Simon Rushworth
@ Newcastle O2 Academy II, July 10 2010
There’s something to be said for chemistry when it comes to four musicians playing rock and roll in a sweaty little club on a Saturday night.
And while Dan Baird’s Homemade Sin won’t be winning Grammys anytime soon they’ll be winning the hearts and minds of music fans the world over for as long as they deliver to this standard.
Throwing in the Georgia Satellites’ standard Keep Your Hands To Yourself early doors could be seen as a ridiculous gamble. But then a Homemade Sin gig isn’t one long trawl down memory lane.
The best of Baird’s back catalogue is given its due but the veteran frontman baulks at the very mention of heritage rock. This is a band in the very best sense and Homemade Sin are presented as a very current proposition with a brighter than average future.
The brilliant Lazy Monday, from 2008’s self-titled release, proves to be the highlight on a night underpinned by so many. But to judge this show on individual songs misses the point – Homemade Sin have that happy knack of creating a wildly positive vibe which underpins their set from start to finish and every song fits the mantra of pure entertainment.
Baird and buddy Warner E Hodges act like men half their age (or maybe younger than that) as they bound around with gay abandon and exchange as many cheeky grins as sleazy chords. The latter’s comic book hair and crazy antics make for an endearing sideshow and the lead guitarist perfectly complements Homemade Sin’s deadpan rhythm section.
Quirky doesn’t quite do justice to this mad-as-hatters quartet but there’s a serious side to a band quite capable of delivering an emotive tune or too. When Hodges does let his fingers do the talking his ability to dovetail perfectly with Baird makes for one of the most uplifting musical events you’ll experience all year.
We’ll take Homemade over mass produced any day. And we can’t wait for that day to come again.