I came to this gig knowing very little about The Staves and if I'm honest, I turned up pretty tired and so wasn't excited for much... I was just hoping for some easy listening. So as I stood in the crowd waiting for someone to come up on stage and keep me awake I took a look at the fans to get an idea of what kind of people were into the band. On first glance I saw a lot of middle aged people and families, sprinkled with a few students here and there - so a seemingly mellow crowd.
After a while waiting, James Canty wasted no time with introductions and went straight in with his first song. However, because he did this, unaccompanied, a few people (myself included) were confused at first as to whether he was actually the support act or just a very confident sound check person. As the song continued I decided on the former and really started to listen. I'm a little conflicted about how I feel about his set. There were so many negative points but the few positive points he had were really good. I'll start off with the good... He was funny - his onstage banter and crowd interaction was enjoyable. He definitely wasn't lazy about the way that he performed and you could tell that he's enthusiastic about music. Also, he is a fantastic guitarist. However (here comes the bad), his voice was not great at all. At times it felt like karaoke or an open mic night and at some points I felt like he didn't even believe in his own songs! His song "Love" had some great lyrical parts and potential but his song "Debra" was not my cup of tea AT ALL. Part of the way through I was almost sure that it had to be a joke. Based on his set alone, the night hadn't started off as I'd hoped.
Whilst trying to figure out my feelings about what I'd just seen, I heard Wayne's World playing through the speakers before The Staves came on and that managed to put a smile on my face. Now it was up to The Staves to keep it there. They succeeded. Their first song "Blood I Bled" was absolutely mesmerising. Before they had even finished singing I was already writing down lyrics so that I could look up the song later on. Their harmonies were beautiful. I can't remember the last time I heard three voices mesh together that well - I mean Haim who?! Just that one song managed to catch my full attention. Also, James Canty had reappeared except now joining the ladies on guitar/synth and in my opinion, this fit him much better! Back to the girls though, from song to song it was a series of amazing vocals, interesting beats and instrumentals and clever lyrics. Some standouts were "Winter Trees", "Steady" and "Don't You Call Me". Aside from their music, the girls had a really awesome vibe, and they were hilarious. Between them and James Canty you could guess that there would be a lot of laughter backstage. The only criticism I have is that by the end of the set I was losing interest a bit. Although quality didn't drop, novelty did. Either way, I picked up a copy of their Blood I Bled EP outside afterwards and have been listening to it since! I'm expecting big things from these ladies.
Overall Rating - 7/10
Here are some pictures from the night...
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