Review
– Amanda Easton + Euphonic + Midnight Swim
@ the Iron Duke 4May00
From the song-and-a-half
I caught of Midnight
Swim, I could tell theirs was a dark, moody/brooding,
ethereal muse akin to Glance
and, based on what I know of the other acts on the bill, a good choice for the
opening set.
The Duke
has picked up its act in the sound and lighting stakes since I have been here…
pity the crowd thinks otherwise from their lack of attendance, but Euphonic
soon livened up those who were braved the weather with their three-piece Tea Party meets Fini
Scad meets Flyspeak. The band’s presentation blew
everyone away! And here’s me expecting an upbeat version of Midnight
Swim (based on their
EP at least). It’s radio-current rock and pop with a commercial muse which,
until now, you would not have expected at this room. There is nothing
alternative to this band – they just scream ‘sign me’/‘add me’. Love the Radiohead/Muse
remake!! «««««
I only
found out about Amanda Easton quite recently and took the liberty of downloading a
couple of tunes in preparation for this evening. So while the first two acts
set a tone for the night, I had certain expectations for Amanda
and co which were appeased when they opened with Infatuation, note- and
pitch-perfect one of those two aforementioned downloads. And they enjoyed doing
so, especially Alex on
keys doing the Roger
(Queen) Taylor/Crash
Test Dummies Lid On Things falsetto on backing vox. Other
outstanding aspects of the set by a performer not usually suited to The Duke
included the three-part harmonies in Skin, Amanda’s powerful projection, the rock ‘n’ roll leadership
and overall participation by David,
the minor-blues acoustic Space Girl and Alex’s Tom
Scholz styled keys effects in Don’t Know What You’ve Got.
I felt that
Amanda could probably relate more to her audience by moving
about a little and singing to more of us, but she and the band of no name are
quite the accessible radio- and major/bigger-venues friendly unit with endless
radio possibilities, aside from Raw,
in whatever market they seek, from AOR to rock and beyond. ««««¶