HALLION LIVE REVIEW

PITSEA LEISURE CENTRE

18^th JUNE 2004

Organised by Basildon Leisure Services under direction of Tim Balogun, Leisure Arts Officer

Having spent many years as editor of music magazines, every now and then I get to see and hear a musician that has such charisma and theatrical presence that makes it stunning to experience. I know this guy’s name, simply because in his spare time, he has been generous enough to perform in local schools for little or no money. Of course, when he comes, it’s not just him – it’s his gear too, a stack of Marshall cabs high in the air and he is wearing an outfit that brings the heavy metal and glamrock era alive again – from high boots to tattooed arms and long flowing hair. On a body that towers over the rest with a wonderful image. Okay, it’s been seen before, but this guy (who I remember is called Gavin Ruadh) just lives and breathes music like few others.

So here he is with his 4-piece band of drums, bass, extra guitar and himself, loaded with black shining, triangular body guitar to play between his vocals. In my book, if you wanted an idol, here he is, but this night was for bands and he shone well above the groups in this event. However, the rest of the band did provide the right vehicle for him and I felt that his time on stage was too short to know all his playing skills. Alongside him, there were brief moments when the other guitarist produced equally charismatic flourishes on his guitar, but they really need to be in the piece, not as add-ons. In comparison with the other bands, the main letdown was the vocals not really getting through on pitch clearly – again, any loud band will have this problem in this venue.

Look out for this exciting band and get Gavin to inspire your youngsters to play guitar at your local secondary school.

Mike Beecher

Press Contact 07931 562699