MILES KANE + THE ROYSTON CLUB – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 8.2.24
Miles Kane makes a welcome return to Brighton with Wrexham’s finest, The Royston Club, as support. The last time I saw Miles was way back in December 2012, supporting Paul Weller at a charity gig at Hammersmith Apollo. I must confess that I wasn’t altogether impressed with him at the time. He seemed undecided as to whether he wanted to be a serious musician or just a pop star. Has the intervening decade or so made a difference? We shall see.
The Royston Club comprise Tom Faithfull on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Ben Matthias on lead guitar, Sam Jones on drums and Dave Tute on bass. There is also another guitarist who occasionally joins them on rhythm guitar. Ben Matthius is also the band’s songwriter. He wears a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “f*ck art let’s dance”, which my grandad tells me was a very popular t-shirt in the late 1970s. As well as having great sartorial taste, Ben’s playing is pretty impressive too. There’s some impressive songcraft on display here. The material is tuneful, punchy indie, and many of the young-ish audience know all of the words as well. A significant number of the audience seem to be specifically here for the support band.
There is an occasional Kooks influence, but The Royston Club are better than that. One of the songs almost quotes Sir John Betjeman with the line “fall down friendly bombs”. Arguably the material could be described as mid-90s influenced indie, but the quality of the songs overrides any perceived influences. Having said that, Shed Seven do spring to mind: melodic songs with balls. They’re a very good live band too – highly recommended. They released an album entitled ‘Shaking Hips & Crashing Cars’ in June last year.
The Royston Club:
Tom Faithfull – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Ben Matthias – lead guitar
Sam Jones – drums
Dave Tute – bass
Before Miles Kane takes to the Concorde 2 stage, ‘Fell In Love With A Girl’ by The White Stripes and ‘Supersonic’ by Oasis play over the PA. Three girls at the front bop and sing along. They are way too young to have seen either band live, but they know every word. Before they can sing any more, Miles Kane and his band take the stage. They start off in a high gear, and the pace doesn’t relent for the next hour.
Miles’ band is a sh*t-hot four-piece. It may say “Miles Kane” on the bass drum skin, but they have a really good band vibe. Apart from Miles, they feature Ben Rose on drums, Nathan Sudders on bass, and Dom John on guitar. Miles plays much of the lead guitar, but when Dom John plays lead he’s certainly no slouch. Essentially this tour is promoting Miles’ ‘One Man Band’ album, which luckily is a fine piece of work as we get eight songs from it. ‘Troubled Son’, which opens both the album and tonight’s show, and ‘Never Taking Me Alive’ are particular highlights. The rest of the set represents something of a tour of Miles’ back catalogue. Notable inclusions include the title track of ‘The Colour Of The Trap’, which was Miles’ first solo album, and ‘First Of My Kind’, from the EP of the same name. ‘Coupe de Grace’ is surprisingly funky and features some ace soloing from Miles. A mosh pit develops during ‘Never Taking Me Alive’ and continues during ‘Come Closer’, the final song of the set. Moshing aside, Miles has taken the audience along with him for the whole set. Most of the crowd seem to be Miles devotees.
The band return for an encore of ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’. Before they play that though, Miles bemoans the fact that he’s now 37, and he’s “been doing this for nearly twenty years”. Bless him.
Returning to my question at the beginning of the review, I can now categorically state that Miles Kane is very much a serious musician. With a pedigree like his, how could he not be? He fronted The Rascals, collaborated with Alex Turner in The Last Shadow Puppets, and if that wasn’t enough he’s related to the Skelly brothers from The Coral. Indeed, the alternative sleeve to his current album was designed by Ian Skelly. Talent will show itself, and as Miles himself alluded, it has been doing for nearly twenty years.
Miles Kane:
‘Miles Kane – vocals, guitar
Ben Rose – drums
Nathan Sudders – bass
Dom John – guitar
Miles Kane setlist:
1. ‘Troubled Son’
2. ‘Better Than That’
3. ‘The Wonder’
4. ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’
5. ‘Give Up’
6. ‘One Man Band’
7. ‘Inhaler’
8. ‘Heal’
9. ‘Loaded’
10. ‘First Of My Kind’
11. ‘Baggio’
12. ‘Colour Of The Trap’
13. ‘Rearrange’
14. ‘Cry On My Guitar’
15. ‘Coupe de Grace’
16. ‘Never Taking Me Alive’
17. ‘Come Closer’
(encore)
18. ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’
