The third and final #Triplestoked show at The Fermain Tavern certainly featured the biggest name band of the series, along with a couple of up and coming bands from the Guernsey and Jersey both making a name for themselves.
First up was Guernsey support act Francisco. As ever their set was full of energy and, what can only be described as, youthful exuberance, as well as a set of very good songs.
Again the group seemed to have undergone something of a line up change since the last show as again their bass player of old seems to have gone, replaced by Kyle Torode, and they have gained Madison Betley on second vocals. The extra vocals did add an extra dynamic on some of the songs, however a cover of Britney Spears’ Toxic was at best ill-advised.
Bobby Steere once again stood out on lead guitar complete with some guitar hero posses, accompanied by a suitably knowing wink, while Jack Sinclair-Stott did all his best frontman posses although seemingly with less irony – at times this boiled over into some pop-rock Spinal Tap moments, I waiting for a “Hello Cleveland!”
While this can still be put down to youthful exuberance and spirit there were times where it was dangerously close to ridiculousness, but the crowd certainly got into the music as the set went on and, for a band who’ve only been in the public arena for a matter of months, they once again showed great potential.
The Jersey contingent for the show came in the form of Tadhg Daly (and his band, the previously named Five Mile Road). Tadhg fits in with the folk tinged singer songwriter vibe of the likes of fellow islander Lloyd Yates but, with a bit more youthful energy, is, for me, a much easier to listen.
Across the set there were moments reminiscent of The Dave Matthews Band and Incubus’ more acoustic work as well which all combined with the added laid back flavour of a surfers’ holiday to create a sound that should have a broad appeal in the best of ways.
With a modest confidence on stage, Tadhg led the band through the set and engaged with the enthusiastic audience and set closer (and debut single Learn To Live) encompassed every facet of their sound into one bundle that got the room jumping.
As The Hoosiers prepared to take the stage the excitement in the room really built even more and the dancefloor began to fill, leaving the back of the venue nearly empty, and the crowd erupted as the band hit the stage.
I will admit to not being familiar with The Hoosiers and, while a few song titles rang a bell, the songs themselves didn’t and, for me, this summed up the band fairly well.
For the best part of an hour they played a tight set of fun-filled indie-pop getting the crowd going and everyone clearly having a great time, but, if I’m honest, an hour later the whole thing had merged into one with no real stand out moments.
Despite that, there would be no way of critcising the band’s performance which was one of the tightest I’ve seen, while still having a real sense of fun and frontman Irwin Sparkes demonstrated a really great voice, if higher register indie-pop is your thing.
In all it was Tadhg Daly who was the highlight, and this was certainly a good way to end the #Triplestoked series on a really upbeat note, though after the excellent first show of the series from Yes Sir Boss, The Recks and Buffalo Huddleston it was going to be hard for anything to match up.
You can see a full gallery of my photos from the show on the BBC Introducing Guernsey Facebook page, and here’s a video of Tadhg Daly:
Tommy Girard 