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New venue to this reviewer, the Face Bar is a nice little venue tucked away from the main nightlife area of Reading. One thing Reading certainly has is a lively and varied nightlife!
A decent sized crowd for a Thursday night as Didcot’s own Tom Webber opened the night with another crowd pleasing set. The sound wasn’t the best to start with but with a voice and tunes that Tom Webber has in his arsenal he easily overcame that.
Highlights include the hit-in-waiting ‘Martha’ and ‘Words I Love To Hear’, plus a newer song whose name I forgot to write down! The two covers ‘Love Potion No.9′ and Billy J Kramer’s ‘I’ll Be On My Way’ (written by the Beatles) are now live set staples, both are given a lively rendition by Tom. He even did a Chuck Berry song as a well deserved encore.
I would humbly suggest that Tom Webber gets some CDs and merchandise out there as he’s building a good local following and surely wider recognition is only around the corner. Go see him if he plays near you.
Headliners the Hawkmen have been treading the boards since 2017, yet owe more to the 50′s and 60′s for their sound, an intoxicating mix of rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, soul and spoonful of blues. Formed by bassist Scott Milsom, he is joined by vocalist Scarlett Fagan, drummer Tim Hillsdon, and guitarist Ben Hayes.
Playing a lot of their new album, ‘When It’s Gone’, including ‘Night Out In Tokyo’ and ‘Soulful Dress’. Both songs impressed greatly on first hearing, although like Tom Webber’s set the sound wasn’t that clear at times for the vocals.
The Hawkmen like to mix it up musically with a touch of Latino on ‘Acai’. A song with a good swing to it – shades of Santana at times. They also have a good sense of humour too as ‘Funky Feet’ is about a good looking fella who is let down by poor foot hygiene.
The band had fun doing their take on ‘Tequila’ and speaking of covers, Tim led the band through a lively rendition the Georgia Satellites classic ‘Keep Your Hands To Yourself’.
The set ended on a lively note as both Scott and Ben took turns with a solo amongst the audience at the front. Ben playing the guitar behind his back and pulling stage moves last seen done by Marty McFly on Back To The Future!
What I loved about the Hawkmen was the fun they were having onstage with witty banter between the band members and they genuinely seemed to be loving it as much as the audience was. All of them are top class musicians, no one musician dominating the sound and in Scarlett the Hawkmen have a talented singer in their midst. Another band I’d highly recommend you check out sooner rather than later.
A perfect night of live rock n roll with a soulful groove.
Review by Jason Ritchie
Photos by Victoria Holt Instragram @vholt2018
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