Russell Hughes@Newcastle Riverside, May 28 2016
Lonely the Brave are a band that can take misery and turn it into joy, hopelessness into hope and going down into coming up. They are one of the more unusual and skilled bands around. And you have to see them.
Lead singer Dave Jakes battles his own demons every time he steps out onto the stage and you can hear that in his music. But the delivery is on another level and it’s strangely beautiful to see a man who is so clearly uncomfortable in his surroundings perform to such a high level. In a way, Jakes encapsulated everything Lonely The Brave excel at: finding light in the darkness and reminding us that all is not lost.
This band are moving from strength to strength, and by the time they reach Tyneside again it’s unlikely that they’ll be in a relatively intimate space like the Riverside. They’ve already graduated from the Cluny, and it won’t be long until their name is up in light at the biggest venues in the country.
New album Things Will Matter has just been released, and it’s no surprise that it featured heavily among the setlist. Black Mire, Jaws of Hell and Dust and Bones went down especially well with the crowd.
The five piece from Cambridge aren’t big showmen on the stage, but that doesn’t mean you can’t see the passion in which they play etched across their face. This is a group who really believe what they sing, and that transcends through to the audience, who grew more into the gig as the night developed.
Perhaps one of the only negative aspects of the show was the omission of Strange Like I from the set, but when you have so many good songs tough choices have to be made – and in a nod to their older work, the encore was led by two songs from This Day’s War – Black Saucers and The Blue, The Green.
Lonely The Brave are one of the most exciting British rock bands to break through over the last few years. They’re original, they’re different, but most importantly of all, they’re damn good.