The Vault, Bournemouth
Tonight could be potentially something quite special for the local music scene, local grass roots championing DJ/Musician Adam “Ski” Hart has ben on a mission in the last couple of months to resurrect a venue previously used for live music. The Poole Hill, Bournemouth venue used to be home to the Mark & Louise run venue The Winchester and before that it was called Bar Tonka. The venue was taken over some years back and turned into a night club called The Vault. With most of the nightclub punters not wanting to get here until post 10pm, we have a space from early evening in which to put on some live music once again, with the venue’s blessing. Ski, together with the award winning above and beyond sound engineer Steve Smith have been here since 2pm, putting in a suitable PA and stage as we have the mighty Coach Party coming over from their home on the Isle of Wight to put on a show promoting the release of the sophomore album Caramel. The venue used to be a bank and features high ceilings, various floors of usable space and the bank vault itself can still be seen towards the back of the venue, along with a green room full of retro gaming machines.
Before the stage is graced with our headliners, we have a couple of local support acts to get the evening under way. The first of these is Bournemouth singer/songwriter Wesley Bennett, who used to be found fronting his band Hello Hawaii. I have seen Wes perform on a number of occasions but not for a few years and I’m pleasantly surprised to see how he and his voice has matured somewhat. The wonderfully sounding acoustic space is the perfect place from which he can deliver his heartfelt, quite personal original tunes. Wes has always had a bit of a rebellious spirit and this comes across within some of his songs. His super smooth, emotive sounding voice breathes live into the chronicles of somewhere he used to live. There are many highlights including “Long Live The Light’, “Heart of Glass” and powerfully descriptive “In The Garden”. Bournemouth is home to so many talented artists and Wesley Bennett is certainly one of them who has the ability to shine whenever a spotlight in put upon him.
Next up are four Dorset based local lads who go by the name of Chimphouse: Harry, Alex, Kode and Joshua. They are a modern Punk band with a great sense of humour and a talent for creating some unique material. With no real ambitions they formed their garage band with the view of having fun and playing a few gigs. The audiences have taken them to their hearts and seem to enjoy everything they have to offer. Tonight they are the perfect act to warm up this crowd and by the time they take to the stage there are over 100 punters in front of them, full of expectation.
Kicking off with a couple of new songs to me “Jackpot” and “Scabies” the band show off their original sound with twin guitars and alternative rhythms. They win the audience over from the start and when they get into the more familiar territory of their better known tracks they really start to move. Tracks like “Seagull” (full title, “I’m Gonna Fight the Next Seagull That Tries To Fuck With Me”) is about these winged rats stealing food and actually having some empathy with why they do it. “Tesco in a Church” was written about the place in Westbourne, which is literary about a mile from here. Their sound is brash, unforgiving and somehow enthralling, with the audience whooping and hollering at the conclusion of each track. The band end with the guitar heavy “Chupacabra” that has a sort of tribal spirit to it, along with some particularly infectious chants and lyrics. Lots more positive appreciation is shown as they leave the stage.
The venue tonight it full of a good cross section of people from the local scene and the 40 minute interval is a great chance to have a gossip and catch up with everyone. Ski, dressed in his Gentleman’s outfit a flat cap and a loudly patterned tracksuit takes to the stage to deliver a uplifting speech about the local music scene and how he pulled tonight’s event off. He is so passionate he nearly forgot to introduce the headliners and with a verbal “Get on With it Ski” nudge from lead vocalist Jess, the band are onstage and kick off with their opening number “Do It For Love”, which is something you hear a lot of on the grassroots music scene unfortunately. The four-piece who consist of Jess Eastwood on lead vocals and bass, Joe Perry on guitar (obviously not Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, that would be just weird), Steph Norris on guitar with Guy Page at the back on drums. The band have had a mega busy week promoting the new album and Jess confesses she has a chest infection and we all agree it’s in no way effecting her delightful vocals.
Tonight’s set features a good proportion of the new album and the band are pleased to see that much of the audience already own a copy and have learned most of the words. The second album always seems to be the most difficult after the debut and all the hype that surrounds it. Though so far the record has been well received positively with it’s hook-laden indie sound, strong production and the band’s emotional authenticity. The tracks all work live and give the band’s set its high momentum and energy. Tracks like the lyrically powerful “Control” and the unique sounding floor filling “Disco Dream” show the audience at first hand the glorious creativity of this quartet. Before the last number Steph invites half a dozen excited fans to the stage for “Girls”; that number increases as the track goes on, Jess jumps down off the stage and plays the last few minutes of the song playfully within the crowd. The band give their thanks and say their farewells before making their way over to the merch table to hopefully secure the money to pay for their ferry back to the Isle of Wight. A fantastic evening and much kudos to Ski for making it happen, lets hope there will be many more like it in the future.
Set Lists
Coach Party
Do It For Love
Micro Aggression
Georgina
Control
All I Want To Do Is Hate
Parasite
Fake It
Medicate Yourself
Disco Dream
Girls
Chimphouse
Jackpot
Scabies
Seagull
Keeley Sized Pool Table
The Gimp Of Winton
Cavendish
Tesco in a Church
Violent TV
Seven Aisles
Bird in Fryer
Chupacabra
Wes Bennett
Long Live The Light
Heart Of Glass
You Remind Me
All For Free
In The Garden
Videos
Links
https://www.facebook.com/wearecoachparty
https://www.facebook.com/chimphouseband
https://www.facebook.com/wesley.bennett.52
Article by David Chinery (Chinners)
Photography by Matt Rayner
