LAVEER & WHEELS

The Barge in Gillingham is an unassuming looking pub down a long narrow street. There’s a mild maritime theme and a small stage from which you’ll always some excellent of the best music from Medway’s bustling and thriving music scene and beyond. Apparently Ellie Goulding played here while she was studying in Canterbury.

It’s an intimate venue (by which I’m not using the estate agent’s euphemism for “small”). But with the candles crammed into old whiskey and wine bottles in an otherwise darkened snug, there is definitely an air of intimacy and amicable community to the place.

 

 

As if to prove the pub’s musical credentials, there are old instruments scattered all around the place: a mandolin, a guitar, some bongos. And the harmonium at the back is proving a great place to rest my pint.

So, first up, we have a band whose nautical name matches the theme of the pub. “Laveer” as they call themselves is a maritime word meaning “to beat against the wind”. They’re a four piece acoustic act: one voice, two guitars (three when Aimee the vocalist joins in) and one bass.

 

 

There’s a clear Spanish influence here with Iberian flourishes underscoring a gentle vocal recalling Joni Mitchell (the band regularly perform a cover of that artist’s “Case of You”). It’s mesmerising and beautiful; a gorgeous, enticing sound as the songs undulate, rising and falling like the tide of the Medway nearby.

Laveer are here promoting their latest CD, “From the Dirt the Flowers Grow”. Their sound is remarkably complex with harmonies and melodies intertwining, often at great speed, beneath the soothing vocal line.

The band finish their set with an entirely original cover of “I Feel Love”. It’s almost like they’re channelling Stealers Wheel’s “Caught in the middle with you” through the Donna Summers classic.

After their set, I catch up with the band in a quiet corner of the band.

 

 

Laveer have been together for about two and a half years. They come from across Kent with another member coming from Lewisham – which isn’t Kent, but that’s hardly her fault. As Dan, one of the band’s guitarist explains, the band members discovered each other with relief after putting up with: “too many egos in traditional rock bands. Very often in previous bands, there would be endless discussions about what would be done – without actually doing anything.”

“With this band, we just turn up, have a cup of tea and get on with it,” says Aimee.

“I think I did have a beer once,” adds James, the bassist. Perhaps he’s worried the band’s rock and roll credentials are being underplayed a little too much.

There’s a clear sense the pressure is off with the band – which is clearly helping with their creativity. Having escaped the aforementioned egos, they’re able to concentrate on perfecting the sound. “If we find things are getting too comfortable, we put a spanner in the works and try something else,” Dan tells me.

Such spanners might include piling 20 guitar tracks on top of one another for their recordings. Like Aimee says, “it ends up being like an orchestra of guitars.” Impressive.

“Obviously, we have to cut it down a bit when we play live,” adds guitarist Stephen.

 

 

The band find inspiration from 70s acts like Joni Mitchell and Fleetwood Mac, and acknowledge there’s something of a prog-rock structure to their music, though the actual sound is a million miles away from King Crimson, Yes or Pink Floyd. “Ooooh, we don’t use the P word,” grimaces James.

The band have three songwriters. Aimee’s tend to be personal songs, such as “For You” which she calls her break up song. Stephen’s meanwhile tend to be more philosophical in content while Dan admits the meaning of his songs tend to be hidden behind a veil of storytelling.

“Any plans for the future?” I ask as my parting shot to the band.

“Get a beer,” Dan answers. “Then we’ll take things from there.” Sounds like a plan. I might get one too.

 

 

The second band on tonight are Wheels, an excellent indie-folk act. At times they share a similarity with the shambolic (in a good way) sound of Alfie. At others there’s more of a Tex-Mex sound to them more redolent of Calexico. It’s a dirty, rich, well textured sound.

As the band move into one of their favourites, “Forget It”, it’s clear the Spanish influences (or at least influences from the old Spanish Empire) are going to be a major theme of the evening. The song’s Mexican style is enough to get a slightly inebriated couple dancing and even manages to drown out the caterwauling of a birthday party at a nearby table.

 

 

It’s a fast paced (at times) song complete with snarls from Rew Oates, the lead vocalist, and “Missouri” style guitars throughout the instrumentals. Elsewhere “Slow Down” nods its head gently in the direction of America’s “Horse with no name”. Which is fitting because just before the live music started, that very song came on over the PA sparking nods of recognition from the band.

Much like Laveer, Wheels are a band full of sprawling sounds, taking in a variety of speeds and textures. Just as with the first band from the evening, they’re reluctant to conform to any verse, chorus, verse, chorus structure.

The sprawling, slow, fast, slow, fast richness appears in the band’s newer material too. There’s even a hint of free form jazz in there. Derek Smalls would be proud.

So, all in all, another fantastic night of music in Medway. Not bad. Not bad at all.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: All comments and opinions are those of the writer.

25/03/2011 • The Barge, Gillingham

By Stephen Morris • Photos by Nicholas Blake

One Response to “LAVEER & WHEELS”

1. 

   Posted by: Full Name
   On March 29th, 2011 at 8:17 am

   A great article – shame about the razors!!!

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.