LACONIC   Rotherham Classic Rock Society - Herringthorpe Leisure Centre- April 3rd, 2004

Although based in Mexborough,  Laconic regularly play outside the Yorkshire area having recently appeared at the Cavern in Liverpool and are no strangers to London either, so this was a good opportunity to see them on home ground. Rotherham's Classic Rock Society is a spacious venue with a crystal-clear sound system but, sadly, no draught beer !

Laconic have been described as both folk-rock and country-tinged pop but neither of these descriptions gives an accurate picture of this extremely talented band. Even their own description as an acoustic band belies the fullness of their sound or the power of their material. This is some of the best original material I have heard in a long, long time and is all written by Jenny Bailey who fronts the band. She has a very distinctive voice and an easy stage presence. She is aided and abetted by Sime White on lead guitar, a very proficient player who subscribes to the Paul Kossoff philosophy of " less is more " and adds a classy touch to Laconic's sound. Michael Law on bass guitar and Lee Emmett on drums provide a solid and inventive rhythm section for this very tight outfit.

They started their set with a slow song, " Hand ", following it up with " Take It Away ", a really bouncy number led by Jenny's guitar and with some very powerful vocals from her on this song from their new CD.  " Summer's Here " really did evoke the atmosphere of summer, even on a wet and windy night in darkest Rotherham !  Jenny then switched to electric piano for the next two songs ; " Alive ", which is very atmospheric and has  a neat change of pace midway and a great ending, and " Tired Eyes ", again from the new CD, a really punchy song led by Michael Law's great bass line. " Rapture Falling " emphasised the diversity of Jenny's writing skill - all too often original bands tend to suffer from samey material but this is definitely not the case here - this was more instrumental and had some great drum patterns from Lee as did " Follow " a short blast of a song with a definite Latin feel to it. " My Love " is the most recent addition to Laconic's list and they really rocked on this one before finishing a superb set with two old favourites, " As Soon As " , with some very dark bass from Michael and, finally, from their first CD, the song that has become their anthem, " Waiting ", a festival favourite with a clever riff from Sime and some vocal gymnastics from Jen.

An enthusiastic crowd, very knowledgeable in all matters Rock, band new to them, could have listened all night, it's just that kind of music.

I have been involved in rock music for a long, long time and although my enthusiasm for the genre has never waned I do find, these days, that I can become bored with tired old material and " flocks of seagulls " guitar solos. It has to hold my interest by way of good material and good musicianship. Laconic is a band that comes up to scratch on both counts and is one of the few that I could listen to on a regular basis  ( another is the brilliant Charlie Speed ) and it seems a shame that original bands suffer so much from the " play something we know syndrome" ( although this is much less the case with younger audiences ).

If you want to hear a band play more or less the same set that last week's band played, or listen to yet another version of " Red House " then this isn't the band for you. If, on the other hand, you want to listen to some of the best original songs of recent years played by an exceptionally tight band and hear something refreshingly different at the same time then catch Laconic soon because I feel certain that before very much longer they're going to break in a big, big way.

Duncan Mangham ©