One thing about music as an art form is its tangibility and immediacy, its ability to create feeling in the listener, to mix up emotions within you. Suffice to say I was severely disappointed by the absolute lacking of the support act in this department. So, devoid of emotion, the clean-shaven stadium rock posturing of Tape The Radio served no function other than to drain my excitement. I was looking forward to seeing The Duke Spirit, now I’m just depressed at how bland a band can be.
Leila Moss cured that dull, banal feeling within seconds, however, strutting onto stage, getting immediately involved. Eight years into their tenure as a band The Duke Spirit have progressed, there’s no doubt about that. Their last record ‘Neptune’ saw their songwriting develop, taking them into the realms of alt-pop artists such as Bat For Lashes in places (check out Dog Roses). With more guitars obviously. The band play with confidence tonight; tracks such as Step and Walk and Lasso are heated affairs, and it’s cramped on stage, sweaty and smelly. Moss lets guitarist Luke Ford know just as much too, “sweaty bastard” she ribs.
Moss is the archetypal rock front woman. Confrontational at points, she spins and gyrates her way through You Really Wake Up The Love In Me, and stomps half way between sexual and maniacal on Into The Fold. No one can accuse her of not feeling the music, the band are right behind her too; Luke Ford giving as much animation to his guitar playing as the stage would allow whilst Toby Butler rinses the noise from his SG. Bassist Marc Sallis looks the picture of satisfaction, chugging along at the back. New EP ‘Kusama’ gets its airing, satisfying the expectations of a band whose songwriting develops with each release. Everybody’s Under Your Spell goes down well, dirty guitars with a huge chorus (slightly reminiscent of Man For All Seasons by ‘80s matchbox). This all bodes well for the album that will surely follow.
Saving the best for the final swing, This Ship was Built To Last tears it up - a brilliant blues-infused rock stomp. New song Northbound sees Moss on piano duty, but it’s old favourite Cut Across The Land that sees some of the punters go all out (part booze, part Spirit) before Love is an Unfamiliar Name tops this one off. Moss shows the attendance how to front a rock band, revolving between sweet, sexual and dangerous. The Duke Spirit are a jewel of British rock music on record, and in the flesh they are even better!