Silsden Town is not exactly the rock n’ roll capital of the world or even anywhere near for that matter. But they do seem to be putting on some great acts and tonight we have the excellent Brave Rival. The Town Hall is a great venue with really friendly volunteers helping to run the place. With no support tonight, Brave Rival hit the stage to the sounds of ‘Crazy Train’ and into their first number ‘Heart Attack’ from ‘Life’s Machines’, Ed Clarke really letting rip on this one. ‘Bad Choices’ follows then ‘Guilty Love’, Brave Rival are on fire with the harmonies between Lyndsey and Chloe just sublime.
‘Life’s Machines’ is over a year old now and Brave Rival are on with ‘Album 2’, which in their own words is going to be a lot heavier. We were treated to the awesome ‘Stars Upon My Scars’, Ed Clarke played some of the tastiest guitar you could ever hear. This song is epic. ‘Sink or Swim’ follows, again from ‘Album 2’, without the string section that will appear on the album. A sublime cover of the Chris Stapleton tune ‘Blind Tennessee’, mashed up with ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’… wow! Amazing. The song ‘Life’s Machine’ from their debut album of the same name, and as they explained it was about losing someone. Ed Clarke’s soulful guitar builds as the vocals of Lyndsey and Chloe soar beautifully dancing around like angels in the wind. So majestic that it sends shivers down my spine. Donna the Drum Queen swapped her drums for an acoustic guitar on ‘For the Ones’, stripped back and bare it shows the delicate side of Brave Rival. An acoustic version of ‘Sound of Silence’ finishes the first set, which was quite simply the best version I have ever heard.
Set two starts with an acoustic version of their heaviest song ‘Run and Hide’ followed by ‘All I Can Think About’. Brave Rival explained that they had a kick start scheme to fund the next album and as it was so successful it allowed them not only to record twelve tracks for the new album but also three B-sides and we were treated to two of them tonight ‘Magnetic’ and ‘On the Next Round’. A slow Zeppelinesque song ‘Insane’, Chloe went on to explain it was about the time when she felt like she was going insane and ended up in the forest digging in the soil. It may have come out of a dark place but what a wonderful song came out of it. The sheer raw emotion and passion from Chloe was incredible. Another new tune ‘Fairy Tale’ gives us another taste of what the new album will be like, a full on majestic masterpiece, gritty and strong. ‘Break Me’ and a stonking version of ‘What’s Your Name Again’ conclude the evening and what a brilliant evening it has been in the company of Brave Rival at the Wonderful Silsden Town Hall. I will be back!
Just close on two hours of musical perfection, Brave Rival are simply one of the best blues artists around. Go see them live you will not come away disappointed , indeed you will be blown away by the talent of the whole band. Me I will be seeing them again very soon and from what I have heard tonight ‘Album 2’ is going to be immense.
With thanks to Central Press PR for the media access. Photos by David Pickles.
GALLERY
