Into Live Music Review: Reef
There’s very much a nineties revival going on at the moment, which I – as someone whose teenage years were spent in that glorious decade – welcome with open arms. There’s a joke about nostalgia not being what it used to be, but the bands of the era who have been touring and/or doing album anniversary shows have proven that they weren’t merely a flash in the pan. Reef are no exception. But let me be transparent: I’m always concerned these kinds of shows are nothing more than cash-ins and that the performances will be weak but no-one will mind, thanks to the power of nostalgia. It’s therefore comforting, a relief even, to report that these concerns were obliterated from my mind mere seconds into Reef’s set. It’s cliched to say it, but I was blown away by front man Gary Stringer. At the age of 52, he should have no business being able to sing as well as he did 30 years ago – and I’d even go as far as to say his voice has become bigger, better and stronger. If I’d closed my eyes, it could easily have been 1995 again.
Marking the thirtieth anniversary of their debut album, Replenish, the band played every track, from ‘Feed Me’ to ‘End’, all to an exceptionally high standard. Since that release, there have been a handful of line-up changes, but this made no difference to the level of performance, with Amy Newton on guitar and Luke Bullen on drums perfectly complementing founding members Gary Stringer and the ever-hairy bassist Jack Bessant. I guess you only join Reef if you’re a fan, so the band were solid and tight, and the mix for every track spot on: not too quiet, not too loud, nothing getting lost, and every word audible. It occurred to me that the instrumentation was being provided by only three people, yet the sound was huge. With most rock, a second guitarist is often required to fill out the sound, but Reef achieved an unwavering presence without this.
Highlights for me were ‘Good Feeling’, ‘Repulsive’, ‘Choose to Live’, and the spacious and hypnotic ‘Mellow’. As soon as I heard that soothing acoustic hook, it transported me right back to the summer of 1996, which – unusually for Scotland – was scorching hot and felt like it lasted for 16 weeks instead of the normal 16 minutes. It was also a treat to hear the song the album is named after – ‘Replenish’ – being played live. It’s an obscure, slightly trippy number with warbles and yodels rather than words, which channels The Doors, or being lost in a desert and then stumbling across a tent of folk jamming and drinking beer, like old-school Glastonbury vibes.
After the Replenish set, the band took a quick break then returned to play a variety of tracks from other releases, including ‘Higher Vibration’, ‘Yer Old’ and their monster hit, ‘Place Your Hands’ from their second album, Glow. I couldn’t help laugh when most of the crowd, hands in the air, sang “Put Your Hands Up”, when the actual lyric is “Put Your Hands On.” Maybe I’m easily amused, but I’d like to think Gary Stringer has a bit of Andy Kaufman or Ricky Gervais in him. After all, for a couple of decades I’d thought the opening line was, “Oh place your hands on my hole”. It turns out it’s “hope”, which doesn’t rhyme with “soul”, the closing word of the second line, “Run your fingers through my soul.” What a brilliant thing to be wrong about for so long.
The venue, SWG3 TV Studio, was perfect for what Reef aimed to achieve. It allowed them to do what they do best whilst retaining a degree of intimacy with the crowd. Personally, I thought they could’ve played a bigger venue and still filled it, but maybe they wanted something tighter and cosier so the Replenish anniversary felt more like a personal thank-you to the fans. The only downside, which is no fault of the venue, was folk chatting throughout the gig. My +1 said, “When did that become a thing?”, but unfortunately, it’s rife. I’ve noticed it being more prevalent at Glasgow gigs, but that’s not to suggest it doesn’t happen elsewhere. Why folk would fork out for a ticket, travel to a venue and then talk to their pals about spreadsheet mishaps while the band plays is beyond me. Thankfully, though, the combination of the talents of the guys on the sound desk and the band on the stage meant they were mostly drowned out.
The quality of Reef’s performance is still resonating with me, a sign that Somerset’s finest are still at the top of their game. At the end of ‘Naked’, the song that helped launch Sony’s Mini-Disc thirty-odd years ago, Stringer hollers “So will you come with me? I’ll blow you away, I’ll blow you away!” And that’s certainly what he and his bandmates did.
Dickson Telfer
@DicksonTelfer
Photos courtesy of D.Telfer
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