After playing it loud over the past couple of years as their journey to full on rock band has accelerated, this autumn sees Brave Rival doing something a bit different, recording an acoustic EP ‘Candlelights and Echoes’. They have also found time in one of the busiest touring schedules there is to play some acoustic shows.

The run opened with a London date in the unlikely surroundings of West Hampstead Arts Club, a speakeasy inspired wine bar rather off the beaten track and with a music room in the basement. Unfortunately the latter was only about six people wide, and a combination of standing punters, a seated band (who themselves could only sit two abreast) and a low stage made for impossible viewing. Indeed the band’s first remarks were that they could only make out the front of the audience. It also meant that those of us further back could not see various props including the candles on the stage and singer Lindsey Bonnick’s bicycle bell.

They opened with usual set closer ‘Fairytale’, and it was great to hear Lindsey’s powerful voice fairly soar in this unvarnished format. It was unusual to hear one of the products of their rockier direction in Poison delivered in such fashion, and likewise ‘Run and Hide’ had a different feeling, beginning in laid back, jazzy fashion, while Ed Clarke’s acoustic slide (can we still use his ‘The Shred’ nickname at such a show?) successfully reinvented ‘Wild Child’.

Brave Rival gigs invariably feature repartee bouncing back and forth among the band and with the audience, and in this intimate format that was even more the case. Their devoted ‘Bravian’ followers have something of the air of a family, and that was literally the case here with Ed’s parents picked out in the crowd.

The band found themselves in the unusual position of having recorded a new album, but playing the songs for the first time in a very different format. The first of these was ‘Magic Eyes’, Lindsey’s tribute to her partner which reminded me of Heart both in their seventies and eighties phases. The now almost forgotten ‘For The Ones’ and the lengthy epic ‘Stars Upon My Scars’ were not as far removed from the originals in this format as some of the others, before another new song ‘Icarus’ with drummer Donna Peters on mandolin, joking that with her instrumental versatility we should call her Don Paul Jones!

Even in acoustic mode it sounded very powerful and without having heard the full version my hunch is it may sound like a cross between Led Zeppelin and Halestorm. The first of two sets ended, as the EP does, with proof they are down with current heroes with a rendition of the Yungblud song ‘Zombie’.

The second half of the set began with some of the songs that have been gradually retired from the usual live set in ‘Secrets’ with Lindsey powerfully belting out the ‘three years I’ve wasted’ lyric in venomous fashion, the acoustic blues of ‘What’s Your Name Again’, and ‘Guilty Love’. Another new song ‘I Remember’ took inspiration from a poem, no less, by bassist Billy Dedman, and Ed’s guitar and Lindsey’s tambourine turned it into a folky stomp as it progressed.

There then followed a moving moment, as for the very first time ever Lindsey sang her newly recorded tribute to her late dad Howard, ‘My Father My Friend’. She did so quite beautifully and had sterling backing from her bandmates in Donna on piano and Ed on old school country sounding guitar. Very well done to all for carrying it off.

Loosening the mood, the faster grooves of ‘Control’ also featured a brief vocal slot from Ed, before an unusual choice in ‘Mama I’m Coming Home’, complete with audience participation, but it was more fitting though that they end with an original rather than a cover. As the biblical saying has it ‘the first shall be the last and the last shall be first’, so just as the usual set closer ‘Fairytale’ opened, the final song was the electric set’s normal opener ‘Let Me Rock and Roll’, the band belatedly standing up and rocking out to the extent the acoustic format allowed.

Having griped about the frustrations of the venue layout, it is only fair to mention that the sound was pristine while venue owner Terry provided the personal greetings that are rare at music venues. After this run of dates it will be back to the normal set up, but tonight was a brilliant insight into a previously unseen layer of this talented band.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

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Josh now hosts “Taerk’s Tracks” as part of the Singer Songwriter Sunday sequence on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio.

This is the second show broadcast on 25 October Josh presents some of his inspirational artists and tracks.

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 18 October 2026.

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Power Plays w/c 9 November 2026

ZETRA Adrena (Nuclear Blast Records)
THE HARBOURS Breathe (indie)
SUM SUN Worth The Wait (indie)
SKERRYVORE Second Chance (indie)
WASTED WIZARDS WTF (Dalapop)
BLACKTOP MOJO Time The Killer (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 9 November 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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