Gig review: TEIGER – Strongroom Bar, London, Thursday 10 November 2022

It’s a mark of just what a buzz there is around Teiger that, despite transport strikes hitting the Capitol, people had seemingly made their way by planes, trains and automobiles to Central London’s Strongroom Bar and packed the place out.

The occasion was a special one, the three piece’s single launch of ‘Hydra’, the first release from their highly anticipated debut album and the first public airing of new material was a draw not to be missed.

Difficult to pigeonhole, the band have managed to weave an intoxicating mixture of rock, prog and folk with a strange alchemy that brings in other, more subtle, elements that stay tantalisingly out of reach.

Having managed to sidestep conventions has paid dividends, their appeal a broad one but also something that speaks of a search for something that truly stimulates the mind as well as moves the feet.

Far from a navel gazing extravaganza, there is a very human warmth to a Teiger show, their music chicken soup to the soul whilst never just wrapping you in a warm, safe blanket of sound. Conventions are challenged, edges can be jagged and fire can explode throughout, their craft with a turn of phrase or a few, well placed, notes demanding attention.

The striking tall, blonde presence of Talie Eigeland front and centre is a talismanic one, whether she’s singing or coaxing notes from her guitar, the uber cool stylings of rhythm section of drummer Jon Steele and bass player Phillip Eldridge-Smith completing this most modern of ‘power trios’.

Let’s be assured that whilst Teiger certainly know how to rock when they want to, it’s their forays into the more tangential that shows just how different they are and you can’t but help be drawn into their world like some sort of curious Alice following a white rabbit headlong into Wonderland.

A shimmering ‘Crawl’ opens the set, its slow building and delicate mix of ringing guitar and deft percussive rhythms by Steele segues perfectly into the Jeff Buckley meets Patti Smith feel of the soaring ‘Sahara’.

Eigeland’s voice, full of edge and character, casts its spell and is especially effective on the seductive and hypnotic ‘Come and Find Me’. There’s a timeless quality to ‘Slow Burning’ and its adult take on rock has a classy sheen, a real hook, the bass of Eldridge-Smith takes a liquid life of its own and the dynamic of the track’s structure fascinatingly different. An individual take on Portishead’s ‘Glory Box’ slips nicely into the set too.

The quirky ‘Sunrise’ rocks along nicely, touches of jazz, funk and prog blend together in its DNA and ‘The Law of Diminishing Returns’ mixes the angular with the haunting.

Stripped back, another cover in the form of ‘Feeling Good’ dispenses with any bombast and reveals the bare bones of the song and the night finishes with single ‘Hydra’, its form shape shifting as it changes from a delicate drifting to a strident attack that pierces the veil.

To try to encapsulate Teiger live is akin to catching smoke or trying to find the end of a rainbow, you know it’s there but it’s always tantalisingly out of reach. Some things are best experienced without dissecting every moment and that’s the way here. Sophisticated, intelligent and yet also touching the soul, Teiger could become your new addiction.

Review by Paul Monkhouse

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

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UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024

THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 28 October 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)