There is no harder working touring band than Brave Rival, but of their many shows this was a special one, a well attended Central London showcase for their new (and excellent) ‘5 to 4’ EP which marks a new chapter for the band. Unfortunately the EP was not for sale as that would render them ineligible for the charts.

The band are relatively youthful and yet have always tended to attract a devoted and older crowd, a fact their shift from blues to rock seems to have done nothing to change, judging from the crowd of men many in their sixties or above that had apparently started forming on Oxford Street over two hours before the gig. Indeed, in front of me at the gig was a gentleman in a dapper tweed sports jacket who looked like he had come straight from a Rotary Club executive lunch. Pleased to report he was loving it as much as the rest of us.

Support came from Demi Marriner, familiar in Brave Rival’s touring history as a member of Elles Bailey’s band alongside a solo career. It was the latter which was showcased tonight: previously I’d only seen her acoustic but this time, her petite figure almost dwarfed by her acoustic guitar, she was fronting a full four-piece band. I really enjoyed opener ‘Sound the Alarm’ and other highlights in her Americana-flavoured set included ‘Distorted Desires’, ‘Repeat Refrain’ and ‘Think Of Me’.

‘Stop, Pause Rewind’ featured some mournful slide playing from excellent guitarist Joe Coombes, a dead ringer for Glenn Frey circa 1973. ‘Sins’ had a bluesier feel not unlike Brave Rival’s old direction and after ‘Need to Know’ the set ended with a rockier number in ‘Good Guy Act’ with feisty lyrics and fine slide work from Joe. It was a very enjoyable support slot from a very personable artist who also writes good songs.

Brave Rival came on stage to an intro tape and started as they meant to continue with some sharp riffing from Ed ‘the Shred’ Clarke heralding ‘Let Me Rock and Roll’ as he pulled poses at the front of the stage with bassist Billy ‘Danger’ Dedman. Singer Lindsey Bonnick, dressed in a Steampunk looking outfit and with a crown of roses around her head, screamed some splendid vitriol (‘you’re no prince charming/don’t call me sugar’.

She got a clapalong going during the more familiar ‘Bad Choices’ and a sing along to the ‘who-oahs’, then another killer riff that owed more to modern rock than traditional blues led into ‘Poison’ with more audience participation on the mid-song ‘hey heys’. Even the stuff from ‘Flight or Flight’ has had a makeover only a year from the album’s release: ‘Seventeen’ had a strong Zeppelin feel with its riffing and an almost Schenker-esque melodic solo from Ed, and ‘On the Next Round’ also rocked hard with some powerful drumming from Donna Peters leading into another explosive guitar solo.

A lengthy ‘Stars Upon My Scars’ represented a rare reversion to the earlier bluesier sound, followed by ‘What’s Your Name Again’ with Ed’s dirty slide playing that used to be an outlier in the set but now settles snugly alongside more recent material.

The remaining songs from the EP were all played in sequence, starting with the bouncing ‘Wild Child’ and ‘Control’, staying on the very edge of melodic, then some acoustic guitar from Donna introduced the lengthy epic ‘Try Again’. It was a privileged position to be in, looking around to see those who had yet to hear the full EP blown away by the song the same way I was when I received a review copy.

While the music may have changed somewhat, there was the usual playful inter-band banter that helps make every Brave Rival show enjoyable, including Ed cheekily saying Lindsey had been mistaken from his mum! ‘Stand Up’ was another almost unrecognisable from its studio counterpart and in another example of how old favourites have been subtly rearranged to meet the new line-up and direction, a new acapella intro from Lindsey heralded a full on rock out with hooks of ‘Run and Hide’ somehow managing to sound even bigger.

The main set closed with ‘Heavy’, now surely their signature song, given the big ballad treatment by Lindsey, but now stretching to 11 minutes, the last half an epic showcase for Ed’s varied guitar talents, from slow blues to full on shredding. For the encore the band laid down deep and solid grooves on the older ‘Fairytale’.

I’d already had an apéritif for this gig in their support slot to FM last month and hearing an advance copy of the EP. And yet I was blown away by the sheer no holds barred power of the new-look band on a night which left a massive smile on my face.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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