Band: Lizard in a Bottle
Venue: The Plough
Date: Saturday 8th September 2018
A gorgeous blonde with a guitar as a front for a rocky/pop covers band? The expectations are set very high and you so want her (and the band) to be good.
Lizard in a Bottle were playing straight after the footie to a loud and chatty crowd, it’s a tough gig to kick off to. First song out, a Stereophonics track, and the crowd were quiet to check them out – that’s a good sign and there was a big cheer from the crowd at the end of the song…….looks like we were all hoping they’d be good!
And they were good. A simple set-up: drums, guitar & bass guitar with Sue on the 2nd guitar when it suited. To be fair, I really appreciated that Sue was not on the guitar all the time, she obviously felt that she had nothing to prove. And she didn’t.
Her voice suited a lot of the tracks, Sue doesn’t have the screechy girly voice but a decent versatile voice which you can quite easily listen to, although I did find the vocal mixing not quite right for the venue. However, the band sound made up for it. They guys obviously know what they are doing, were pretty tight and had the audience foot tapping along right from the start.
Tracks ranged from Hole, Wheatus, Oasis, Muse, Pulp, Placebo, Bon Jovi, Blonde and more. The majority of the tracks were originally for the male lead but with having a female singer it made this band certainly unique. They’ve chosen the tracks well, they’re not a band with a female lead ‘trying’ to be different, because that’s damn hard to get right….they just are different without trying. I certainly enjoyed the tracks, I’d like to hear a few more female lead tracks, ie (more) Blondie, Transvision Vamp, for example, but Ito be honest, I imagine they already have these tracks under their belt, but just not had time for them this night.
Lizard in a Bottle haven’t been together for long (less than 12 months) and pretty fresh to the gig scene, but they are putting in the effort & getting gig hours under their belt as a group. Individually they have their own racked-up gig hours, that’s very clear as they wouldn’t be so good at this early stage. First time at The Plough and they were well received – plenty of clapping, cheering, dancing and singing along from the audience. They had the crowd instantly and kept their attention for the night, Sue’s energy, sass and warm personality would have captured some hearts!
I would have liked to hear a bit more of Sue’s playing, maybe a solo piece? I know she’s not pretending to play at all, so it would be nice for her to show off a bit.
The only thing I feel they are missing at this point are backing vocals to add some depth to the tracks. These guys are certainly ones to keep an eye on. Their repertoire is large enough to change according to the crowd and/or venue and I believe they will get better with each gig. They are individually experienced enough to learn quick as a group. I am excited to see them again to see what they come up with next.
For more information on the band and to look out for their next gig, see their Facebook page: facebook.com/LizardInABottleBand
