West London has seen a cultural revival of sorts in recent times. In the last several years, this nook of Blighty has enjoyed a fast growing landscape of music venues, cinemas, cultural community projects, as well as the highest concentration of art galleries in the city. Fusing expressions, music venue Mode is an evolving art installation which serves as an eye-catching cinematic backdrop for established and emerging artists. The audio and visual elements combine a photogenic stage and lounge area with a sound quality not often found in smaller venues.

Fiddlers Hare Music Group has started promoting a night at Mode which pairs established headlining artists with developing acts. September 18th saw the fourth week of this rapidly growing effort with the following lineup:

Up Down Go Machine

The Ignition

The Broxton Hundred

Stringer-Bessant (of Reef)

Up Down Go Machine, an extended onstage family consisting of Sam Martin, Steve Plumb, and siblings Ria and Stephen Hallwood started out the evening. Up-tempo rock folk tunes such as Blame Game, and Two Swords rallied the crowd, with Shake It Up () rabble rousing the audience into a lively call and response exchange. Up Down Go Machine’s sound was lavish, the dynamics were well explored and there was nothing musically extraneous. With nods to Fleetwood Mac and Jeff Buckley, each part played their own parts simply, with the overall sound as quite rich without being overdone. Catchy percussive elements added just that bit of rhythmic vibe that presented this acoustic-style show into something more interactive and energetic.

The Ignition followed, with a set of melodic indie pop tunes. Frontman  / guitarist Naveed Ijaz danced his way through a tight set with bandmates bassist Musa Henderson, guitarist Joe Lamb and standout drummer Caroline Scott, providing the steady backbeat and well-played dynamics. Songs Get You Back, Give A Little, Come For The Ride, Lush in the Loft, Make Up Mandy and No One Ever​ made for a well rounded set.

Psychedelic Pop Rock band The Broxton Hundred, fronted by Richard Lucas were notable players of the evening, with powerful vocals and risk-taking musicianship of Gary Yari-Gerrard, Rich Ormond and Joey Berry. TBH’s reverb-rich guitars and unusual drum patterns could land these tunes on the wrong side of durgey – but don’t. The blend of straight pop and experimental sounds coexist peacefully into an ideal listener-friendly live experience. There are hints of 1960s rock, 70’s progrock and even 90s Britpop with slight hints of The Stone Roses in their sound – which shouldn’t be surprising as they’ve recorded an inspired cover of Elephant Stone. “Run”, “Circles” , and “Time” were set gems.

Stringer-Bessant were the headliners, with Gary and Jack playing a set of beautifully crafted acoustic songs Gary calls “Gentle and mellow”. These tunes are a departure from the rollicking rock blues stylings of their more well-known project, Reef. Stringer-Bessant came about when Gary and Jack, unbeknownst to each other, were simultaneously writing songs with a very different sound – acoustic, simple, and ethereal.

The serendipity of the timing and shared stripped-down focus is the basis for this laid back music side project. Having released Yard through Extra Mile Records and The SB Band independently, Stringer-Bessant has entertained audiences through extensive touring and the festival circuit, causing a notable buzz at the CMJ festival in New York, amongst others.

Thursday night’s gig saw Gary, Jack and accompanying banjo player through tracks from both Yard and The SB Band, with songs Wild Day, Self Is Here and Make It stealing the show. The moody ambience provided by Mode, with a Cathedral-high Pipe Organ transforming the stage into a medieval shrine, complimented the atmospheric set perfectly.

Jack and Gary’s long history is evident with their onstage rapport, and second nature musical interplay. Gary’s Taylor acoustic enriched his playing with a bottom heavy bass tone well suited to fill out the spaces when performing without a full backline. Jack’s fluid basslines gave a percussive soulful backbone to these minimally arranged tunes. After some initial sound glitches and feedback, Gary responded with a smile, a joke and a nod – a true pro. They continued unphased throughout their set, and were rewarded by a warm reception from their diehard fans and the newly converted.

StringerBessant from Oli lee on Vimeo.