A short but sweet evening at O’Neills in Bournemouth town centre, yesterday the popular local venue saw only two acts grace their stage, but each filled the busy pub with distinct and exciting sounds rarely seen on the local music scene these days.
Far from the usual wailing teenagers playing their first punk-rock cover, both The Sabres and Law Makers brought a sense of professionalism and experience to the stage that was reflected beautifully in their style and sound.
The Sabres, usually a heavy rock band, had decided to unplug the amps and turn off the distortion to open the evening with an acoustic set. Rather than the usual drum kit, the guitarist was accompanied by a chap sitting on a large box that when hit, boomed out a surprising and interesting variety of bangs and beats.
Their set started off with some fairly typical acoustic melodies, but the catchy type you feel like you can sing along to even if you don’t know the words, before throwing out some faster paced rolling tunes that can really get your head bopping and your foot tapping.
Second up were Law Makers, and from acoustic rock the mood went into all out funk mode. In what was reminiscent of early Red Hot Chili Peppers material, the guitarist twanged out some impressive solos while the bassist wowed the audience with some very complicated walking bass-lines.
With only three people in the band, The Lawmakers had the kind of stage presence you would expect from a group that could fill a stadium. Oozing confidence as well as raw talent, their music came across as minimalist at times, but for every simple riff or beat, one soon followed that could drop your jaw with its sheer power and complexity.
But the night had to eventually come to a close, and though the audience were clamouring for more, they certainly did not leave O’Neills disappointed.
