Howling Bells chose the rather marvellous Lexington as the venue for a warm-up gig for their appearance at the Hop Farm Festival.
Support was provided by Steve Smyth, a singer/songwriter very reminiscent of Josh T. Pearson whilst also coming on like a cross between Captain Beefheart and The White Stripes. He sings in a gnarled American accent which sounds as if it has been marinaded in bourbon for a goodly number of years. However, when he speaks he is very clearly English! No matter - the songs are good and I was sufficiently impressed to purchase his "Release" album.
Howling Bells are always pretty good live and tonight was no exception. All three of their albums were fairly evenly represented in the set list, which was a crowd-pleasing list which had probably been put together with the weekend's festival in mind. I suspect that the Lexington may be a bit of a local for the band (they had their after-show drinks there when they played The Scala last year) and this very much had the feel of a homecoming gig. The Howling Bells live experience always feels an inclusive one. This was demonstrated when Juanita announced that she is expecting by patting her stomach and introducing "a new member of the band: The Bump!"
The band are not afraid to display their musicianly chops, and often extend songs with interesting jams, without becoming self indulgent. In fact, at times when they do this they remind me of Led Zeppelin in their live heyday, apart from the fact that they have a very clear idea of how to edit themselves.
All too soon they finish their main set with Live On from The Loudest Engine album, before returning for an encore of (what else??) Low Happening. It never fails to surprise me that Howling Bells are not more popular than they are. They consistently release good albums and are a cracking live band. On the other hand, I'd rather not have to see them at Wembley Arena!!!
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