THE LAST CARNIVAL - Album Launch

GIG: The Last Carnival
DATE: Saturday 14th September 2013
VENUE: Concorde 2, Madeira  Drive, Brighton
COST: £10
OUR VERDICT: Fresh, Energetic, Exciting

Links:

It was a night out at the Concorde2 in Brighton for us as we wanted to be at the launch party for their first album, “The Call of ‘56”, and first gig of a headlining tour for the fantastic The Last Carnival.


A stand out band from the London IPO last year, it’s really quite astonishing how much they’ve progressed since The Bull and Gate. We did see them in a pub in Littlehampton last year too, where they did an acoustic set before they rocked out.


But for tonight’s gig it was a full on, in your face stadium rock show opening. A stunning light show that would have had any epileptics in the audience on red alert, signalled the band’s intent that they really meant business.

Russell wows the crowd

We had a couple of their previous EPs, that included the wonderful Cadillac, but even they couldn’t prepare us for just how good the songs are on this debut album. 

The title track, “The Call Of ‘56” just begs for a Glastonbury sized audience to sing along with. In saying that, most of their songs are full of catchy sing-a-long riffs throughout. Every song is a gem.





Singer and songwriter Russell has an energy and passion in everything he sings. He’s a great guitarist himself, but his on stage duels with lead guitarist Justin are a joy to watch. Justin has perfected his rock God poses perfectly. The band don’t just SOUND great, they LOOK great too. This is borne out by the hordes of screaming girls at the barrier in front of the stage. 

Guitar Duels


Kieran seemed to love every minute of the gig

The very well-spoken Kieran on keyboards, we’ve noticed before, smiles his way through every gig. He just seems to love everything that’s going on in front of him. 

So many of the songs have great big choruses, and there are filled out brilliantly by Kieran and bass player Michael. Michael, an Andy Murray look-a-like.......only with smiles, has such a great voice too. He really adds a great deal to the vocal blend.




Michael, adds some great backing vocals
Apart from the all-out rockers, the band can stray into classic REO Speed-foreigner type Power Ballads too. The Neil Schon like screaming guitars make this no bad thing though. It certainly adds extra colours to the set.

“Top Of The Hill” must be the definitive blueprint for anyone wanting to write a crowd pleaser. The whole place joined in with this call and the response was diamond.




This was such a good gig, and although it’s astonishing how far they’ve grown in the space of a year, it really shouldn’t be a surprise. 

They’ve got a great fan base, and not only that, Russell had a well thought out vision and plan for this band when we spoke to him at the last gig. It’s all falling into place for them right now.

Justin rocks
When you see bands like The Killers and Kings Of Leon making in into stadiums, then you realise with songs like the ones The Last Carnival have, all that’s needed now is that little bit of luck. But for the time being they are certainly making their own luck right now. It’s only a matter of time before they make the big time.

See our other reviews:
Littlehampton,  Aug 2012





No comments:

Post a Comment