I caught up with The Rifles, a band I missed the last time they played here back in February (to a rather mixed reception by all accounts). Their return tonight is a warm up gig for their appearance at the 'T in the Park' festival.
It's a good turnout for a Thursday and watching THE RIFLES in action they certainly have that special charisma befit of bands on the verge of the big time. So many groups pass through Esquires with the same guitar / bass / drums set up and to be honest a lot of them tend to make a similar racket. However, on this performance The Rifles have to potential to transcend the mediocre. Time will tell whether they have that certain essential ingredient called luck.
Frontman Joel Stoker, with his rather pronounced 'cockerney' vocals, brings to life their songs of inner-city strife and trouble with the opposite sex. Tonight, for the very first time, the boys play their forthcoming album 'No Love Lost' in it's entirety live.
They start on a high with current hit single 'She's Got Standards', and immediately the audience are dancing. In fact, the set as whole carries on in a similar vein - fast and frentic yet bitingly caustic and whereas an audience can sometimes be shy and retiring, tonight they are vociferous, clapping, cheering and singing along word for word to 'Peace and Quiet' (a gem of a single that hopefully will be re-released) and 'Fast Car'.
The Rifles have earned comparisons with The Jam (even their name seems to be a nod to The Jam track 'Eton Rifles') and tonight it easy to see where those comparisions come from. However, it is not all 100mph mod / punk anthems as 'Spend a Lifetime' gives us an opportunity to catch our breath as this lush acoustic nugget washes over us with a Summer glow. However, this only seems to fuel The Rifles up for the following track 'Robin Hood', which the band are of the opinion was the song of the set. My personal favourite followed next, 'Repeated Offender' and the cheers of the crowd suggested it was their favourite too! A very fine pop song but despite all the frenetic activity on stage. guitarist Lucas Crother is still attached to his trademark pork-pie hat. As the evening ends the crowd bay for an encore for a moment it's like being in the Stretford End!
The Rifles do indeed return and treat the marvellous crowd to the semi-acoustic and reflective 'Narrow Minded Social Club' while 'Local Boy' gives everybody one last chance to go manic as they bow out in style.
It will be interesting to see how their debut album (out on the 17th July) fares. I'll certainly be buying a copy.
The Rifles set list:
• She's got Standards , • One Night Stand, • Hometown Blues, • She's the Only One, • Peace and Quiet, • Fast Car, • Spend a Lifetime, • Robin Hood, • Repeated Offender, • No Love Lost, • When I'm Alone, • Narrow Minded Social Club (encore), • Local Boy (encore).
Support came from The NEWTONES, whose youthful exuberance shows no sign of abating. Fruition gave a bouncy and lively set of mod-influenced tunes while The Ravines, although very classy, played a set that felt slightly out of place with the rest of the night.
Review by Martin Stapleton. www.bedfordesquires.co.uk