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In this exclusive interview edit, David Randall chats to Anne-Marie Helder about the band and the PledgeMusic campaign (First broadcast on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, 15 May 2016) The full version of this interview is available via our Mixcloud page.
Although the band didn’t hit their £25,000 target by early-June, the campaign will roll forward and the intention is to finance and record their first DVD in the autumn.
I must stop using footballing analogies in relation to Panic Room gigs – but they have a habit of playing Liverpool/St Helens during major tournaments – and on the night Wales, playing in their first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup, progressed to the quarter finals of the Euros, so too Panic Room played the final night of their Spring/ Summer 2016 Start The Sound tour.
With an extensive two full set format spanning all five of their excellent releases from Visionary Position (2008) to Essence (2015) you sensed that after a period of line up turbulence – and with Steve Rothery Band guitarist Dave Foster now firmly established as an integral part of the line-up – that the ‘Start The Sound’ tour underlined the end of a chapter in the band’s evolution, and signposted an exciting new one.
The nice thing about Panic Room is they don’t take themselves too seriously, resulting in an onstage fluency that makes each performance unique.
There was a perfect balance displayed on this occasion with Jon Edwards’ unassuming keyboard playing more prominent (although it was only on the tumultuous crescendo to the evening of ‘Nocturnal’ and ‘Sandstorms’ that he really let rip), some marvellous interplay between Gavin Griffiths and Yatim Halimi – surely one of the very best rhythm sections in the business – Anne-Marie Helder the vocal and visual centre point, and Foster providing the perfect counterpoint.
Brilliant playing is all very well, but strong material is critical, and Panic Room demonstrated they have a veritable treasure trove to plunder. ‘Incarnate’ was delivered with a lovely bluesy guitar finale, ‘Chameleon’ with the most marvellous of instrumental jamming outros (with Helder on flute), and ‘Promises’ was a suitably explosive climax to the first set.
‘Into Temptation’ and ‘Freedom To Breathe’ took that energy to another level as the second set opened, with some marvellously fluid bass and lead guitar lines from Halimi and Foster. ‘Screens’ was given a suitably percussive outing, and the bluesy ‘Denial’ showcased Helder’s vocal and Foster’s guitar talents, with everything that’s good about Panic Room coming together on the stunning finale of ‘Nocturnal’ and ‘Sandstorms’.
The tour flyer was badged with Get Ready to ROCK! attributed adjectives “explosive, inspired, monumental and unstoppable”. On a night when Wales edged into the next round with a scrappy result, Panic Room very much lived up to that billing.
Visually, it might have been fitting if Foster had sported a Bale ‘bun’ to mark the occasion – he must surely have a Welsh passport to have joined the band? But he did make a fashion statement of his own – wearing what must be the widest flares, or should I say ‘loons’, that I’ve witnessed since the 1970′s ended. Marvellous.
Setlist: Song For Tomorrow / Velocity / Incarnate / Yasuni / Start The Sound / The Fall / Chameleon / Promises / Into Temptation / Freedom To Breathe / Screens / Tightrope Walking / Sunshine / Denial / Skin / Hiding The World / Nocturnal / Sandstorms
Review by Pete Whalley
Photos by David Randall
News item (PledgeMusic campaign)
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