Dan Reed Network - Bristol Review

November has been an extremely busy month for me so far, with five gigs already under belt! It seems though that you just cannot go to too many gigs, so only a day after the fifth show of the month I was on my way up to Bristol for the sixth! The reason for the journey was the Dan Reed Network, an American five-piece funk rock band that I have really grown to love over the past year or. I originally started listening to the band in anticipation of their support slot at last year's Extreme show in Birmingham, but seeing the band live took my appreciation to a whole new level. I had been a casual fan up to that point, but following the gig I was a fully-fledged fan! Since then, the band's four studio albums have been on extremely regular rotation on my iPod and turntable ever since. They were a big factor in my decision to go to Steelhouse Festival earlier in the year, but as soon as I saw that the band were also scheduling in a decent-sized UK tour for the end of the year I knew that I had to make a show. Luckily, the Bristol show on the tour fell on a Sunday, which made it fit in nicely with work and other plans, so I booked my ticket and upped my listening to the band even more. This current tour is promote the band's new album Origins, a collection of new material and a few old favourites - all recorded around the world with live studio audiences participating. This is an interesting concept, and will certainly keep the fans happy until the band's next full length album of new material - whenever that may come. It seems that here in the UK the Dan Reed Network are fairly popular, with photos from the other recent shows showing good turnouts. The Bristol show, held at the Fleece (a venue I had not been to for many years), was no different and was pretty packed throughout the night. My memories of The Fleece were fairly hazy, but it is a very good venue. Despite having small pillars littered throughout the venue which can make some views a little strange, the place has a good vibe about it and the sound was excellent throughout the night.

Before the main event however, the growing crowd was treated to sets from two up-and-coming British rock bands. Opening the evening were Hollowstar, a four-piece murky rock band mixed somewhat heavy riffing with strong vocal melodies from Joe Bonson (vocals/bass guitar). The band's sound was fairly modern, but still contained enough classic rock strut to give the band a strong identity. Bonson himself was a very engaging frontman, often taking the time to address the crowd. I sometimes find support bands a bit lacking in this respect, but Bonson is clearly a verbose chap, but that certainly helped to endear Hollowstar to me. His lengthy speech about mental health before the song Feel the Burn was pretty powerful, and the ballad became the highlight of their set. The closing number had some opportunities for crowd interaction too, and a large amount actually sung along with the band which ensured the set ended on a high.

The second support act was Mason Hill, who made less of an impression. While certainly extremely competent, the Glasgow-based five-piece just did not really excite. In fairness to them, their post-grunge influenced sound did little for me, and sadly they seem to be one of the many up-and-coming hard rock bands that grew up on American radio rock. This type of music does very little for me, but it seems to ubiquitous now. That is not to say that Mason Hill are a bad band at all, because they clearly are not and some of their songs were fairly strong, but the fairly generic radio rock sound just held the band back for me. This type of music is popular though, and judging from the crowd's reaction throughout their set they made a few new fans, which is always good to see.

The evening was all about the Dan Reed Network however and the band hit the stage at approximately 9:20pm with the upbeat Rock You All Night Long from their 1988 debut album. I had seen the band play two almost-identical sets previously, so it was great that this headline show contained a lot of songs I had not heard the band do before. The opener was one, and the second number Divided was another. Dan Reed himself is an excellent frontman, and it was clear from the off that he was up for the show. The same could not be said for some of their gear however, and annoyingly the first part of their show was derailed a little by technical issues. The fourth number Under My Skin had to be re-started due to Melvin Brannon II's (bass guitar/vocals) bass not working, and guitarist Brion James had issues with his guitar a few songs later! The experienced band took it all in their stride however, and joked around with the audience while everything was being fixed. It did mean the set seemed to take a bit of time to get going, with the first portion feeling very stop-start, but this changed as the evening moved on. Early highlights were the funky Doin' the Love Thing, with an excellent vocal intro from the whole band, and a barnstorming version of Baby Now I which contained a little medley in the middle with a few snippets of other chart hits. It was great to hear some lesser-played tracks included in the set too, with the oldie Resurrect impressing thanks to keyboardist Rob Daiker's soundscapes and the big chorus which saw lots of vocal harmonies from everyone on stage. Daiker got to take centre stage for a while to sing one of his own tracks, All for a Kiss, which provided a gentle respite from the upbeat rock of the main band's work, and the new album Origins was represented with the smooth single Fade to Light. Despite a the set being very strong up to this point, the last third upped the gears further and really took off! The somewhat sleazy Tiger in a Dress got everyone in the crowd moving, and featured lots of excellent guitar work from James, as did the soaring ballad Stronger Than Steel which featured a stunning outro solo from him. While Reed is clearly the band's focus, everyone else really pulls their weight. James is a fantastic playing and he showed a diverse range of styles throughout. It was the solo at the end of Stronger Than Steel that really showcased his best playing of the evening though for me, and he rightly received a big cheer at the end. He also took the vocals on the reggae-tinged Save the World, but not before the cinematic ballad Champion wowed the crowd. It is one of my favourite songs from the band's last album Fight Another Day, and it really shines live with Reed pouring lots of emotion into the lyrics. By this point the band were already passed the curfew, but carried on regardless with a roof-raising rendition of their early single Ritual, with lots of silky bass playing from Brannon and synth work from Daiker. This was the end, but after taking their bows Reed launched into an a capella rendition of Long Way to Go which the rest of the band joined in. It was a calming end to such a high-energy set, and the crowd really showed their appreciation. The setlist was:

Rock You All Night Long
Divided
Forgot to Make Her Mine
Under My Skin
Doin' the Love Thing
Baby Now I
Resurrect
Rainbow Child
All for a Kiss [Rob Daiker solo material]
Fade to Light
Get to You
Tiger in a Dress
Stronger Than Steel
Champion
Save the World
Ritual
Long Way to Go

After the show had finished, the band all came out to the merchandise to sign autographs and pose for photographs. I had purchased Origins and Reed's latest solo album Confessions before the show, so it was great to get them signed by all concerned. I even took a selfie with Reed, something I rarely do these days, but he seemed so approachable that I took the opportunity. I shall enjoy listening to those two albums over the next few weeks, and I am already looking forward to the next time the band visit the UK.