Last night we wandered across the road from work to go and watch Shaun, Tim, James and Oli ~ aka ~ South Parade play at the Fiddler in Cleethorpes. I had the good fortune to miss the first band on stage, because apparently they were a bunch of pissed up layabouts who couldn’t even finish a song. South Parade however are just improving gig after gig. I’ve missed the last few gigs due to not being able to get the time off, so their playlist was somewhat more polished than last time I heard them live. Same great songs, just with a little more technical infill or shall we say, icing. The sound guy did a great job too. Loud enough, clear enough and vocals audible over the music. One of South Parade’s downfalls in the early days of the Solid / Winter Gardens gigs.

Fingers Freeman was technically very sound on bass, he always is. And his harmonies add another, richening dynamic to the songs. I don’t know how he gets that high though? G-clamp on the bollocks? Girlfriends thong? Unfortunately he was sporting a pot on his foot so a mad cap shindigg-esque stage performance was never on the cards, but hey, this is sensible Shaun we’re talking about here, is it ever?

Jimmy T-Bird wasn’t pissed - a good start. The lead fills of the songs are coming on so much that they are starting to take on a certain familiarity. There’s always room for artistic license live on stage but it’s got to be a good idea to hone the basics first. His performance felt somewhat more confident in that the time the band has put into rehearsing is obviously paying dividends. I think another factor that added to James’s, and as a consequence the band as a whole’s performance, was the recent addition to his armoury of a number of quality effects pedals. I specifically liked his use of wah-wah pedal. It’s tempting when you start amassing a collection of effects pedals to use them all the time. Two at a time, echo on distortion with a tad of cry baby thrown in for good measure etc. I know, I’ve done it myself. James used the wah wah to great effect. Not too much, in the right places and well executed. I liked it a lot. Quality performance.

Timpani Tim was spot on the beat, again he always is. The driving force behind the live performances and technically each song seems to be more tailored in style as opposed to a standard rythm if you know what I mean. I can only imagine how good he could get if he actually turned up for practice when everyone else did!

Oli thenewts jr. also put on a fantasic performance. Quality guitar work and like james, good use of his new effects pedals. A lovely strong voice and not a note out of place. I tremble when I know the high notes are coming but he nails them every time. I don’t know how he does it, we’re form the same beginnings but I could never sing that high. The hours of practice that they all put in is starting to bear fruit. The band are gelling very well. Certainly the most professional and polished performance I have witnessed from South Parade to date.

Criticisms? The only recognisable area for improvement I think is in their harmonies. I must say that they are much much better than the early days, but I know they can improve on them further. It’s not a question of ability, all those involved can reach the required notes. I think it’s a question of practice, practice and more practice. I know they can do it so well, I’ve heard the bands studio recordings where they’ve had a guy in the booth getting them to do it over and over again until it’s right. And when it’s right it stands out so much, it gives such a professional veneer to their work. Obviously it’s easy in a studio with no audience, no bright lights, no external distractions and as many goes at it as it takes to get it right. As opposed to being live on stage trying to hear yourself through stage monitors. That’s what’s required to ascend to the next level though, and that small area of criticism is what I think, if worked on and mastered, will step them up several rungs of the Rock and Roll ladder in one go. Of course this is just my humble 2 cents worth.

My song of choice… Well it’s nearly always “BE” because that one’s so well rehearsed and has great harmonies on it, but I must say that me and a few others we spoke to really liked the rock n roll number “You Don’t Know What You’re Doing To Me”.

A great performance that we didn’t want to end. Good luck to the band who are travelling down to Nottingham today to support The Lovers, the brainchild of Tom Hingley who was the lead singer in The Inspiral Carpets.

I have video of several songs and Shaun’s got the recording off the deck for the performance so we may marry the two together and make available a video for download. Watch this space! Or possibly even this space.

Update:

The mini disc recording didn’t happen but here’s a couple of clips straight from the video cam…

[LOVEBUG] [NORTHERN SOUL]