Elliot Minor, The Higher, Furthest Drive Home
 

On paper this looks to be an interesting bill; each of the three bands currently touring the UK together can all offer something in the way of diversity, each bringing something different to the table. Elliot Minor are the classically trained rock band, offering as much in way of diversity as they do in mainstream appeal. Las Vegas’ The Higher are fusing an eclectic mix of rock, pop & R’n’B. Finally, Farnham, Surrey’s Furthest Drive Home are following a well-trodden path towards bigger things, but doing so with very much their own style of alternative rock music.

It’s probably not the greatest combination of big names ever concocted; but, judging by the sold out crowd that really doesn’t matter. Elliot Minor probably aren’t the greatest endorsement to the spirit of touring until the wheels fall off the bus, which is something the support acts are more than familiar with. More mainstream darlings than alternative breakthrough, all of their singles to date have debuted in the UK Top 40, with January’s release ‘Still Figuring Out’ giving them their highest position of 17th so far. Prior to the gig there was an in-store signing at Cardiff’s HMV, and their debut album is released on April 14th, so it’s very much looking like this is only the beginning for Elliot Minor.

Furthest Drive Home kicked off proceedings on a tight, packed stage to the delight of the crowd. Not to take anything away from Furthest Drive Home but you quickly get the impression the crowd would cheer anything, such is the excitement. For their part Furthest Drive Home justify their billing on this tour, they whip the crowd into a frenzy extremely quickly and their guitar heavy alt-rock quickly finds a place in the hearts of most of the crowd. The kids are jumping up and down and the guys are certainly enjoying themselves. Some acrobatics from bassist Jim is greeted with more excited screams and cheers.

They sound huge here tonight, having graduated from the small club scene. It may only be temporary, but they look for all their worth to be coping, and it shouldn’t be long before their back on this sort of tour. Sometimes on these sorts of shows the opening band fail to show, or the crowd just don’t really care; neither of these is true tonight, they leave the stage to even more cheers than with which they were greeted. The Higher emerge to a crowd already cheering anything that moves and they serve only to intensify the action in the crowd. Kids are moving along to the addictive rhythms and oh-so irresistible melodies emanating from the stage.

For both energy and excitement, The Higher are faultless throughout. The enthusiasm of the crowd for something most of them have never heard before is commendable and they make The Higher feel at home on their first time to the UK. They give enough to the crowd in way of energy to allow the kids to send it right back up to the stage. It’s a great interaction that they have; beating even the best moments of the previous band. Front man Seth parades around the stage with a quiet self-assurance and confidence that defies what you’d expect from looking at the guy. It’s hard to explain their sound, they sound like so many other bands but have this amazing cutting edge which nobody can touch right now. Their confidence is well justified, and a superb cover of N’Sync’s ‘Bye, Bye, Bye’ shows that their about a lot more than most bands out there now.

Elliot Minor march onto the stage to the culmination of ‘In The Hall of the Mountain King’ playing over the PA; a fitting introduction for a band with such classical credentials. The screams from the crowd are almost deafening and at first it’s hard to hear the band over the excitement and joy at their eventual arrival. Once their on the stage, they own it. Nobody can question Elliot Minor’s abilities as a band, and front man Alex Davies holds the attention of the crowd almost throughout. Songs like ‘Jessica’ and ‘Still Figuring Out’ are huge and remarkably well polished.

The crowd sing every line back to the band with the dedication, passion and conviction I’ve only ever seen at a Dashboard Confessional gig; at times the crowd are drowning out the band. This is where Elliot Minor begin to reveal their true colours. See, as well and good as it is to be playing to a sold out crowd, you get the feeling the band are looking for more. They’ve already come so far in that last time they were in Cardiff it was the Barfly club they were playing, significantly smaller than Solus here in Cardiff University. During one of the songs, the acoustic introduction is almost alone in that Alex hands singing duties to the crowd, it’s a nice touch but you get the feeling he’s expecting the crowd to join in.

That feeling never quite goes away from this point on, they have the feel of a big band in waiting. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but there is a level of arrogance clearly present which wasn’t there in either of the support bands, Elliot Minor are like many other bands in the way they’ve pushed through and toured (to a certain extent) to get where they are, but they seem to act as if they’re already in a much bigger place. In fairness, the performance is full of the finesse and polish you’d expect of a big band.

Barring some technical problems with the cello and the violin (which is very disappointing as it would’ve been great to hear the live takes of some of the additional instrumentation) they play a flawless set. The only real criticism I have is that Elliot Minor are going through the motions right now, you get the feeling their playing Solus rather than the Great Hall because that’s all the current budget and/or fan base will allow. There’s an impression, an air perhaps about the band that in their minds, or at least in the mind of Alex Davies their already playing the arenas of this world. Sure, they’re making all the right moves in the right places and will duly be rewarded with massive shows should the record sales allow; but it will most likely come with a lot less effort than with which the other two bands on tonight’s bill have already exerted to get to this point. Despite that they put on a really good live show, the kids love it, you feel the parents who are there with their kids find it easy enough to tap their feet along to the music; everybody leaves happy. For a bill of which I hadn’t seen or really heard much of the bands beforehand, it was very enjoyable and easy to get into, three solid performances and overall an enjoyable night.

Words and photos by Kevin Barnes