Gig review: BRAVE RIVAL – Tropic at Ruislip, London, 5 March 2023

March 12th, 2023 by andynathan

In an ever more crowded field of new acts, particularly in the world of blues rock, it is hard to sort out the exceptional talent from the merely good. As a shortcut through this minefield, I tend to rely on hearing a buzz from multiple sources either among friends or in the press, and one particular name receiving rave reviews has been South Coast act Brave Rival.

A perfect opportunity arose at short notice to see them just within my side of suburban London at the Tropic at Ruislip. In the clubhouse at what is now Wealdstone FC’s ground, this must now be one of London’s longest running rock venues and mainly hosts tribute acts on a Friday, but periodically stages a blues night on a Sunday, and this was apparently the best turnout yet for one of these, albeit with a crowd old enough to be the band’s parents – at the very least!

What distinguishes Brave Rival is that they boast not one but two female lead singers in Lindsey Bonnick and Chloe Josephine (Dixon). While there are some slight differences in nuance- the former with a more conventional blues rock voice, the latter’s a touch higher but with more emphasis on soul – the two mesh beautifully but to no fixed pattern- harmony, lead and backing, or often both singing lead at different points in the same song.

The two slightly bohemian looking singers also had the warm, chatty and confessional style of a comedy duo, and their friendship was quite heartwarming with stories including how they had even written songs (‘Crave’) about emotional troubles they had been through or even in support of each other.

Ed Clarke was content to play a low key stage presence but was a quite brilliant guitarist, switching between a more considered blues style and heavier, faster yet still melodic playing. A third woman in drummer Donna Peters and bassist Billy Dedman completed a very accomplished set of players.

They opened with ‘Fairytale’ with its ‘down the rabbit hole’ chorus but really hit their stride with two mainstream rockers, ‘Secrets’ and ‘Guilty Love’, both apparently written as break up songs before their love of blues and soul was given free rein with an Etta James cover ‘Damn Your Eyes’. ‘Fool for You’ saw then dabble in a jazzier, funkier sound.

The crowd was sedate, to put it kindly, and the gap between the stage and the mixing desk and first rows of seating made it harder to get people to participate in the show as they would like. So during ‘Thin Ice’ Chloe took the drastic step of wandering through the crowd to sing the chorus ‘you’re no good for me, you’re temporary’ at surprised punters. Impressively they had enough material for two sets, the first of which ended with another lengthy blues in ‘Long Time Coming’.

Making a special pleading for quiet, they began the second half with a simply beautiful acoustic rendition of ‘The Sound of Silence’, Donna also switching to guitar, before gradually rocking things up again. ‘Break Me’ was a blues with the sweetest of lengthy solos from Ed while the gutsy ‘Run and Hide’ reminded me of the likes of Meredith Brooks or other late nineties post-Morrisette feisty singers.

After another longer jam in ‘Comedown’, the set closed with ‘What’s Your Name Again’, perhaps the rockiest yet with thrillingly dirty slide guitar from Ed, and there was time for one encore in ‘Heart Attack’, one of those blues rockers that the current digital rock radio stations love to pick up on.

Much like Buck and Evans and Cardinal Black, Brave Rival take influences from vintage rock, blues and soul, but are using them to create something uniquely fresh and a little different from the norm. That buzz that is building around them is fully justified.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Album review (Life’s Machine, 2022)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
RIOGHAN Hands (Inverse Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)