Dalia is cutting limes. She does so with not inconsiderable dexterity and rather more than the merest hint of malice. Smile if you like but this is nothing less than a citrus fruit massacre and make no mistake about it. But, before considering the curiously negligent availability of stabbing implements, let us instead consider what is happening on stage at Pivo Pivo.
There is, let it be said, Jasmine onstage. She is of the singer songwriter persuasion and is possessed of the kind of purity of voice and tone that made her set equivalent to seeing your kid sister on stage. No bad thing when the acoustic guitar was her weapon of choice.
Whoever coined the phrase “chick led grunge rock” had obviously seen Miss Demeanour perform live as, with an unerring consistency of tempo and just the right degree of worldly weariness infusing the gritty reality of Emma Boyd’s voice, this was a band that walked the walk and talked the talk like they were born before they actually were.
These Wooden Bones were likewise of times gone by but, with the benefits of a musical education clearly to the fore, this band demonstrated both a consistency and maturity that lifted them above the stylistic limitations of the folk genre. If there were to be need for a soundtrack for that ferry journey to the Hebrides then These Wooden Bones would be the contender of choice.
What happened next? Bound By Law happened next for this was the Wednesday night to launch their new EP. Following These Wooden Bones was never going to be easy, especially given their similar musical influences although, with a parochial enthusiasm and a penchant for merciless strumming in their favour, they came close to overthrowing the memory of the band before.
And then there was Granat. Not so much a band as a beer and a red lager at that. Love is, as always, contagious and 4.6% ABV.