Skip to main content

Hidden Witness

Moving house completed - for now - and we are back in the Vale of Evesham. The wonders of Facebook unearthed a live gig and St Richard's Hospice fundraiser by slow-burning band Hidden Witness so off we went for an evening out in Worcester. I honestly can't remember the last time either of us did that.... cue pleasant surprise at our venue for the evening, Keystones Cafe Bar. Quite open and spacious in terms of standing room, reasonably large stage and a bar ensconced in the remaining medieval walls - much more atmosphere than many other small bars...

A busy few weeks meant I hadn't had time to check out Hidden Witness' SoundCloud page so I had fresh ears and no expectation. The support band, The Miffs, were ok, with a few engaging covers, but sadly (for my ears) nothing memorable. 



After a short break -  in which the background music made me feel both young and old simultaneously - Dan, Chris, Neil and Dan took the stage for an interesting set. A few technical issues with the guitar at the start, but this was dealt with pretty efficiently. Bit of a mixed bag in that some of the songs were clearly stronger than the rest, but overall I heard a modern indie/alternative/post-rock/introspective sound, such as in 'Waiting for nothing to happen'; one riff in particular instantly recalled 'Slide' by the Goo Goo Dolls. I got the impression that a certain amount of inspiration came from various 90s bands... I also enjoyed the confident banter of singer Dan in particular - no new band shyness here! 

I'm currently sat listening to debut EP In Plain Sight, a pretty good sample of the show. The as yet unnamed debut album will be an interesting listen.   

Comments

HiddenWitness said…
Hi, We couldn't find another way to get in touch, but wanted to say a really big thank you for coming along to the gig, and for taking the time to write what is actually... our first review! This put smiles on every one of our faces, and we will be sure to drop a link on the website to your blog asap. Some great feedback here, and some really nice positive comments! You are more than welcome at any of our future gigs, please come and say hi!

Glad that you enjoyed the one-off "In Plain Sight" EP too. It was put together specifically for that gig, and there are only 50 of them out there.


Chris
(Guitarist & webmaster for Hidden Witness)
anthony said…
Cool ! I like it.

Popular posts from this blog

Au quatrieme fois..

A jaunt en masse down to the Coal Exchange last night (23rd) to see The Subways excel again. For once we weren't massively early (in some ways to avoid the queues of teenagers) so arrived part way through the first support band. They are called Wry, from Brazil even! They were decent and will probably merit listening to further. Best option the ubiquitous myspace . Eagerly anticipated the main support, The Sunshine Underground, of whom I'd heard good words... They more than lived up to their expectations, with my only real niggle about their sound... whether it was the singer's style or sound mix I'm not sure but their show was at parts ear-splitting - explains my slight deafness today! Otherwise excellent, not an easy band to categorise, but my impressions were somewhere between Alabama 3 and the Killers' Hot Fuss album; dancing music too. Well worth going to see - just take earplugs! (or in my case, actually go out and buy some). I believe one can listen to the...

4 and 5

Busy weekend. Number 4 was the 2nd Innercity Pirates night at Clwb Ifor Bach, spread the word to another friend so a highly successful evening! Again, Red City were the (only) support, who were still underwhelming and may even have got worse! Luckily a short set. The main Pirates set was much more polished than the last one, they have been practicing!! Only mishap this time when an overenthusiastic fan accidentally stood on a connector! Quite a different set, this time almost totally from the 3 recent EPs with the only oldies Whisper The Fear, and 'that song' from last time - which is called The Little Pills We Love. For the set list, simply check out the track listings for the 3 EPs on their website ! Number 5 entailed a visit to Coal Exchange to see Mogwai . Luckily the buses were back to normal - well normal for a Sunday ie nothing late at night! Slightly more interesting support band, The Magnificents (sound: a mix between Mogwai, Syntax and The Killers ), although I did ...

From Black Rose to Buena Vista

Two very different but equally impressive live experiences this last weekend. First up, our long overdue homage to the late, great Phil Lynott as Limehouse Lizzy returned to the Point on Friday 2nd March. Certainly on form (and not just lead singer Wayne Ellis, mmmm!) After a late doors, the band came on for a 2 hour set. They started off with Jailbreak (with added pyro), the rest of the main set comprising known songs like Dancing In The Moonlight, Warrior, Emerald, Johnny the Fox, Are You Ready, Killer On The Loose, Cold Sweat, Do Anything You Want To, Out In The Fields, Cowboy Song, Rosalie, The Boys Are Back In Town plus at least 1 early track. The encore included 1 verse/1 chorus from Sarah, Black Rose, Whisky In The Jar and another track. Excellent atmosphere, the place was sold out. The boys are back at the Point in December. Next on to crowd pleasers of a very different sort. M and I managed to get tickets for the sold-out Buena Vista Social Club show at Wales Millennium Centr...