Reuben / The Ghost Of A Thousand

As small and sweaty as it may have been, there was certainly one thing present tonight that not many could disagree with, energy. And with a support band such as The Ghost Of A Thousand, this is the kind of energy that's not going to extinguish any time soon. The band did an absolutely fine job of firing up the crowd for the main event. If front man Tom Lacey wasn't jumping around onstage, he could be found crowd surfing over the sea of hands supporting his screaming body. The band seemed genuinely grateful at their received applause, With Lacey, never hesitating to thank or hug the crowd at any given moment. The songs were powerful and fast, yet maybe a bit simple. The Ghost Of A Thousand seem to have their trump card in their stage performance. Not so much within their technical ability. But for filling the supporting spot for tonight, it's exactly what the doctor ordered.

Reuben emerged with the level of cheer and commitment you could expect at any Reuben gig. With Reuben's fans known for their die hard passion to the band, and the bands devotion to their fans, they waste no time to get into the thick of it. One of the most interesting points that cropped up throughout the set tonight, is the sheer numbers of B-sides that the band treated us to. They opened play with B-side track from the 'Stuck In My Throat single', 'Scared Of The Police'. A more interesting observation was the crowds reaction. All were delighted that the headlining act they had paid good money for, were now standing in front of them. But a mixed tempo filled the movement of the audience, with most punters not able to recognize the mysterious B-side. This was quickly changed back to normal, as the band launched into 'Some Mothers Do Ave Em'. The second track from their second album 'Very Fast Very Dangerous'.

Tonight's performance was marred with tuning issues. With the band needing to change tuning set-up after almost each song. While other bands could quite easily make situations like this awkward, and frustrating, this only allowed Reuben to shine further. Giving them opportunity to interact with the crowd that brought them here tonight.

Front man Jamie Lenman shares with us stories of woe from their recently completed supporting tour with Sum 41. "I want you all to be like the crowd that was there at the Sum41 tour. Just stand there shouting your s**t at us!" bellowed the front man to many laughs from the crowd. He enquired further whether anyone in the audience was in one of those Sum41 crowds, and had come to this venue tonight because of what they saw previously. As you could imagine, no hands were raised.

After rolling from track 'Alpha Signal Three', straight into the next song on the album 'Good Night', the middle of the set found an interesting twist. A three song acoustic set. The highlight of the acoustic section, was a half tempo version of last years single, 'Deadly Lethal Ninja Assassin'. Reuben had a brilliant angle, with the single almost becoming a sort of folk sing along. The crowd was more than happy to oblige.

All in all tonight's select choices have been far from the norm. With a good 50% of the set list dedicated to either b-sides or covers. It's a list that some could find disappointing, if they were looking for all the album favourites. But the more important lesson we’ve learnt tonight, is how comfortable the band feel in front of their own, to be able to experiment in this way. With the ability to reel off 10 year old b-sides and obscure covers, it's a nice refreshing change from a 'best of' gig. Reuben are a brilliant band either live or on a CD. And we were lucky to be treated tonight with a few diamonds dug up from the past.

FUTURE GIGS

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