Resplendent with washes of Joni Mitchell-esque introspection - 'Lightbulbs', for one, is a modern take on Mitchell's 'California' - Flo Rowland's lean, almost rushed set belies the depth of a regular on the Worcester grunge circuit, while her giggling commentary's a welcome relief from the elusive stage shows of many a singer-songwriter. A steady opener to the evening then, and a sign of things to come.
You'll remember it's only a week since we last saw The Amber Herd - so effortlessly was their usual set transferred to the acoustic-only confines of the Loggerheads caves, their name was scrawled straight in the TC little black book and plans made to see their next gig as soon as it was confirmed. It's convenient (or fate, depending on how you look at it) then, that they're shoehorned into a Golden Fleece headline slot so soon afterwards, and as we settle down by the corner radiator, it's evident their Loggerheads set wasn't a mere flash in the pan; the technicolor early New Order on which they pride themselves gets a shot in the arm in these minimal settings, with tracks like mid-set highlight 'Bonfires' and soon to be re-recorded closer 'Stage Fright' stretching the venue's PA to its limit. It's a fine, polished performance, a half-hour of both blissfully melancholic indie and uplifting stripped-back folk and comes to a sprawling, open-mouthed finish with an almost Velvet Underground-esque wall of sound, acoustics flitting between prog keyboard stabs and all buried under Neil Beards's darkly overdriven Mary Chain guitar. Nottingham's best kept secret? We won't tell if you don't...
The Amber Herd played:
- Foot-Tapper
- Apple
- Thursday
- Bonfires
- Magnolia
- Catching Time
- Stage Fright
www.myspace.com/florowland
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