Concorde 2, 2nd November 2009
Successfully hitting our airwaves in 2007, Reverend And The Makers had a number of successful tracks from debut album ‘The State Of Things’, and after a number of member alterations, front man Jon McClure (aka The Reverend) announced his retirement from the music industry. Two years on and a sold out Brighton venue later, he’s back with a new band, new music and a hell of an attitude.
As the music and lights faded into nothingness, it was only a matter of seconds before The Reverend and his Makers exploded onto the stage to open with ‘Silence Is Talking’. Consuming more alcohol than your regular binge-drinking student, the audience moved merrily to the rhythm of their music, singing along to every lyric that was spat at them. The combination of Sheffield’s impenetrable basslines and drumbeats really worked with the club-like lighting, consistently achieving smiles, body movement and drunken singing. Jon McClure owned the stage throughout their infectious performance of disco-esque indie music. You could feel the contagious vibe running through the veins of every middle-aged fan there, as they danced away their Monday evening. Continuously encouraging the Brighton audience to get more involved paid off as the vocalist dedicated his hit song ‘Open Your Window’ to the hearts of the women. For the ladies, it was the pledging of the song that caught their attention; however, for the men it was the fact that it was the soundtrack to football fanatic’s favourite Playstation 3 game Fifa 09.
The Reverend treated the crowd to a couple of acoustic performances on McClure’s very own six-string. Strumming through the personal ‘Long Long Time’, Jon followed on with an unreleased melodic song ‘Yes You Do’ which has the potential for some breathtaking sing-a-long moments. Ending the evening at south coast’s ‘Boogieville’ with tracks from new album ‘A French Kiss In The Chaos’, Jon McClure created an incredible rush from within the Concorde 2 during songs ‘He Said He Loved Me’ and ‘Miss Brown’. It is safe to say that the northern sextet definitely know how to get a party going, and in future should rise to bigger venues and reach out to the hearts of others that genuinely want to have a good night.
Words by Nicholas Coren
Photography by Sam Bond
myspace.com/reverendmusic
What did you think of the gig?
Matthew Patterson: 9/10 “I really thought that he should us as best a night that was possible. Thoroughly enjoyable.”
Fiona Tamworth: 10/10 “Fantastic reception and this performance is the sole reason they’re my favourite band right now.”
Emily Stevens: 8/10 “Blew me completely away, what a great evening.”
Mark Phillips: 9/10 “It was my first time seeing them, I didn’t know what to expect and I was surprised completely. Cracking.”
