Winston's Zen

LIVE @ THE OAKFORD, READING - SEP 11TH 2009

White Sunday may have been off our stages for a while, but if the queues snaking around the block and the eager punters locked out of this sold out show at the Oakford on Friday night are anything to go by, then Reading’s gig goers have lost no more of their enthusiasm for their local hero’s than Winston’s Zen has. If ever there was a night to cram punters into a venue like so many sardines then this, with an army of big label scouts in attendance was most definitely that night. And fill the place they did. The band entered the venue minutes before their set was due to start and where lesser mortals than themselves might have faced a casual stroll to the stage, White Sunday are these days required to edge their way through a sweaty mass of bodies, receiving backslaps of encouragement from those still sober enough to clock them along the way.

Once on stage it’s clear that the bands self enforced break has brought with it a few changes. Most obviously there’s been the recruitment of a fresh sticksman (Matt Siyani) and a reduction in strumming personnel. Frontman Jimmy Glanville however, looks as sharp, focused, and confident as he’s ever done. And he’s got good cause to be confident too. As soon as they tear into opening track Musical Inner Peace, it’s clear that White Sunday have chosen to spend their brief hiatus honing their songwriting and shaping a determined sound which, in these days of half arsed electro noodling, is beginning to feel like it belongs to them and them alone.

The slew of new tracks on display tonight go some distance to shaking off the heavy weight of every rock bands influences and impress on White Sunday’s own terms. One after the other they’re soaked up eagerly by a crowd only too happy to get acquainted with fresh material. Older favourites Why Do I Still Do This Everyday and Nothing Without The Music have been stripped back and refined, somehow sleeker than in the past yet maintaining that grit and genuine honesty that grips an audience firmly and has marked White Sunday out from the pack since the early days. Luke Parry’s bass carries a gleeful venom all night, delighting those who can pull their attention from Glanville’s playful preening. His grinning interactions with his bandmates are a joy to watch and speak volumes of how satisfied these four lads are with the way the last few months have seen their stageshow develop.

Frankly, it’s a pleasure to behold.

Honest rock ‘n’ roll that can speak to the masses takes more than tight jeans, a swagger and a collection of Rolling Stones records. Real pop music that stays etched in the memory for generations takes more than a famous dad, a silly haircut and a vocorder machine. Occasionally a group achieves the seemingly impossible, puts the two worlds together perfectly and burns itself onto a nations consciousness forever.

On this kind of showing, and on this kind of form White Sunday have a better shot than most of doing just that.

White Sunday links:
Zendar | Myspace | Last.fm