Reverend and the Makers – Bristol Bierkeller
This was an evening of firsts for me, both seeing Reverend and the Makers live and also of this venue in Bristol, the latter being a bit confused as I am sure you do not normally have first floor cellars. But it is a great little intimate, looking at the posters on the walls it does seem to be bands that are not quite where they once were Fear Factory, Ash and tonight’s headliners Reverend and The Makers. That is not to take away from the vocal and passionate fans they still have and were in attendance.
The band took the stage at a later than expected 10pm and their first act was for ‘Reverend’ Jon McClure to take a picture of “the sexy bastards” in the audience. He arrived in full duffel coat, well it is winter I guess although track ‘Open Your Window’ got an early airing (so maybe it was a bit warm under the lights) ably supported by Laura McClure, his wife, on keyboard and backing vocals. As a front man he does have a strong stage presence, getting the crowd to show him their palms during ‘Shine a Light’ it is great to see the confidence if a bit odd having somebody who feels like they are directing a Wembley Arena audience in a small Bristol club.
The biggest reaction of the nights come from an early airing of their first and still biggest hit ‘Heavyweight Champion of the World’ and we are promised “banger after banger” from the tunes. ‘Bassline’ and ‘Out of the Shadows’ also get a great crowd response who all jumps when directed to by The Reverend. They do have a good selection of songs and the front man really knows how to hold an audience, it is a shame they never quite managed to replicate their first big hit as number of these songs stand up well in comparison when the band and crowd click. He even responds well when a well-meaning comment about Paris is shouted down by somebody in the crowd. I really hope this is start of resurgence and that next time they play locally there will be thousands rather than hundreds in attendance.
Read our review of the show here