The Travelling Band

The Travelling Band

The Magnet, Liverpool
14th October 2016

Reviewed by Rob Harrison

The Travelling Band sound like a cross between the Waterboys and The Foals at first sight.

They play good songs and hooks aplenty, but end up sounding a bit like festival fodder.

It starts to perk slightly when they introduce their new material which sounds promising, a little bit Fairport Convention and it’s a bit more adventurous, and a bit prog too, as they continue it start to sound ok.

I am not sure about the Stone Roses cover ‘She’s a Waterfall’, complete with Mani beats, it gives the drummer a chance to show off but really he does not need to as he is quite competent.

But it all tends to be a bit up and down really in terms of a performance. The new material seems to shine through though, and they slightly remind me of the band Hal with their memorable hooks. Whatever happened to Hal?

At the end it’s back to the Foals territory with the stadium rock sound. The material seems to peter out at the end and, cynically, the singer casually mentions that this is a song for all those drunk people they play to at festivals. That seems to sum it up – this is a set for drunken gig goers. Leave your brain at home and get wasted.

Maybe if they took stock of their values they would perhaps see beyond playing to the brain-deads on the festival scene and concentrate on some of the good stuff they produce.

Worth checking out though if you can catch them, festival or otherwise.

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