Social Club Christmas Gig Reviewed
Mean Poppa Lean, They? and Megan Goodwin; Thursday, 21st December – Rob Lowen (Ex The Thunderlemons) was there!
TONIGHT it is absolutely freezing in Thame, and as a result, The Social club is pretty packed. Nevertheless, I arrived nice and early and managed to squeeze in on a sofa with my trusty notepad, feeling fully ready to enjoy an evening of quality music from three Brighton artists with a strong attachment to Thame.
Megan Goodwin is a singer from Oxfordshire, who has been based in Brighton for the last year or so. Taking to the stage with just a guitarist for accompaniment, her music is a refreshing blend of lounge, jazz and soul, calling to mind the voice of Catatonia with the accompaniment of Jack Johnson. Refreshing, cheeky and light-hearted, she’s always smiling. A great start to the evening.
Next to the stage are local legends, They? What the question mark means is anybody’s guess, but it’s easy to tell where the music is at. Catchy yet crushing riffs bleed into brooding, picked verses. They? have clearly mastered the art of stop-start dynamics, and Dave Vine delivers a massively powerful vocal performance from start to finish. The energy emanated from this band is awesome, and they sound absolutely huge for a three-piece.
Mean Poppa Lean are definitely a funk band. Composed of two members from this area’s ex-premier funk-rock legends, Hedroom, and two members of They?, Mean Poppa Lean stride onto the stage wearing ridiculous pimp-style fur coats, and the already hyped-up room breaks into a frenzy of skanking and dancing. Their music is debauch and dangerous, like an upper-class Mother’s Milk-era Chili Peppers, with an especially virtuoso performance from lead guitarist Alex Camp. Everybody in the venue is dancing, singing, or blind drunk. If The Social is to play host to bands of this calibre frequently, they’re going to have to get bigger premises. Or at least reinforce the floor.
Photo: Megan Goodwin
Bands wishing to play at the Social next year, should contact Michele at Crash Records on:
info@crash-records.co.uk
www.myspace.com/thesocialthame
