Saint Agnes LIVE @ The Old Blue Last 24.06.14

Rating:

I’m not sure what I expected as I travelled across London to see Saint Agnes play. The Old Blue Last pub/venue was graced with my presence fairly early in the evening and straight away I could hear the bass coming through the floor as I made my way through the downstairs bar area to the stairway, where Velvet Morning were already playing.

Despite saying they would come on at half nine, it was closer to 21:45 before the band produced their first note (there seemed to be a technical problem with the keyboard) however I wasn’t going to hold that against them. As I took my position in the corner I was soon followed by someone who had striking resemblances to that of Vincent Kompany and John Lennon. Black leather seemed to surround me – not my usual attire, but I could bare it as Saint Agnes began to play through their 40 minute set, which was fuelled by intense guitar driven tunes as well as the beautiful combination of Jon Tufnell’s hardened powerful voice, while feminine touches from Kitty Austen posed for a dazzling listen.

It amazed me how a band playing on such a small stage tucked away in the corner could produce such a top notch display – faultless in fact – with bold and raw psychedelic rhythms fused with a bass that any rock ‘n’ roll legend would be proud. But Saint Agnes definitely saved the best till last when they played a superb cover of The Doors’ ‘Roadhouse Blues’, with the classic harmonica added in for effect, capped off with a belting riff in ‘Old Bone Rattle’ to end the night. It was fast and energetic, but Saint Agnes really know how to get a place moving.