Reverend And The Makers
with support from Dead World Leaders and The Francos
The Louisiana, Bristol
Wednesday 16th May 2007
Meg Rowell caught the band...
Reverend And The Makers
In a small and rather unimposing room on the top floor of the The Louisiana in Bristol, the crowd is gently gathering as the fast and furious Dead World Leaders and the deliciously retro The Francos begin to warm things up. But we're here for the main act, and it's not until they arrive on stage, that things really start to hot up.
To call yourself a reverend, when you're actually a rather gangly twenty-something lad from Sheffield, implies a certain amount of self-assurance. To then front a band as the Reverend And The Makers, making funked-up angular electro with leanings towards sixties psychedelia and eighties keyboard-pop, implies a certain amount of insanity. But, as the unassumingly awkward Jon McClure is about to show us, sometimes confidence and insanity can pay off...
The crowd is a mixed-bag of indie kids and rather more adult types who, packed in like a tin of sardines, have one collective thing in common; they've heard this music, they know it's good and they're here to worship.
As Jon McClure takes to the stage, his head just skimming the ceiling, decked out in skinny jeans and tight-fitting shirt, the audience is ready and waiting, and as the first chord is struck, there isn't a hint of disappointment in the room. With his six-strong band behind him, the Reverend And The Makers commence to play an hour-long set of some of the finest new music this seasoned reviewer has ever heard.
The alluring thing about the Reverend And The Makers, is that they make no apologies for their brand of ultra hip electro-indie, laced with disco beats and soaring vocals, because the difference is, unlike many a trendy, fluorescent-hoodie-wearing band, is that they do it blindingly well.
Jon McClure constructs a striking feature from his awkwardness; his vocals are immense, his wide, staring eyes transfixing. There may as well be no one else on stage because Jon McClure knows exactly what he's doing, and it does it with ease.
With his northern charm exuding from every pore, 'Eeee, Breestol's alrite int it?', he even manages to slip in the odd political poem between tracks. 'Bloody 'ell, you lot know ow to 'av a good 'un doncha?'
Debut single Heavyweight Champion of The World whips the crowd into a sweaty mess, but these guys are no one-trick-pony. Tracks like Bandit, and He Said He Loved Me (an electrifying duet with keyboardist Laura Manuel) sweep the audience into a frenzy of dancing, whooping and joyous adulation.
We leave the room slightly damper and smellier than when we entered, but with an overwhelming sense that, if this guy is a member of the clergy, then the world had better watch out, because his followers are well and truly converted.
The Reverend And The Makers are on tour until Saturday 2nd June. For more information, see their page here on Ents24.
