Saturday 13 August 2011

The Decoys Live @ Mardon's Social Club

The Decoys
Mardon's Social Club

The Decoys take to the stage at just the perfect time tonight. As is the tradition at most gigs, people only really start to pay attention when the second band emerges, and if first act The Unforgiven provided a skillful warm up to a luke- warm reception, then the crowds that gather around the stage when the Decoys arrive make it look like U2 following on from The Enemy.

The Decoys are a band with quite a lot of history in the local area. Numerous line-up changes have left them with a rather late incarnation, but one that is without doubt their strongest to date. The most remarkable thing about tonight's show is the musicianship. It is nearly always tight. There are few mistakes, and when there are, they are covered up and the band recover with the amount of cool that any four young men in an amateur band could hope for, so that any errors are forgotten and barely even noticed. The band provide a vibrant and energetic backdrop for Danielle Folland's soulful croon to take the forefront.

When Folland's vocals work, they work to magical effect. As they open up the set with a startleingly reminiscient cover of Jet's "She's a genius," Folland's vocals fit in well. Covers of Kings of leon classics "Sex on fire" and "Use somebody" are given a magical and perhaps even more soulful quality by the vocals. They aren't always so inspired though. On a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" the vocals just seem out of place.

Other than the occasional mismatching and some "really- don't-want-to-be-here" facial expressions, the band have perhaps performed their best set yet. If the rumors that this will be the Decoys last gig are true, then they've gone out with colours and heads flying high.

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