Music > Live Reviews

Rope Store @ B2

07/12/15

I nailed by colours to the mast three months ago when I declared  Rope Store to be my new favourite local band after their headlining set at Norwich Arts Centre. However, I am nothing if not fickle when it comes to music, so Saturday's single launch at the B2 on Sprowston Road would be an acid test to see if my sunny enthusiasm back in August would survive a blustery Saturday in December. I am happy to report that it did.

The evening started with the surreal comedy talents of Ben C Winn – a mix of off-the-wall one-liners, comic verse and music. A brave act with which to open at the B2, and full credit to Ben for rising to the challenge. I am still chuckling this morning at some of his quirky abstract observations.

Garage punksters Beast With a Gun warm us up for the main attraction with a spirited set that reminds in equal parts of The Hives, Kings of Leon and the Blues Brothers. Just as I am musing how the caged-in stage of the B2 sets itself up perfectly for a Jake and Lee Elwood rendition of Rawhide, the band must read my thoughts, but conclude their set instead with a rousing version of Shake a Tail Feather.

Anyone who has listened to Rope Store's studio recordings on Bandcamp will know what a gloriously warm yet expansive sound they manage to create. It takes me back to spinning Tamla Motown 45's on my grandmother's walnut-veneered radiogram – Diana Ross and The Supremes bursting out of the cavernous speakers with enough force to make the sherry bottles rattle.

Live, and this is the really clever part, Mr Jason, Gemma and the band still manage to reproduce and deliver that same tight but richly textured sound. There're keyboards, drums, percussion, both electric and acoustic guitars, and a couple of saxophones all on stage together, yet it all seem to effortlessly gel into a genuine wall of sound, with Gemma and Jason's vocals rising and floating over the top.

All Of You and Stop, the two tracks from the single are delivered early in the set (unfortunately there's no physical copies to buy tonight – just pre-orders and a free cookie), and then we are treated to a set that includes That's Not Good Enough (already earmarked as the next single), the uplifting Sunshine, and ending with the beautiful ballad That's Not The Way To My Heart.

Not so much 'retro' as 'contemporary revivalism', this performance left me not only wanting to buy the new single, but also prepared to buy a bloody record player to put it on. I still really love this band to bits. 

9/10