WORDS AND IMAGES WARREN MILLAR
It’s off into Liverpool tonight for what should be one epic gig. After touring all over the U.K. and a trip to The States the guys from Liverpool “Red Rum Club” finish off with two sell out gigs at The Olympia, Liverpool. Both gigs sold out months ago and this is the first of the two.
With the doors due to open at The Olympia at the very same time The England team kick off in their World Cup group B match against The United States it seems quite a lot of people are more interested in tonight’s homecoming of “Red Rum Club” rather than the possibility of the World Cup Coming home. All Music’s Warren Millar also gave the World Cup a miss to see this homecoming.
On a cold dark night in Liverpool it was nice to see a rather large line of music lovers all waiting outside before the doors at 7pm. Red Rum Club have a large and loyal following in this part of the world and the country as a whole. This following is also growing world wide thanks to their trips and gigs recently being a great success.
First up in support we are treated to the wonderful and powerful voice of “Rianne Downey” and her band. This young singer songwriter from Glasgow really is the real thing. Stunning vocals which had the crowd straightaway in the palms of her hands and wanting more. Mature songs with a real genuine country rock feel made this support set a perfect opener for the night to come. Check this girl out, she is something real special, honestly so good live.
Next up is something a little different “The Royston Club”. The Royston Club are a four-piece indie band from Wrexham, North Wales consisting of Tom Faithfull (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Ben Matthias (lead guitar and main song writer), Dave Tute (bass) and Sam Jones (drums). This four piece came onto the Olympia stage and stormed straight into a great Alternative/Indie set. All four guys on stage seem to be having a great time and they are tight with just enough rawness to make it real. Ben as a lead man has a great indie voice and owns the stage. All in all another great support set which I’m sure brought them quite a few more fans.
At 9.30 pm on the dot the house lights dimmed and on walked the Liverpool lads we had all turned up to see. Francis Doran (lead vocals), Tom Williams (guitar, backing vocals), Michael McDermott (guitar, backing vocals), Simon Hepworth (bass guitar), Neil Lawson (drums, percussion), and Joe Corby (trumpet). They start off their set with the wonderful “Girl Is A Gun” brilliantly performed and getting the sold out crowd hyped up. Hometown gigs are always special and with this being the last of their current tour its was bound to be even more special for the guys. Fancis tells us between songs that they have toured all over the place but it’s so nice to be back in Liverpool and playing to a sold out Olympia. Then it’s straight into “Kids Addicted” with the intro beautifully played by Joe on the familiar trumpet lead sound of “Red Rum Club”.
We have been lucky enough to see “Red Rum Club” live quite a few times over the years and they are a quality act live, it’s always party time at one of their gigs and this Liverpool show is proving to be one hell of a party, the crowd are loving every second of it, dancing and singing along to every single song. The set continues with the usual Tarantino feel to the music all expertly played and performed. Francis as a front man is as cool as any front man should be and without the ego that some have just so cool and very well respected by his fans.
Stand out tunes for us on the night would be “Come Back Anna Marie!”, “Brando”, Eleanor and the brilliant “Love Me like You Wanna Be Loved” this was a night to remember and a night that won’t be forgotten by those who were lucky enough to be there. Forget the England match in the World Cup (which I was later told was not that good) for “Red Rum Club” tonight it was without a doubt “Coming Home” Great evening of top class live music.
SET LIST
1/ Girl is a Gun
2/ Kids Addicted
3/ Come Back, Anna Marie!
4/ Night Calling
5/ The River
6/ Monaco
7/ Eighteen
8/ Brando
9/ The Elevation
10/ Honey
11/ Drown
12/ Vibrate
13/Love Me Like You Wanna Be Loved
14/ Eleanor
Encore:
15/ Beautiful Mind
16/ Angeline / The Chain
17/ Vanilla
FOLLOW RED RUM CLUB
FOLLOW RIANNE DOWNEY
THE ROYSTON CLUB
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
