With all due respect to Sabbath fans, these four cheerful, hard working lads are fast becoming everyone’s favourite Brummies. Whether by accident or design, almost all their London gigs have been in the Camden-Holloway-Tufnell Park “triangle” and this has served to create a loyal fan base; everyone seems to return and bring along either their friends or their kids (I’d say the age range at this gig was from pre-teen to 70-ish).

Surprisingly this visit to the capital was their first since the Planet Rock stage at the Great British Beer Festival in August 2018. What an evening that was; as well as the Rebels, it had Bad Touch, Mollie Marriott, Danny Bryant and all those wonderful beers! With several of the interim months having been spent in Austin, Texas, writing and recording their first full album ‘OK Hotel’; several of the new songs were previewed at this gig.

When I first heard the band I bought their three self-released CD EP’s: ‘This Town Belongs To Me’ (2013); ‘Howlin’ (2014); ‘Georgia Pine’ (2016). After landing a recording contract they issued a further EP, ‘Snake Eyes’, in 2018 and in the same year their self-titled debut album appeared: a mixture of re-recorded EP tracks and new songs. This year’s ‘OK Hotel’ completes their recorded history to date.

Only the very first EP wasn’t represented in the setlist at this gig and it was interesting to note how many fans were close to word perfect on the lyrics, even though the EPs never included the words when released. Although many of those present had their live favourites, notably ‘Low’, ‘Turn Me On’ and ‘Georgia Pine’, the eight songs from the as yet unreleased new album were equally well received.

As always, vocalist Danny Core led the band to the merch stand immediately after show, where everyone who wanted autographs, selfies or brief chats was warmly received. New merchandise sold well, including t-shirts, woolly beanie hats (a good idea for winter gigs!) and a green vinyl single featuring two of the new songs, ‘Running With The Wolves’ and ‘Money’. A spring return to the 100 Club has been postponed due to Covid-19, but will doubtless and deservedly be well supported on the rescheduled date of Monday September 28th. Always a good band to catch live; see you there!

Setlist:

Loose Change; Snake Eyes; Fearless*; Breathless; Save My Life*; I Put A Spell On You/Howlin’; Low; Give It Up*; Turn Me On; Getaway Man; Broken Pieces*; Take You Home*; Georgia Pine; Money*; Bottom Of The Hill; Running With The Wolves*; Shake Me Down; Birmingham*; Guns. (*New songs from the then unreleased OK Hotel album).

Gary Smith