The Ramona Flowers // Norwich Arts Centre - 16.09.13
"Their request to “get dirty on a Monday night” was both unexpected and welcomed..." - Bea reviews The Ramona Flowers.
The Arts Centre is barely populated on arrival - perhaps due to it being an unnecessarily freezing Monday night - with a mixed crowd, by the looks of it, a lot of them are friends and family of the supports. However the first support Mexico worked well with the small crowd and managed to encourage the occasional foot-tap and head-nod, while taking advantage of the fact they could have a chat with the audience. The second support Benedict was better than expected, with extraordinary vocals, and well-timed awkward banter.
By the time The Ramona Flowers came on stage the audience had filled out a little bit, but not enough to let anyone expect the amount of sheer energy that the guys would bring on with them. After starting with a slower track of 'How Right You Were' , their rendition of 'Tokyo' and their request to “get dirty on a Monday night” was both unexpected and welcomed...
'Friend in the Madness' was definitely a favourite, the palm muting of the guitar and unusual time signature caused the band to be a little more unique, ending up with a surprisingly strong track, as was 'The Bass Will Find You'. Considering it was a chilly September Monday, the bass found a surprising amount of people…
They went on to cover Prince 'I Will Die for You', which is a tricky one to crack, but was a great move as a lot of the crowd weren’t that familiar with their songs, so it encouraged more singing. Their last song 'Brighter' off the new EP caused their lead singer to hop down off stage and have a wander around the floor, which is unusual with such a small crowd. However, as much as I despise eye contact from singers, they embraced their small venue and made the interactions funny and enjoyable.
After the set they all came down for a chat, and to thank those who stayed, and were a lovely, un-pretentious group, who seemed to have genuinely enjoyed their set. They played their songs well, although you got the feeling the best of them is still to come. Perhaps I wasn’t blown away by musical genius, but it was definitely an all-round enjoyable gig, with all three bands comprised of some very talented guys.
Bea Howard
