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Let’s set the scene, while Liverpool was being thunderstruck and the sky was scorched with lightning, there was nothing piercing the darkness other than the few dimmed lights that shone inside The Kazimier.
First on stage was The Buffalo Riot, a band from Purple Revolver’s home town with a country vibe infused with 90s indie rock.
Instead of the Texan Twang, you hear the Scouse accent coming from their mouths between songs. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn’t booming this early on in the night which is a shame for the band as their music was original in comparison to some British bands that are more well known to the majority of the world.
Their latest track ‘1996’ was the most fun song of the set. There’s the sense of that country longing in this song as there is in the country love ballad ‘Jane’ which makes you wonder who Jane is and where she came from.
The band themselves – made up of frontmen Ben Singleton and Iain Morley, guitarists, Paul Carroll and Laura Shea and Andy Fernihough on drums – talked and laughed with the rest of the room before introducing Rook and The Ravens.
These lot were the first of the two bands from Manchester. Cue the friendly catcalls that is ever growing between the two Northern cities. Rook of the Ravens is a group of five compiling of Dave Brodie, Tom Cartledge, James Fay, Joe Fay and John B. Major – all young, talented and energetic as seen last night at The Kazimier.
Recently back from a 28-day tour over in the States, these lads are still living the high life with a tonne of energy and a bold set list with songs such as The Judge, Part and Parcel and Hear Me.
Prepare for a lot of smashing drums – not literally – and a varied amount of screaming, singing, laughter and a mixing of tempos, and that’s in one song. A breath of fresh air for the indie rock culture.
Finally the headliner, The Travelling Band who at first didn’t seem to communicate much with the crowd, until a few songs in when the drink flowed more, aka a bottle of Jaegermeister to which frontman Steve Mullen joked that it wasn’t as good as the hospitality in Manchester where they received bottles of whiskey.
This banter was then shouted back and forth between fellow Scousers in the crowd and the band in between songs.
A welcome addition to this alternative folk band was the sound of a saxophone and violin played by Adam Gorman, who also plays the harmonica, alongside Nick Vaal on drums, Jo Dudderidge on electric guitar and Chris Spencer on bass.
A favourite with the crowd was ‘Passing Ships’ to which they cheered at the announcement of the song and sang along to the bridge and chorus.
It starts off with soft, slow vocals which builds up through piano and violin to a song that you can imagine being sung and danced to around a campfire by a load of folk people.
All in all, The Kazimier held a night that featured a range of indie and folk sounds which should not be missed in the future.
Follow the three bands via their Twitter feeds: @TheBuffaloRiot, @RATRUK, @TravellingBand