Guest review from Sam Jackson

This latest “Songs from the Front Room” house gig was a huge leap forward from previous shows. The audience abandoned its usual cosy spot in Katie’s front room to watch the phenomenal seven-piece Revere in all its glory in the more spacious games room of a local farm house. With an audience of over 70, some of them coming from as far away as Buckinghamshire, the gig looked promising. That is until you realise you will have to serve chilli to these 70 people, and then play in front of them with the band.

Expectations of Revere were high, especially for people who had already seen them before, but as soon as Nicholas Hirst started beautifully playing his keyboard and Stephen Ellis began to sing the first few lines of the melancholic melody “I Won’t Blame You” with his unique and powerful voice, everyone was transfixed. This was the moment that regular goers realised that Revere were about to introduce something new to the front room gigs.

After a mind blowing intro, you could tell the audience was satisfied and ready to hear more. Revere’s repertoire consisted of classics such as “As the Radars Sleep” and their own versions of well-known hits such as Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” to familiarise newcomers with their songs and style. Of course, adding a Disney song to the set list halfway through won over the audience completely. They also treated long-time fans to some new songs off their ground-breaking and innovative new album “My Mirror/Your Target” such as the moving song “What Am I If I’m Not Even Dust?” You could feel the energy and effort put into every song and the chemistry between each member of the band. What was also recognisable was the sheer emotion and thought they’d put into the lyrics and instrumentals of each song, all of which were perfect.

As most of us know, all good things must come to an end, but not before Stephen teased the audience with an encore with a twist; I was going to play their last song, “The Escape Artist”, with them. I nervously waited at the side for my part whilst Stephen and the others took centre stage, and as their masterpiece of a song slowly died down, Stephen introduced me to the warm and welcoming audience. And the next three minutes were some of the most amazing moments of my life, although my concentrating face may not have allowed me to express that!

I felt extremely privileged to play with this brilliant group of geniuses and no one seemed to walk away disappointed. Yet another successful show and a massive thank you to Katie, Al, Mark, Karen and Revere.

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Video by Lawrence Magee