Oddie's Bill.

by Bob Osborne. 23.08.10.

In the first of a series of new Saturday Night extravaganzas, the Oddfellows Arms in Church Street, Eccles (affectionately known as the Oddies) hosted The Hidden Gem and Pearl Divers.

Let’s say from the outset that the gremlins were out in full force on this night starting with the late arrival of the PA, the subsequent inability therefore to carry out a proper sound-check, and the perils of getting the sound right of an electronic drum-kit in the confines of a relatively small venue.

If these sorts of problems can be sorted out in future then the Oddies has the potential of a great venue for the Saturday night crowd. Transport links are good and the bar-staff and management are friendly.

All that out of the way then, and, on with the groups. Well the aforementioned lack of loud enough drums somewhat diminished the appreciation of the performances. The Hidden Gem were their usual excellent selves and great songs like “Catch The Killer”, “The Loudest Silence” and set closer “Flick of the Switch” were very pleasing to the ear. The highlight for me was the feedback drenched “Black Lustre” which is a real stomper. A great band who seemed somewhat crestfallen at the end by the technical problems. I’d say they coped admirably under the circumstances and that the quality of their song-writing shone through despite the sound problems.

Who is in Pearl Divers these days? More a collective than a settled line-up with Tony Da Ghost absent and – putting the mockers on Mr Coupe’s “five men in the queue at ASDA” appellation – the addition of the diminutive and, rather more  attractive than the rest of the band, Serene on vocals.

The sound had settled down to some degree by this time with the assistance of a brace of Salford City Radio DJs on the mixing desk but the drums were still not loud enough. The “Divers” ran through the set list staples of “Conviction”, “The Deal”, “Sea Blue Cool” but also treated the audience to a couple of newer tracks – the reggae-fied “Everyday” (notable though the band need to work how to end the song!) and the soulful “Afro-Beat” with Serene taking the lead vocals.

Crowd pleasers “I love the music” and “One Eye on the Sunshine” rounded off a good evening which could have been so much better if the technical problems had not dominated.

The management at the Oddies are keen for Salford Groups to play the venue to compliment their hard rock sessions on a Sunday afternoon. So if you in the indie/garage area of music why not contact them?

 

Photos by Bob Osborne and Tricia Thornborough.