Review- The Bees

A review of band The Bees, in Newcastle, February, 2007:

Imagine if it was Ringo on the lead, Paul on the bass, John on the drums, and George was second guitar. And then next time you blinked it was John on the lead, Ringo on the trumpet, Paul on maracas and George on bass. Confused?

As the Bees, who hail from the Isle of Wight, played out their surf-happy set in Northumbria University’s pokey Stage Two, it was hard to keep count of the number of times that lead Paul Butler switched lanes with his South Coast compatriots, with a bash on the organ, the drums, the guitar- put an instrument in his hand and a melody will arrive. Can’t quite picture the Beatles being so musically diverse on stage, can you?

Butler wasn’t the only multi-talented musician in the troupe either. As he swapped places, other band members were picking up in his stead. It made for compulsive viewing, even if the less-than-full venue presented an initially anticlimactic atmosphere.

If The Bees’ passion for music wasn’t noticed in their skill and diversity with their wares, then it came to the fore in their creations. You could almost feel the salty Sandown Beach breeze as ‘Got to Let it Go’ slides past your ears. The band has a real sunset on the pier feel to it, a chilled ambience. They are totally comfortable on stage. Their guitars, trumpets, harmonicas, saxophones, drums and keyboard have become an attachment of their bodies, the whole act is incredibly organic.

The sound is a mix of Ska and reggae and, standing with pints in hand (although I wish I maybe had a rum and coke now, listening to echoes of Bob Marley and UB40), the crowd is rising and falling with the gradual chilled beat as heads roll forward and back. ‘Listening Man’ could have been sung by the late Rastafarian crooner himself, although The Bees still managed to inject their own psychedelic elixir into the mix.
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The diversity in the instruments was resonated into their music style, with splatterings of blues and jazz reaching into their songs. The performance was a real journey through the musical histories of the band, coming from a small community and yet experiencing the whole world that music had to offer.

The huge trumpeter Aaron Fletcher, dressed in an American trucking cap and chequered shirt, was the star of the show, with his brass input setting the music alight. His vocal offerings were not up to the level of Butler, but the belief he put into his singing convinced the crowd to disregard his shortcomings.

The performance was wrapped up with a version of the band’s flagship song ‘Chicken Payback’ used on a Sure deodorant advert. Again the laid back atmosphere kicked in as they made a mess of the intro. Rather than choking at their mishap, they simply chuckled amongst each other and set themselves going again.

It was more like a family knees-up than a formal gig. The band conversed with the crowd as if they had been comrades for years. So, even if the attendance left a little to be desired, the atmosphere was saved by the pure wit and horizontal nature of the group. What else would you expect from the South Coast lads?