Hush the Many / Madam / Turner Cody / Essie Jain

As part of the End of the Road festival Hush the Many (Heed the Few) finish up in Shepherds Bush. Their CV describes a band that is constantly evolving, shifting and revolving in membership. Last year they released the single 'Song on a Page' and there’s been a nice burning buzz about them ever since with plays on Colin Murray (Radio 1), Steve Lamacq (Radio 2), John Kennedy (Xfm) and Chris Hawkins (BBC 6 Music). To that end they’ve satisfactorily ticked the right boxes.

This week they release their new single 'Revolve' and this gig at the Bush Hall is a nice ending with an appreciative crowd. However, before they take the stage there are a couple of support acts to see (sorry I missed the first act, Essie Jain, as they came on at about 7.30pm).



Turner Cody plays an acoustic set full of charm, tender songs and friendly inter-song banter. He also looks like the lost hirsute brother of Leonardo De Caprio and one of the Kings of Leon, maybe a prince? He's easy to like and whilst possibly not destined for superstardom he will pass half an hour of your time in a most pleasant fashion.

Next up is Madam who according to the introduction is "getting more column inches than the mortgage crisis". I suppose I must be reading the wrong financial/ music news crossover paper as she's escaped my particular radar. Still, it's perfectly acceptable fare with a quite evocative and ethereal sound, which is aided by a cello player. The material never really gets out of second gear and after a few songs any faster stuff just wouldn't fit. Then they do an upbeat number and it fits better than a glove puppet so what do I know eh?


Up to this point the audience had been sitting on the floor and at a few tables scattered around the venue. It creates a kind of hippy vibe, which the crowd of predominantly student and festival going types seem happy with. It feels like this will continue as some sort of weird precedent had been set with an unspoken ban on actually standing. Luckily, this changes when Hush hit the stage.



Their music has been described as delicate meets fierce and the opening couple of songs give a nice credence to this description. 'The Man' and 'The Knife' contain atmospheric dynamics with the latter featuring a thudding bass drum, which resounds throughout the venue. It drives the song on until the inevitability of the rest of the group joining in for a fulsome finale. Nima (lead vocals and acoustic guitar) asks everyone to get up and there's little resistance so the sitting spell is broken instantly. This segues nicely into a rendition of the afore-mentioned single 'Revolve' which is energetic and galvanising for the crowd.

There's a brief hold up when Nima has guitar problems but a loan from the crowd (it's that sort of kind spirited gig) and a story about playing with an intensity that makes his fingers bleed later and we're back on course. There's an apology to the guitar loanee about possible bloodstains, which is necessary as the band hit their stride with the epic 'Paperdoll' which builds from soft to hard and fully justifies the delicate-fierce publicity. They end with 'The Illusionist' which is one of those glorious wig out songs with Nima freed from guitar duties so that he can go into animated singer mode and he does so with admirable gusto. An encore is demanded and the rather beautiful 'Storyend' brings the performance to a close. Everyone stands almost reverentially in appreciation and to be honest the song is quite an unexpected but brilliant ending. I suppose I was expecting the first single but this was surprisingly effective as a substitute.

The End of the Road manifesto describes a prescription of no over-hyped bands, longer sets, quality food and beers, respectful staff and a crowd there for the music. Hush the Many certainly cover this very adequately and even have cakes on sale in the corner (banana and chocolate –very nice). With Nima and bassist/vocalist Alexandra Brown they have a charismatic front man and a cute female foil that could elevate them to a wider market place. I still feel that maybe they need that killer song to take them to that next level. At the moment they seem to have songs that maim rather than ones that deliver a memorable fatality.



They undoubtedly have good songs but would they be memorable to the unconverted? I don't think they're far off that point and if they can successfully build on the good will plainly evident at this gig then there may well be a kind of Hush all over the world very soon.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.