Live Review

Steve Reynolds and Jim Bianco, Hotel Cafe On Tour – The Enterprise, B*Sides at the Barfly, Camden

• 10th Dec 2007

What a difference it makes to have a full room. It wasn’t that the musicians got better, just that the ambience changed considerably. One week on from playing for a mere handful of delighted people at the Cambridge Barfly the guys were all on top form at this, the penultimate date on their tour and made the most of a fuller audience, bizarrely in a smaller venue.

As predicted Gavin Thorpe was even better when there was more of an audience to feed on. He built a rapport with them and did a stonking good set, which got a warm reception. Both the newly released single ‘Out Of Place’ and the title track from the forthcoming album ‘Pictures’ went down a treat and if that’s anything to go by the sales should go well. Gavin is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Jim Bianco and Brad Gordon’s entry to the room got a cheer. This audience knew they were in for a good time and Jim and Brad duly delivered it. The joint was fairly jumping and the mood was high. Everyone was getting into the groove when the PA suddenly developed a glitch in the middle of ‘Handsome Devil’ Attempts to fix the problem failed so Jim and Brad moved off the stage and played sans amplification, to be joined by Steve and Gavin for the finale of their set. This got a huge cheer of approval from the room, it was hard to let them go but there was still Steve to look forward to.

Steve Reynolds took to the stage after a slight delay while the PA was finally fixed. His fluid guitar and mellifluous vocals filled the room and you could have heard a pin drop. This was great stuff. In particular “Static”, which he played with Brad Gordon, was wonderfully executed and wholeheartedly appreciated by a rapt audience. Sadly even the best things must come to an end, but only until the next time. Here’s hoping that will be sooner rather than later.

Picture: Steve Reynolds and Jim Bianco by David A. Curtis.