A band to watch but still developing
This was one of those bands playing at the start of the evening in an indy club gigs. The Race will have played to more appreciative crowds and it's difficult to say how many people there had come specifically to see them, or what percentage of the gathering had even heard of them at all and were merely looking on while getting another St. Patrick's Day pint down them.
What they got was just over half an hour of well-performed, classic sounding alternative rock. Large sections of the music press have been tipping this band as one worth keeping an eye on in 2006 and having seen them play it's hardly surprising.
The Race's sound manages to sit nicely alongside the batch of alternative acts whose influence comes from the cooler part of the eighties - The Cure, Pixies and early U2 all spring to mind when listening to this band at work. If the crowd inside Purple Turtle had seemed a little indifferent at the start, they'd certainly warmed to this band by the time they left the stage.
Of course, it didn't really matter that the room wasn't packed out, it certainly didn't stop singer, Dan Buchanan, looking like he was attacking the keyboard every time he played it - almost like his own private therapy session. If only the rest of the band hadn't been too busy mooching around the stage, this would have been an explosive live performance.
Their debut single has picked up some interest from the likes of XFM and has been released as far away as Australia. The band are currently working on a debut album which, on the strength of this show alone, will be one well worth a listen.