The Draytones
About the Gig
What happens when you put two of the best live bands in Britain, on at their favourite gig venue and throw two seminal and truly legendary British music artists into the mix? Basically, you get another truly superb Subculture night at the 100.
For the write up on this gig, we will start at the end of the live sets and work back. Because you probably don’t get much bigger news than one of the most influential singer songwriters of the last 30 years doing a live set at the 100 Club for the very first time. Yes, Terry Hall – lead singer of The Specials and the Fun Boy Three – joined The Dead 60s on-stage to sing the special two song encore!!
The Dead 60s, one of the best live bands in Britain, had played one of their typically incendiary live sets and with the crowd shouting for more – they got slightly more than they bargained for. A closely guarded secret, Terry Hall had agreed to join the band for the encore, singing ‘Friday Night and Saturday Morning’ live for the first time in 26 years. The capacity crowd were able to listen to a superb re-working of the song by The Dead 60s, led by the singular voice that is Terry Hall. They then went straight into a high octane cover of ‘Police on my back’ by The Clash – a personal favourite of Terry’s and Matt from The Dead 60s. It was a seminal moment for the 100 Club and Subculture and the audience nearly blew the roof off the club.
All this was watched by the legendary Don Letts – who introduced The Clash to dub reggae and was an immeasurable influence on the band. Don hosted the night for Subculture and played an awesome DJ set throughout the evening – alongside Terry Hall.
This was all beautifully and very ably set up by the mighty Draytones. Label mates of the The View - on the highly influential 1965 records – they were the first band on and blew a lot of the audience away. In classic three piece beat combo style, they captivated the audience with the exceptionally well crafted songs and the energy with which they were played. The 100 club is also their favourite gig venue - and you could really tell – they weren’t going to take any prisoners and had the audience crying out for them to come back on-stage.
For the first time, we were joined by a host of lucky competition winners from each of the bands and the Fred Perry Subculture competition. An incredibly high number took the trouble to email back in to say how much they enjoyed the evening and Subculture thank you for creating such a great atmosphere at the gig.
The word unique is often an over used word, but this was a truly unique evening. Matt from The Dead 60s was still grinning from ear to ear a good hour after coming off stage. Don and Terry DJ’d till the midnight close and the bands mixed with the audience in the typical relaxed Subculture style. It was a very special night.
Biography
The Draytones, an Anglo-Argentine psychbeat collective committed to reactivating a sound long lost and feared forgotten. Fed up with everything on the radio and a life on the breadline, they found Eel Pie Islander Chris and set off to play songs the likes of which had not been heard since the rug-cutting glory days of Syd Barrett, Los Gatos Salvajes, The Kinks and many more. With a simple drums, bass and guitar setup they wish to play to anyone who will lend an ear, that they too may vibrate in the mind of the one true God whose name is love; grooving as one to the music of yore.
Reviews
The Draytones – Forever On (CD/EP)
stopme.wordpress.com
April 2007
I was seriously in need of sleep when I ordered this EP and I mistook it for a long lost Psychedelic gem from 1965 (From the quick listen I gave it). It is in fact a brand new offering from London’s The Draytones on 1965 Records. It’s testament to the bands skills, that this could easily be mistaken for a genuine Garage Rock nugget.
'Keep Loving Me' is a stunning mix of loud clattering Drums and dirt raw Guitars that'd match up to anything by The Sonics. 'Out Of This World' is like something from The White Album because of the style, the fun and the song writing pedigree. 'Not Alone' is a wonderful melancholy mid point on the EP and 'Time' brings to mind The Kinks or Syd era Pink Floyd. '4 Yrs' is a gently rolling little number and 'Trafalgar Square' is a woozy Jazz club ditty. The Draytones' clever mimicking of the 60's greats will draw criticism from some quarters, but that happened to Oasis and look how many records they've sold. Expect big things from a band that make it seem like great tunes come like running water.
Drowned in Sound
Sep 2007
"Swooping melodies reminiscent of The Beatles coupled with Matt Bellamy-esque intense vocals from the Anglo-Argentinian trio."
thabombshelter.blogspot.com
May 2007
The Draytones come straight out of the 60's rock scene. Like the Bees and Candie Payne, I've decided that this particular sound, this time warp in 2007, is a great thing that's happening to music. I'm glad there is a movement toward the hey day of Rock n Roll, toward the comforting embrace of an era that's shrouded in slanting sunbeams and gaussian blur. Now, The Draytones aren't all dust motes and records in the closet, they've got guts and punch and attitude and talent. Their EP, "Forever On" came out March 26th, and it's a rock solid six track disc, chock full of well-worn blue jean tunes and
jamming dance-along romps.
A concise trip with your new favourite band.
