10th March
The Ruby Lounge
6/10
When I first arrived at Ruby Lounge I was pretty sure I had turned up on the wrong night, with the majority of the crowd belonging to that “I’m getting old, but I’m still clinging on to my youth” category. With just a handful of what I would have thought their ‘target audience’ would have been (i.e. anyone under 30), I was intrigued to see how this would play out. The band walked out onto stage opening the night with one of their biggest songs ‘Victory Line’, to then be followed by ‘Trick of the Light’.
Lonely the Brave are known for their odd stage layout. This became very apparent immediately with three guys on guitars, whether that was either bass or electric, taking the main front of the stage, which was enjoyable to watch as you could really see that they were enjoying themselves. Introverted vocalist David Jakes did not stray very far from the back, staying in close range of the drums, with his cap and head down for the most of the act.
However this untraditional setup and sheepish persona did not hinder the vocal performance of Jakes, displaying his unique style, incredible talent and wide range whilst beautifully exposing the audience to a great deal of emotion. The band ran smoothly from track to track with great ease, maybe a little too much ease. As there wasn’t a lot of variety in terms of chords, riffs and ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’, as the night went on, it felt like the songs were quite samey and a little bit repetitive.
All in all, The Ruby Lounge was a very fitting venue for the night, making the experience very intimate and personal, and overall very enjoyable.
