Bluesy-duo’s have been around since the days of The Carpenters so the sight of one on guitar and another on drums isn’t a new thing. Fast forward to fifteen years ago and Jack ’n’ Meg rebooted the format for the post-grunge, new-garage years and recently The Black Keys took the crown before having it snatched away by recent critics and fan darlings, Royal Blood.
The Graveltones may not be doing anything new but they do it exceedingly well. Emigrating separately from down under, they met and formed the band in London in 2011 and quickly became club scene regulars. Album number one, Don’t Wait Down was released in 2013 and sophomore effort, Love Lies Dying hit the stands a few months back.
Live, they are ferocious. Lead singer and guitarist Jimmy O is a ball of energy and sweat as he zips his way back and forth across the stage like a shock of electricity, splitting his time between the mic and egging Mikey on at his drum kit.
Mikey has tattoos like a sailor and his thunderous skills on the skins is as powerful as any naval fleet, switching from full throttle rocky thumps to swingy taps with ease.
This short set consisted of their heavier material off ‘…Dying’ (that is more Sabbath in power) punctuated with fan favourite cut from ‘…Down’, ‘Catch Me On The Fly’.
When your set-up is super simple, what do you do to add a bit of variety? Throw down your guitar and sing to the beat. Jimmy abandoned the strings and mic and led a call and response to Mikey’s drums, and although devoid of any melody, it didn’t matter, it was raw and cool and garnered a big cheer from the die hard Scala crowd.
Catch then on the fly (groan) on tour www.thegraveltones.com
Words and images: Robert Gershinson
Instagram: @RobertPhotoVideo
Dan Bull
Latest posts by Dan Bull (see all)
- LIVE: Tom Petty And The Heatbreakers @ Hyde Park 09.07.17 - July 14, 2017
- LIVE: The Killers @ BST Hyde Park, 08.07.17 - July 12, 2017
- Glastonbury 2017: The bands, the brass and Barry Gibb! - June 27, 2017
