Rose Hill Drive – Islington Academy 2007

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Rose Hill Drive are one of those bands who don’t necessarily need a new release as a reason to tour. Like others on the jam rock and roll circuit they tour constantly, but unlike most of the other bands they include Europe when they do it. This was their fifth visit to London in the last 13 months.

This was only their second headlining show in that time though (two support slots with The Answer and the Hyde Park Calling festival being the other appearances) and their reputation as an electric live band appears to be getting around. By the time they came on the modestly sized Bar Academy was packed. Before them were a dubiously young band (all aged between 15 and 20) called Aura who, save for a small collection of teenage girls and relatives, no one had heard of. But everyone there will be checking them out in the future.

Their youth belied astonishing talent. The complex music they play is incredibly mature, they show no signs of shyness on stage and their songs are catchy, hard rocking and varied, with genuine melodies, solos and time changes. One of the aforementioned relatives in particular attracted a lot of attention from the rest of the audience and he must be immensely proud of his son, drummer Jesse Garcia. Robert Plant in a tiny London club is not someone you normally expect to see when you go to a low-key gig, but he happily mingled with the rest of the crowd, dealing with any over-excited fans who approached him in a polite fashion.

Mr Plant stuck around for the first few songs of Rose Hill Drive’s brilliant performance before departing and therefore missed several new songs from the forthcoming new album due early in 2008 which made appearances in the set. Being the first time most people had heard the new songs (save for the few who had also travelled to Birmingham the day before), of course no one knew them, but most nodded along with a sagely air of appreciation.

I’m not sure if it’s a result of playing very small clubs, or whether it’s an intentional thing perhaps, but RHD always seem to suffer from a mix that has too much bass in it. Jake Sproul’s vocals are often very difficult to hear and occasionally it affects the audibility of Daniel Sproul’s lead guitar as well. While it certainly doesn’t make the show unenjoyable, it does make you think that if they’re this good like this, how great would they be if the sound were clear?

Unfortunately there was no barn-storming cover of Fairies Wear Boots this time (RHD change their setlist every night, so you never know when you go to show which songs you’re going to get) but powerful versions of Cool Cody, Cross The Line and Showdown, a couple of jams and a suitably expressive Reptilian Blues still ensured the show remained high-energy.

The new songs all sounded strong, so hopefully the new album will bring a more extensive UK tour after its release.

“ brilliant performance ”

Setlist: Sneak Out / Showdown / Cross The Line / The Godfather / Raise Your Hands / I’m On To You > Jam > The Guru / Message To Love / Trans Am / Cool Cody / Reptilian Blues > Jam // Off To The Games

Written by Andy Lye
More: Gigs, Aura, Rose Hill Drive