Colly Strings and Elspeth
Wednesday 30th May 2012 – Limelight, Belfast
Opening up the show tonight is Elspeth, who have just released their debut album ‘Coax’. The indie rock band is greeted by a very sparsely attended Limelight but this does little to damage their enthusiasm. The band has made their first single ‘Think Back’ from the album available for free on Soundcloud. It is a real highlight in the set with the laid back guitar riff and drum beat combining into an epic chorus. Vocalist Gerard performs with a kind of vigour and swagger of someone who has been fronting bands for years.
The band rattles through several of the album tracks including ‘Old Age’. Some of their songs have an Arctic Monkeys type vibe which should help them flourish in the Northern Irish music scene. There is a slight lull in proceedings as Elspeth bring out one of their slower numbers but before long we are back into the crowd pleasing rock infused tracks. Final song of the evening is ‘The Taster’, which features some nice jamming by the guys as they clearly enjoy being centre stage. It is quite evident that they are a tight nit group who are confident in their own abilities. The band receives a very positive response from the small Limelight crowd and hopefully with a bit more airplay they can make the next step up.
Colly Strings take up the challenge of playing to a quiet Limelight, they invite everyone down to the front but sadly there are no takers to start with. Opening the set with ‘To The Water’ the band showcase their rock talents with some funky guitar riffs and punching drums. It would be fair to compare their music to that of fellow Northern Irish music contemporaries General Fiasco. In the set the band introduce two songs that do not even have names, making my job slightly harder! Regardless tracks 3 & 4 in the set are both impressive, with some instrumental jamming by the band building into a heavy climax. But seriously guys please get some names for them!
The lead singer Travis attempts to interact with the crowd further, trying to get the audience to check them out on all the usual social networking sites as well as joking that they are available on the Tender Date Site as a package. The guys are passionate about their music and on launching into their final song of the night, a member of the audience shouts out the title much to their delight. ‘Teddy Robinson’ is perhaps a fitting end with its sombre sounding opening moving into a more aggressive vocal performance from Travis.
Tonight saw two of Northern Ireland’s own up and coming bands team up with one the hottest acts in the UK, Spector. While the venue was nowhere near capacity it was still a respectable turnout for the local bands who will definitely have won over some new fans with their assured performances. Expect to hear more from both Elspeth and Colly Strings soon!
