KENTISH TOWN FORUM 9th March 2018
Support from THOMAS WYNN AND THE BELIEVERS
It's been a turbulent time for The Temperance Movement in the last few years with addictions and departing band members threatening to destroy their dream. Now they have dusted themselves off, rebuilt the band and the music has become their craving. Their latest album A Deeper Cut has undoubtedly been a success for them in the album charts and signals a new chapter for the band.
Sauntering onto the stage to at the Kentish Town Forum, Phil Campbell and co already had the crowd eating from their hands. The opening bars of Caught in The Middle not only heralds the start of an impressive album but an equally enjoyable live show. The strutting guitars of the track competing with Campbell for floor space, clearly the singer has picked up a few moves from their time on the road with The Stones. He flays his limbs around as if he's being controlled by a hyperactive marionettist for most of the show, only a turn on the keyboard during the encore of Backwater Zoo can make him stand still. Such onstage enthusiasm
is contagious as the ragged-voiced Glaswegian flounces around he's a bit of a contradiction: his image of floppy chopped hair and flowery shirt harks back to the 90s, but his sandpaper vocal is pure 70s classic rock which as demonstrated on The Way It Was and the Way It Is Now. Only two tracks in and the support act by way of Thomas Wynn and sister Olivia are brought onto the stage for a knock out version of Love and Devotion. (REVIEW HERE)
The band stepped back to their first album for a little bit of old school R&R on Be Lucky. Even with a new guitarist (Matt White) and drummer (Simon Lea) the band are still able to tap into their blues-tinged influences. The energy is just as palpable in the live show as it is on the album. The band are evidently having a lot of fun and show no signs of getting stale as the night goes on. Another Spiral swaps the full-on sound for intimacy demonstrating Campbell's ability to alternate between the dynamic and the sensitive. The band return to their second album for an emotional performance of White Bear midway through the set before leaping ahead with some more old-fashioned rock.
They may have cranked up their vintage sound for their latest work, but their retro overtones, energy and passion are exactly what modern rock needs right now.