Scarlet Rebels - Plymouth Review

I have made a similar point on this blog before, but if there has been a tangible benefit of the COVID-19 pandemic for the live music industry then the fact that more bands have undertaken lengthier UK tours over the past year is it. Although it seems that touring throughout Europe and America is now largely possible again, there has understandably been a focus on UK-based touring over the past year, particularly from UK-based bands. This has meant that even parts of the country which are more often than not left out of touring schedules (e.g. the South West) have hosted their share of concerts recently. I have probably been to more concerts in Plymouth and Exeter since last summer than I have since moving to Plymouth in 2016, and it has been great having the opportunities to see more bands locally. This will probably fizzle out again in time, but at the moment venues like The Junction in Plymouth are busy. I have been there a few times recently, but it had been a couple of months since my last visit when I walked up there last night to catch the Welsh rockers Scarlet Rebels on the tour for their latest album See Through Blue. The show was meant to take place last month, but it had to be postponed due to a positive COVID-19 test within the band. Luckily a replacement date was quickly sought, and the show took place just over three weeks after it was originally supposed to. Despite having been familiar with the name Scarlet Rebels for a while, it was the announcement of this gig that finally convinced me that I needed to check them out. There are so many new rock bands out there that it can often be hard to keep up, plus I have sometimes found that those that get most of the attention are the ones that I end up liking the least. I am not sure why this is the case, but I think that this view stems back to my teenage years when all the new rock bands that I liked were resolutely ignored by both the rock press and older rock fans. Thankfully this is no longer the case, and there seems to be more of a willingness from all to try new things, but I still find it to be the case that the most interesting bands get less attention - at least in my opinion. Scarlet Rebels are starting, now, to do quite well for themselves - and See Through Blue reached number 7 in the UK Charts back in February. I have been enjoying the album quite a bit over the past few weeks, although it is very typical modern hard rock in sound. There are newer rock acts that I prefer, but Scarlet Rebels are certainly a good band - and I was looking forward to seeing them at The Junction.

I got to the venue just before the first band started playing, and the place was already busy. Scarlet Rebels are clearly getting quite popular, as their chart position can attest to, and it was great to see so many people in The Junction - especially following a couple of recent sparse nights out there. Before Scarlet Rebels' set, however, two local support acts played. The Outlanders were up first, who's mix of modern hard rock and indie came across well live. I cannot say that either of the night's support acts were bands that I would listen to off own back, but both were enjoyable live. The Outlanders certainly had plenty of energy, with the riffs of Jake Walke (guitar/vocals) driving everything. I am not a big fan of indie, but The Outlanders were much more hard rocking than is typical for most indie bands - and they lacked the jangly sound that generally puts me off the genre. Kalum Wilmot's (vocals/guitar) voice had a certain indie quality to it, but his delivery worked well in the context of the music - and many of his vocal melodies were memorable, especially against the riffy backdrop. The band also included a lot more soloing than is typical of indie, too, with Walke impressing on a number of occasions with some fluid solos. This mix of strong vocals, decent riffs, and the odd solo made for an enjoyable half an hour or so of music - and The Outlanders certainly have something about them that makes them an interesting prospect.

The Kites followed The Outlanders, and the local four-piece similarly impressed. Sound-wise the two bands had some similarities, but The Kites were probably a bit more retro-sounding; with George Wilson's (guitar) playing style being more blues-based. The main difference, however, was frontman Joe Cocker - who really owned the stage with his classically-inspired strutting moves. He cut something of a Jim Morrison/Ian Astbury/Andrew Wood vibe during the band's set, and had a soulful voice to match. He is clearly the band's secret weapon, and The Kites will certainly stand out from the crowd of other local acts due to his charisma. That being said, however, such charisma would all be for nothing if the songs were not up to much - but I enjoyed what The Kites had to offer. There was certainly a bluesiness to their playing, which was exemplified early on by a rendition of Hard to Handle (in the style of The Black Crowes' version), but there were also indie-esque touches too occasionally. They were probably less energetic overall than The Outlanders, but a short closing number showed that they could also rock out pretty hard when they needed to. I enjoyed their set, as did the rest of the crowd, and it was great to see two local bands getting strong reactions. It is easy to be cynical about local bands, but I enjoyed the efforts of both The Outlanders and The Kites. Neither are bands that I would probably listen to in my own time, but seeing them live was a fun experience - and I will certainly be interested to see how both progress.

It was Scarlet Rebels that everyone was there to see, however, and half an hour or so following The Kite's set the band took to the stage - and played for around 80 minutes to an appreciative crowd. The band were seemingly a man down, which was never acknowledged from the stage, but the four-piece version of Scarlet Rebels certainly did not feel lacking as a result - and they delivered a strong set of material from See Through Blue and their older releases. Newer songs dominated the set, but there were still quite a few songs played that I was not familiar with. Scarlet Rebels' songs are generally easy to digest, however, and the fact that I was not familiar with a chunk of the set did not detract from my enjoyment of the show. I'm Alive was a great set-opener, which saw plenty of singing from the crowd, whilst other new numbers Storm and Everything Changed showcased See Through Blue early on. The older material played generally seemed a little heavier, and certainly more classic rock-inspired. This was exemplified by Part of Me being introduced with a snippet of Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive, whilst the oldie Let Me In had a strong chorus that prompted a bit of a mid-set sing-a-long. The ballad I Can Sleep Now proved to be a great mid-set change of pace too. Wayne Doyle (vocals/guitar) said that the song was one of his favourites from the new album, and it certainly had a bit of a different vibe to the rest of their material. It was a good way to shake things up part-way through, though, and allowed more anthemic pieces such as Take Me Home and Say My Name hit a little harder later - with plenty of soloing from Chris Jones (guitar/vocals), who very much seemed inspired by Slash by his playing style and various poses. Riffier tracks like Save Me and You Take My Breath Away signalled that the end of the set was approaching, and by this point the whole crowd was totally on the side of Scarlet Rebels. The atmosphere was excellent throughout, and the band seemed pleased with the reaction following their long journey down to Plymouth. Instead of leaving the stage and coming back, the band opted to just play two more tracks following You Take My Breath Away, with the ballad-esque Heal injecting a bit more of an emotional punch before the closing rocker These Days brought the night to a melodic end. The setlist was:

I'm Alive

Storm

Everything Changed

No One Else to Blame

Let Your Love Go

Wanted Dead or Alive [Bon Jovi cover]/Part of Me

Let Me In

I Can Sleep Now

Take You Home

Say My Name

Not the One

Save Me/It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) [AC/DC cover]

You Take My Breath Away

Heal

These Days

After the show the band came out to the merch desk to meet the crowd, so I got my copy of See Through Blue signed - which was nice. I certainly came away from the evening more into Scarlet Rebels than I was before hand, and the band certainly excelled in a live environment. I enjoyed a lot of the older songs too, so I will have to pick up their older albums in due course as I think that Scarlet Rebels are a band that I should devote some more time to going forward.