Sondura - Live at the Rigger by Tobester

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Sondura - Live at the Rigger

review by Tobester - added 08/05/2011

Sondura – The Rigger – Newcastle-under-Lyme – Staffordshire – England

Friday 1^st April

“Entry £6. Beer £28. CD & T-Shirt £12. Bus fare home £3. Being one of the 40 in attendance quite possibly seeing the next big thing in British Rock – Priceless.”

Competently opened by the willing and able Italians The Lotus, this turned out to be a low key gig – perhaps a victim of a lack of publicity, certainly locally – or perhaps that the veteran tribute headliners Blizzard of Ozz were not due for a couple of hours yet – only time would tell which.

A little Spotify / YouTube research meant we were not surprised by the technical ability of The Lotus, who performed a competent set of Dream Theater inspired songs, with the tempo being led by the standout bassist.

As hopes began to fade of a last minute rush of punters to arrive, it soon became clear that only a few of us - other than band members, wags and bar staff - were going to be treated to, what I think can best be described as, an intimate gig!

Sondura : Steve Dillon, Fred Green, Tom Watson, Jack Watson

Not that we (or the other couple who arrived to see them who seemed as surprised as us at the small turnout) minded – Sondura produced a performance of 8 songs so powerful you felt privileged to be there. Mixing this with a sense of annoyance that a band of this calibre deserved more, you had to wonder if this was one of those ‘I saw Iron Maiden play in a pub to 12 people in 1980’ moments. But maybe that’s just the old romantic in me but hey, you never know!

You really do have to give enormous credit to any band that are able to play a set to 30 people in a half empty rock pub in the same way they would in front of 3000.

Sondura’s top class acoustic set at Download 2010 showed us this band has something special – a little above the rest – the crucial mix of top songwriting (‘Live Before You Die’, ‘Falling Free’), exceptional musicianship (there’s no weak link here) and a tasty dollop of musical flavours (Shinedown, hints of Alter Bridge). Don’t get me wrong though – it’s actually hard to nail down Sondura’s biggest influences – they produce a sound which is original and doesn’t leave you saying ‘that was x, that was y’ after each song.

Opening with mid-tempo ‘Wasting’ followed by ‘You Remain’ and ‘New Beginnings’, Sondura then throw in two brand new songs – so new they as yet have no titles - which are a perfect progression from the current material…tighter, a little heavier – more concentrated. If these tracks are anything to go by, unless they are let down badly by management, these guys will get signed up and go places.

Next up was ‘Falling Free’ - one of our favourite songs from last years Download - where Sondura took to the inaugural Acoustic stage, along with Danny Vaughn, Jettblack, Starseed and Skin on the Friday, receiving a good reception in the process.

‘Falling Free’ is an anthemic track, which has become their signature song – and one you just can’t help singing along to – especially after a couple of the real ales sampled that night!

‘Live Before You Die’, the title track from their 2009 debut, is an incredibly catchy track with a stunning riff, and lead guitarist Jack Watson plays a blinder, capturing the awesome tone perfectly leading to some rather enthusiastic ‘hair-ography’ from…err…us – prompting Jack to brand us ‘Legends!’ - thanks – we try even if we are no spring chickens – and even dedicate the last song ‘A Thousand Miles’ in our direction!

It may be too late now to get booked up for this years Download or Sonisphere, but we’ve no doubt Sondura will feature heavily on next years festival circuit – hopefully with a new CD out – and according to the bands Facebook page they are shooting a new video so fingers crossed that gets some airplay on Kerrang or similar channel. It's the sort of exposure this band will need to get the break they most definitely deserve.

In the meantime, we’ll be making the short trip down to Brum’s Scruffy Murphys on the 21^st May – and get our next dose of Sondura…

Words : Tobester Pics : Gina

For Rockpulse April 2011