Reef live at O2 Academy Bristol review
Posted on: 2016-03-11
Our rating:
Reef may come back to Bristol around the same time every year, but that regularity certainly hasn't seemed to have diminished this city's love for the veterans. If you missed them this time around rest assured, they will be back. Get a ticket early!
The Glastonbury band Reef played at the O2 Academy in Bristol on Thursday 10th March 2016 and 365Bristol sent along our reviewer Josh Coulson to cover the show. Here's what he thought.
They can still pack out the O2 Academy. Their lead singer, Gary Stringer, still looks like Rick from The Walking Dead. And most importantly they still sound as awesome as they did 20 years ago. Reef returned to Bristol this past Thursday for their annual visit. Being from Glastonbury the Bristol date of the band's tour is always a highlight and the (almost) home town crowd never fail to help make it memorable.
Saunton Road opened proceedings for the night. Their set may have been short and sweet but it certainly set the tone for the evening. Loud, energetic and with Reef bassist Jack Bessant forming part of the line up a sound very similar to that of the headline act.
Their Academy show last year was my first time seeing Reef. Like many the only song I really knew by the quartet was the nineties anthem Place Your Hands. Within ten minutes of the guys being on stage you realise that they really are so much more than that. In fact if the first two songs didn't do it for you this past Thursday then the third undoubtedly would have. Higher Vibration boomed out across the crowd, a track with the type of catchy chorus that has even the newest of fans singing along in no time.
Just when I thought the evening was heading in a very similar direction to their Bristol gig last year I was proven very much mistaken. Mellow brought the enthusiasm in the room down a notch which was very much necessary for the upcoming curve ball. Stringer then welcomed on to the stage an all-female choir to accompany the rockers for their next couple of songs. It added yet another dimension to the already many sounds of Reef, giving them an almost gospel like feel once they got in to the swing of things.
Even though the band have been around, on and off, for over twenty years now they still manage to impress with new material. Ball and Chain was greeted with almost as much energy as the rest of the night's set. More impressive was the fact that another new track, Lone Rider, was given pride of place during the encore and actually received a good reaction.
As much as I harped on about the fact that Reef are so much more than Place Your Hands, it's hard to argue that it was one of the high points of the show. There are not many songs like it in terms of warranting a lung busting sing-a-long. Plus it doesn't seem to matter where in the set it's placed it always fits perfectly. In Thursday's case it very successfully began the momentum build to the evening's climax.
They may come back to Bristol around the same time every year, but that regularity certainly hasn't seemed to have diminished this city's love for the veterans. The wave of momentum started by Place Your hands carried on throughout the remainder of the show all the way to closer Yer Old. Much like earlier track Higher Vibration it's one you'll feel like you've known all your life by the time it's over. Reef always play a mammoth set but you can rest assured it unfortunately never feels like as long a night as it is. If you missed them this time around rest assured, they will be back. Just be sure not to miss them again.
4/5
Reviewed by Josh Coulson for 365Bristol
Article by:
Born and raised in the suburbs of Swansea, Jimmy moved to Bristol back in 2004 to attend university. Passionate about live music, sport, science and nature, he can usually be found walking his cocker spaniel Baxter at any number of green spots around the city. Call James on 078 9999 3534 or email Editor@365Bristol.com.
