On a cool night last Sunday, there were not one, but two bands of interest to me on at London's The Grace. The first of which I knew through one of the singers, namely Helene du Joie, and as yet had not seen what she does as one of three girl vocalists in The Trouble. Indeed, tonight was the night!

Kicking off with 'Stroll On', they barely took their foot off the gas pedal, all the way through to the end of a set firmly planted in the sixties, pulling it off to a tee! Varying their vocals among all three singers, this very healthy balanced vibe worked a treat, nailing their influences to the wall with songs like 'Loves A Buzz', 'The Witch' and 'Cadillac'. 'Hold On' and 'Big Bird' kept the 60s momentum going, before closing out with 'Post Card' and 'Helter Skelter', to round off a very enjoyable opening set.

My second band of interest was the main act Silveroller, with their high energy, Rock n Roll stylings. Although it should be noted that this is not quite the band I thought I was originally going to see having known guitarist Aaron Keylock for quite some time. Indeed, since the release in March of their critically acclaimed six-track debut EP, 'At Dawn', he and most of the main characters from the rhythm section are no longer part of the band, just leaving vocalist Jonnie Hudson and drummer Joe Major as what is left of the original band.

So tonight for mine it was a ’new’ Silveroller, with guitarist Joey Smith, bassist Dylan Evans plus new Brazilian keyboard player Lucas Tadini in tow, completing their first nine-date UK tour, albeit, as it turned out, very well versed in the new material and gelling well as a band.

They started with ‘Cowboy Time’, before launching into their EP track, 'Other Side', with its slide guitar intro (originally Aaron of course) giving the whole song a gorgeous, swampy feel. 'Nobody’s Business' followed before diving into 'Ways Of Saying', where impressive new guitarist Smith got a chance to shine.

A cover of The Band's 'The Weight' was well crafted and sat very nicely in the set, before returning back to their original stuff, namely 'Trouble' that then morphed into 'Me'. As Joey soared going into the outro on the final track off their EP, 'Come On, Come In', I felt that the new band had proved a point - they work! Indeed, Jonnie has an outstanding band behind him and that's a relief, given I had been slightly worried…

'Higher Power' then gave way to 'Turn To Gold', which was a fitting way to end the evening! However, thankfully they still had two more songs to offer us in their well deserved encore. Firstly the EP opener, 'Black Crow' with its thick guitar riff, and despite Smith suffering a few pedal issues, he managed to cover it up with some clever playing, although I don’t think it mattered very much to the more than happy gig-goers in the small confines of this venue! They closed out with 'Hold', a very appropriate way to round out the gig and it was very much appreciated too.

Suffice to say that the ’new’ boys acquitted themselves with aplomb and Jonnie should stand proudly behind these guys! Yes, I was expecting Aaron on guitar, but I got Joey and he worked out fine! I can only wish you guys all the best and the deserved breaks. Thankfully, it looks like Silveroller will be around for a while yet, and it was also great to finally catch The Trouble, so good luck to them as well!

Tim Russell