Thee Sacred Souls are definitely a band on the rise with this gig being upgraded to the Islington Assembly Hall within days of tickets going on sale for the original venue the intimate Bush Hall.
I have written before about the venue which is one of my favourite mid-sized spaces in London. It has a high stage so good sight lines wherever you are, its not over sold so there’s room, the sound is always excellent and it has the best toilets of any venue in London. On the down side even in November it’s uncomfortably hot which I appreciate there is nothing that can be done due to the age of the building and then the really expensive drinks of which we now never indulge. There was tonight some temptation to imbibe with the lack of a support act and so no music for two hours after the doors opened. Not sure why the band couldn’t have come on at the appointed hour but hey that’s rock and roll. It’s also a shame that they couldn’t find a local band to provide some exposure to.
Onto the gig and this was the last night of the band’s first European tour and of course there’s no better way to end the tour than in London. It’s a packed house and we certainly raised the average age of the audience by thirty years.
The band come on stage to rapturous applause and the noise is deafening especially with a young girl behind mean whose scream was probably more responsible for my ringing ears than the show itself.
Flanked by two backing singers Josh Lane enters stage right and then unleashes his powerful soulful falsetto voice that sends shivers down your spine. I am certainly a sucker for this tone of voice with the likes of Gabriels, Aaron Fraser and to a degree Whitney included in that club.
It’s a fine show as they take us though their eponymous debut album, a couple of rare cuts and album outtakes to fill those eighty minutes. Lane has the crowd in his pocket as they hang on his every word and most indeed know every word. Lane though on several occasions was in our pocket as he hopped off stage to perform within the appreciative crowd being mobbed by a sea of mobile phones thrust in his face.
Luckily for me being above the average height the constant view of mobile phones wasn’t too much of a distraction but and I know I sound like an old fart I wish the young generation would just enjoy the show in front of them rather than behind a six inch screen.
A consistently good show throughout with the highlights for me were probably the final couple of songs ‘Weak For Your Love’ and set closer ‘Can I call you Rose’ but the overarching memory will be just hearing that voice which is a masterful instrument to behold.
A great night and keep on soulful rockin’ y’all