Memphis
Welcome to reggae band home of Memphis,
A change of pace and style comes along in the shape of Memphis, a six piece reggae band from Birmingham. No laid back slack-jawed chilled out jive here though. A vibrant vibe and a big black back-beat with balls! Brothers Earl and Keith Robinson on vocals project plenty of attitude and John Irish on guitar, Morris Simpson on keys, Anthony Caines on bass and Victor Gift 'Veg' on drums back them to the hilt to produce a sound that has a style and power not produced by many reggae artists. A band destined to take this musical genre to new heights if given the opportunity.
The last band of the evening was reggae outfit Memphis who have been together for just over three years. A six piece from Birmingham featuring brothers Earl and Keith Robinson on lead vocals, John Irish on guitar, Maurice Simpson on Keyboards, Anthony Caines on bass, and Victor Gift (cousin to Fine Young Cannibals vocalist Roland Gift) on Drums.
The band describe their own original material, which is mainly penned by brothers Earl and Keith, as a combination of both old school and new school power reggae and they tell me they have spent a lot of time and effort developing their own individual sound to work within the given genre. No stranger to competitions Memphis have walked away with another trophy from a Midlands battle of the bands recently by snatching victory from over a hundred rivals.
The bands attitude to covers is also worth noting as they tell me that most reggae bands only do standard material but as far as Memphis is concerned if an audience wants a covers evening they should go somewhere else for it. So the opening number is something a little laid back and I initially thought we were in for a set of cool vibes from Memphis tonight, but they were to prove me very wrong. Interweaving some very clever vocal and musical interplay into the numbers did much to make the songs interesting and catchy which is unusual as this is something that many reggae bands don't bother to do, they just rely on the hypnotically repetitive nature of the music to get the point across. The band don't just seem to stick totally to the reggae format either. Their song Poor Man seemed almost funky and was very much an up tempo offering whilst other tracks seemed to have sections of swing in them. There was also plenty of light and shade in their set which is something that makes for interesting listening.
What really puts Memphis head and shoulders above any band that I have heard perform this style before though is their really big and powerful sound which enables the material to be delivered with some serious force an feeling. I can understand why they took so long and went to so much trouble to develop it. Something else that really drives the sound is the amount of power delivered by drummer Victor Gift. No tippy tappy little flams, rim shots and triplets here tonight folks! This guy really lays into his kit with a pair of bit fat sticks that if he ever decides to sling one into the audience would probably kill someone. Not that he didn't deliver any tricky stuff, because he did, but it was all powerful percussion and beautifully delivered. An extremely good set that I'm sure would please even the most critical reggae purist.