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The Favours - The Adelphi Club - Friday July 11th
Things seem to be finally falling into place for The Favours. They've been one of the most prominent bands on the Hull scene for seemingly an eternity now, but after a bit of a stop-start history including a few breaks, relocating to London for a bit and going on a US tour, not to mention various line-up changes, they seem to have finally got the stability and the setlist they need to enable them to take on the wider world
It’s fair to say that tonight felt a little like watching the final stages of a 'work in progress' (quite literally in the case of the venue toilets if you've ventured in there of late). Part of the reason for this is that they've been breaking in their new guitarist Chris and have been very active on the gig front of late, to give their latest addition the chance to get as up to speed with their songs as the rest of them are.
We got to the venue nicely just in time for the start of their set having hot-footed it over from the K-Fest, so unfortunately we missed their other friends and contemporaries on the bill, all selected by founding favour Martin. Considering what else was taking place in Hull the same night, there was a very good turnout at the Adelphi though. That the venue was laid out so that everyone at the sides and front half of the place were seated at small tables seemed a little wrong; civilised and intimate maybe, but not necessarily appropriate for the kind of set that The Favours are known for serving up. I felt like we were waiting for some old style jazz crooner to come on stage
Anyway thankfully we got The Favours instead and they bounced on and got straight down to business, tearing through a set of past and future favourites with some relish.
The Sound? If by some miracle you haven't yet encountered The Favours, then in terms of musical references think of some of the more enduring incarnations of the 'stunning looking, punky female vocalist surrounded by sweaty, guitar toting boys' formula (Blondie, PJ Harvey, Garbage) and you'll have some idea. I definitely hear shades of Elastica in there too which is always a good thing in my book. Obviously this only partly tells the story and they very much have their own sound by now, and Sara's vocals have grown massively in strength and quality over the time I've been watching them live, albeit that they perhaps could have done to be a little more prominent in the mix on this particular evening
In spite of the scuffed up punky power chords that form the basis of their songs, its immediately clear that they still have a way with a great pop tune, of which they now have plenty. There's no fat or waste at all in their set now, with each new hook-laden mix of dirty guitars and great melodies just as enjoyable and memorable as the one that preceded it. Tells you a lot about a band that despite playing a breakneck set of all highs and no lows, they still missed out a couple of my favourites
I presume this long awaited first proper full length album of theirs can't be too far away now, and based on this set and the likes of recent singles such as 'Islands' and 'One up on you', its going to be great when it does finally arrive. Even though maybe all the delays weren't intentional, in these days of record companies demanding instant anthems from 'here today, gone tomorrow' types, perhaps there's something to be said for taking your time.
Shady
Shady
view their event listings
ant seen the favours in ages
