My Other Side

Vocals                                 Essa 

Lead/Rhythm Guitar          Phil (Fingers)

Drums                                 Dale 

Bass                                    Rick

Now, I have mentioned quite frequently in the past that, The Quaker does pose it's own individual problems in combining sound quality and creation of atmosphere, fortunately, we have our own secret weapon in Brian to attempt to address the former, and My Other Side's friends and family for the latter. However there were particular problems that pervaded through the night that weren't addressed and had an adverse effect on the night. Bearing in mind that I have heard very high quality examples of their material on their website on MySpace, those had the benefit of a recording studio and, I would imagine, many retakes (if Fred Purser has anything to do with it) - here it's a one off performance.

This review poses particular difficulties, but definitely not with the songs themselves. The construction and make-up of the songs were very strong and robust, to the extent that any of the artists above could easily include them on the next releases. Each song contained the necessary angst to bring and cajole the listener to the inevitable crescendo of the final chorus. Let's face it, the members of the group are very personable and have the necessary charisma to command the audience's attention and participation, but that's only if the performance matches that potential.

The overriding influence of the night was the drumming. It was very evident on the night that Dale is a very good drummer, - rhythm and interpretation were spot on. Dale, also, hits very hard more akin to heavier material. So with the combination of a drum kit that was too 'big' in sound output for the venue, particularly on the higher sound levels, and what I felt was a reluctance for sublety, the effect overall was to drown Essa's lower reaches, and to invade the backfil of Phil's lead and Rick's bass.

Essa's vocals possess all the power of the above singers and certainly so, when she pours all her feeling into the chorus lines, and the necessary empathy with the feelings of her own lyrics. However, even 'the quietest moments' at the lower scales of her range, I was struggling to hear her at all, and I don't mean just her voice but also any identifiable words. Whilst I accept that there may have been problems with the mike (changed at half-time to one of Brian's), I just feel that this area needs addressing certainly on live performances, and especially when you are trying to compete with a crashing sea of top end drums and cymbals. Essa was singing on her own throughout the entire night, for that to succeed in it's entirety, there has to be a vast tonal range and interpretation, otherwise every song starts to sound the same. I believe Essa does have that range, but could benefit, simply for variation's sake, of vocal backing on some of the numbers we heard tonight.

Coming to the songs performed on the night, I have to confess that I got little confused when the numbers of songs I reviewed and counted, didn't add up to the set list which comprised of the following :- Set One - 'A Short Goodbye' leading into 'Sick of Feeling Blue', 'Survival', 'Catch this Line', 'Race through Time' 'Falling Away' and 'Radio'.( There may have been one more but the numbers didn't add up). Set Two - 'Be Yourself', 'Somebody Now' 'Wanna Take a Ride','Mistaken','Warmer','Times Up','Inside Out', 'Why are you?', 'Summertime', and finally,'Stay Alive'.

There will be those amongst you who will say I am being unduly harsh, but this is with the background benefit of hearing tracks that provided the highest quality and consequently the bench levels by which their own performance can be assessed. There were highlights which stood out like shining diamonds from the carbon. In the first set 'Catch this Line' (or Race through Time) where it was professed that it was Rick's first live performance of the song. There were influences of Neil Young in the construction of the song, and the guitar solo had White Stripes written all over it. A very good number. Unfortunately in the first set that was the only song to stand out for me. In the second set, and with a change in mike, and no drums, brought the first song, 'Be Yourself' - this was rather good, with essences of The Beatles and for some reason 'Mr Bojangles' kept going through my head. Staying with the quieter interlude, the following song, 'Somebody Now', maintained the quality. With an acoustic folk feel to Phil's electric guitar and a combination with Essa's Edith Piaf style there were certainly no regrets with this one.'Warmer' was another song that stood out, a slow tempo number, and although Phil's guitar could have been more prominent, the overall effect was glowing. A dedication to Toni's birthday, 'Why are you?', was well executed and Rick for once was able to shine with a well performed bass line.

The above songs are highlighted with a common theme of a slow tempo and a quieter feel and are all the more stronger for it.

My Other Side are a group that have great potential and ,again, from what I have heard can produce in the studio some excellent sounding songs. It may well be a larger venue may suit them better, but the essence of marketing themselves is to produce that consistency of sound no matter where they are. I am pleased that they have a following albeit a very personal one who will applaud everything, but there were those amongst the audience who were more slightly more critical - they are the ones to impress.