Dry the River

Some bands try to take you on a journey across the length of a setlist, laying out a procession of tracks that ebb and flow, taking you one way, then another, back again. This is fine. It works well. The thing with Dry The River is that they pretty much manage to do this time after time in countless four-minute chunks. Fast becoming masters of huge, sweeping, turbulent songs they fill the Arts Centre with their honed indie-folk-alternative-whatever sound and belt out a show of such richness and distinction that it will remain in my veins for some time yet.It's coming together nicely for the Stratford bunch. Their material is improving and they're looking sharper on stage than they once did. Frontman Peter Liddle has this vocal quality that turns lyrics into almost tangible things, making the cries of 'I couldn't want you more / I couldn't want you more / I couldn't want you more than this' in Rollerskate less just words and more a shake by the shoulders. Guitars of both the electric and bass heritage scatter lovely riff work over the core of keys and percussion, cutting a trail of fragility that climbs and builds towards thick, towering apexes of noise. I can't quite get over how good Vessel sounds here. Admittedly it was my favourite Dry The River song anyway, but honestly it plays like a dream live and gets the biggest mid-set reaction from the Norwich faithful. You get the sense that they're starting to hit the potential hinted at in previous years and, if they can keep it rolling like this, they'll be around for as long as they want. Great show. Great band. If you have't already, get on board with this as soon as you can.