Broken Witt Rebels

Granted a half hour set Broken Witt Rebels proceeded to show just how much rock & roll you can pack into a short set and blew the packed Water Rats crowd away with some stunning music from their new ‘Georgia Pine’ ep and the previous ‘Howlin’ – they even manage to throw in a couple of new numbers which went down a storm.

From the opening chords of ‘Low’ they had the crowd bouncing along to the music and Danny Core’s impassioned and raw vocals pealed out into the club like an acid bath washing away all memories of other bands. Versions of ‘Howlin’ and ‘Guns’ kept the crowd dancing and cheering and even drew out an encore (against the rules) after a brilliant 'Shake Me Down'.

Personally I am a sucker for a band who play like their lives depend on it and BWR definitely do that with some stunning interplay between Danny and Luke Davis on twin guitar lead chopping out the riffs and solos. They have obviously been around a while because they have the sort of stage presence that only builds over years together and even on a tiny stage like The Water Rats they dominated the hall, looking larger than life and demanding the audience attention. In those circumstances you have to be very good to survive and the band are just that – very, very good.

This was one of those gigs where you came away thinking “Mmm, I’d like to do all that over again” and next time they are in town I will be doing just that.

Excellent band and a great gig.