Gig review: ROMEO’S DAUGHTER – The Garage, Highbury, London, 23 September 2023

September 30th, 2023 by andynathan

With good timing, as their new album ‘Slipstream’ has just been released, Romeo’s Daughter played their first show in London since the pandemic. Indeed much of the pre show talk evolved around who had retained their tickets from an original cancelled show here at the Garage in 2019, though they did headline a show at Nells Jazz and Blues just before the Covid shutdown.

An added bonus for me was to see one of the many emerging bands in Sweet Crisis, after a fashion as they were shrouded in near darkness during opener ‘Step Right Up’. Their set warmed up with ‘Black Magic’ and they really hit their stride with the spacious grooves of ‘Ain’t Got Soul’ with a marvellous tasteful and laid back guitar solo from Piers Mortimer.

Singer Leo Robarts had a very casual stage presence, right down to asking us if we were enjoying our Friday night, which came as a surprise, as we all thought it was a Saturday. (Incidentally the guitarist and the singer who are old friends, are not related yet are the spit of each other!).

Though a new song, ‘Summer of Love’ appeared a tad unfinished, ‘Treading In Deep Water’ and ‘Rolling In It’ were examples of a beautiful sound that takes on board vintage classic rock blues and soul influences but gives them a contemporary twist. With a 10pm curfew I was expecting a short set but in fact it was a generous 45 minutes. If the atmospheric ‘Misty Haze’ meandered a little as the clock ticked on, set closer ‘Tricks On My Mind’ atoned, punchy and built on an earworm garage rock style riff.

Around for a few years now, their popularity has yet to really take off and I’m not sure this particular audience were receptive, but I really hope they get the exposure they deserve.

After a swift turnaround, thoughts of their new album were set aside for a while as Romeo’s Daughter as they opened with a trio of vintage songs – ‘Heaven In The Backseat’ complete with Mutt Lange-isms, a rocking ‘Attracted To The Animal’ and ‘Velvet Tongue’.

Leigh Matty, who never seems to age, has a warm and inclusive stage manner, like a favourite auntie or big sister. She admitted they were nervous before a hometown audience, not least introducing her Mum who appeared very sprightly as she moved to the music.

After ‘Bittersweet’, which was pop rock perfection, came the first of the new songs in ‘Fake’ which rocked unexpectedly hard, before a series of quality tunes from their 2010s comeback albums ‘Rapture’ and ‘Spin’, in ‘Radio’, a bouncy ‘Alive’ with the crowd clapping along to the intro and its bright chorus and ‘Enemy’. Indeed ‘Over You’ had even greater melodic hooks, yet proved to be the second and last new number as they decided to break the new album in gently for now.

The gig then took – by their standards – a heavy turn with ’Trippin’ and ‘Have Mercy’, the latter a welcome cut from their second album ‘Delectable’ which can be unfairly overlooked. The rest of the set saw a generous selection from their debut album with ‘Inside Out’ with some crowd participation sandwiching ‘Colour You a Smile’ and ‘Cry Myself to Sleep at Night’.

The latter two had longer guitar solos that showcased main songwriter Craig Joiner’s taste and sense of melody and in fact I found myself wondering why he was never poached in the past by FM with whom RD have a long standing connection. He has an understated style though was more animated than usual, regularly crossing the stage to jam and pose with bassist Steve Drennan.

The set ended with their first single ‘Don’t Break My Heart’ which was very welcome as it has often been omitted from their set. Likewise the first encore was a rare outing for the sensuous ‘Stay With Me Tonight’, followed by rocking out to ‘Wild Child’ which as Leigh always mentions is was a strong enough song for Heart to cover as the opener on ‘Brigade’.

The one downside of the gig was a disappointing turnout rather rattling around in the venue. Because their approach is quite simple and low key, it hides quite how good Romeo’s Daughter are, and it takes talent to make it look so effortless. At every gig I find myself pleasantly surprised how I have underrated them and this career spanning set proved the point and saw them on top form.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch 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)