“The next big thing.” How many times have you heard a band described as the next big thing? It’s getting boring.
So boring in fact that it could do more harm than good. People switch off because it’s become a cliché, as are many of the bands handed this moniker.
The Black Marquee is the latest band to be affixed with the old ball & chain. To their credit, they carry it well.
The set opens with the heavy, singular drum of ‘I’ll Sell You All’, and goes on to set an impending tone that lurks throughout. The Black Marquee are shoe gazers, there’s nothing flash to them. They, like My Bloody Valentine, let the music do the talking.
During ‘Allusion’, vocalist Steven Young picks up his guitar for the 1st time and wields it like a weapon. The song is one of the best they have and has a real ebb and flow to it.
‘Reverie’ is where the band’s psychedelic 60’s influence is most prominent, only thanks to Young’s swagger it feels more like an 80’s casuals youth in his Stone Island smacking you in the face than it does a free loving hippy.
The star of this band though is Jeff Wooton. His guitars are haemorrhage inducing walls of noise. This is a feller who skulked off to L.A. at 16 and ended up playing with Zoe Bonham, daughter to Zeppelin’s John Bonham. There are moments when he carries the band, although his shy on-stage demeanour suggests he would feel differently.
The Black Marquee are that thunderstorm on the horizon. A rumbling, menacing threat with the occasional flashes of lightning brilliance provided by Wooton. Like that storm on the horizon however, they never quite get going. There’s still some work to do for this lot, but make no mistake, you will know their names soon enough.
3 out of 5
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