The Jim Jones Revue // The Waterfront, 18.10.12
Exhibiting a stagecraft that in an anyone else's hands could appear cheesy and contrived, in Jim's it just makes you want to be a disciple.
There’s a distinctly middle-aged vibe at The Waterfront tonight, and I don’t mean they’re doing a roaring trade in Ruddles, pipes and slippers; it’s just that there are very few kids here to watch The Jim Jones Revue. It seems that the band may be considered a bit too ‘nostalgic’ for today’s ‘yoof’. This is of course bollocks, as I’ll explain shortly.
Opening up it’s Electric Youth Revolt, who do a nice warm, fuzzy and swampy Kings Of Leon. They’re from Diss and by the sounds of it they'll be taking their tight grooves much further afield in years to come.
Next up is Honkeyfinger, a fascinating duo who produce what can only be described as a dirty filthy gyrating beast of a wall-of-noise that is almost enough to knock you off you your feet if you listen for too long. Like an anti-Christ Seasick Steve, hell bent on entering your cranial lobes via the gift of reverberated guitar, your average punter here could find it way too much psychedelic madness. However once you accept that you're witnessing a truly different and wholly unique experience, you go with the flow (….man) and it is wonderfully immersive bonkers-ness.
The main reason that everyone's out on a school night though, is The Jim Jones Revue. I'll spare you the boring comparisons to Little Richard / Jerry Lee Lewis / Stooges et al. as you've heard every single reviewer prodding them with a different retro-stick and quite frankly, having been together for over 4 years and released 3 albums, they deserve to be treated as their own entity. And what an entity they are.
Opening with ‘Where Da Money Go?’ from their brilliant new album The Savage Heart , the hard hitting stop/start vibe of the song instantly takes your breath away and simply, makes you wanna dance… like a lunatic!
Jim Jones the man, immaculately coiffured (at least for the first couple of songs) and swaggering around stage with the sole intent of making The Waterfront into a sweat-soaked pit of rock 'n roll, plays the focal-point ringleader with aplomb. Exhibiting a stagecraft that in an anyone else's hands could appear cheesy and contrived, in Jim's it just makes you want to be a disciple. When he asks for only red lights on during ‘Eagle Eye Ball’ he genuinely appears like a possessed preacher, exhorting his followers to feel every stuttering cadence... actually make that de-cadence.
The band are insanely tight and wonderfully animated, with sharp-suited Rupert Orton seemingly possessed by the ghost of Paul Simonen, Gavin Jay and Nick Jones deliriously grinding out the grooves on bass and drums respectively. That said, it really is all about Henri Herbert on keys, the piano is high up in the sound mix and he certainly makes the most of it, feeling every single note with a frenetic whirlwind of energy.
By the end of the night The Waterfront has indeed been transformed into a sweat-soaked pit of rock 'n roll decadence. And the ‘yoof’ appear to have missed a trick here. You see, The Jim Jones Revue are a massively welcome antidote to the bland, radio-friendly piffle that’s increasingly heard on our airwaves. And very powerful force which shouldn’t be just for the oldies, The Jim Jones Revue is for everyone, do not miss them next time kids.
Gav Thomas
To see all of Andi Sapey's stunning pictures from the gig, click here
