The morning after the night before, one eye opened slowly followed the other, however the frontal lobe needed a jump start, normally this is triggered by the smell of bacon cooking in the kitchen and a gallon of coffee, alas not today. That was in a different life it seemed.
Dragged myself out of bed and into the kitchen to get the said coffee brewing and tried to work out if I was hungover or just extremely tired, fortunately it was the later.
One reviving mouthful later, looking out of the living room window, I had an epiphany of sorts. This moment of revelation and of reflection stemmed from the night before. Funnily enough the extremely talented opener for The Red Clay Strays, Early James, included an excellent version of Hank Williams classic ‘I saw the Light.’ The coffee had obviously started working, I realised it will still too early but to be worrying about such events, after all it was only 8am and I didn’t drift off to dreamland until around 3:45am that morning.
Anyway, there is no need to go into detail about the epiphany, anyone who’s ever been to a Red Clay Strays knows how spiritual the experience is and Saturday was my third time of seeing them and they’ve never disappointed. Each show has been excellent, but Saturday was the best I’ve seen them, which certainly has something to do with the venue, St John at Hackney church is a stunning venue for such a show, but mostly for the performance, that was truly something to behold.
I’m not sure exactly how religious all the band are, I am aware however that they are all spiritual people. However, through interviews I’ve seen I am aware that all of them are very spiritual, and very selfless folks.
I certainly can see down the line that Brandon may have a calling at some stage and become Brandon Clergyman, not just Brandon Coleman.
During the more religious songs in the show such as “Will the lord Remember Me”, “God Does” and even “People hating” I noticed Brandon taking very deep breaths in between lines and exhaling equally as heavily whilst looking up towards a particular spot in the ceiling almost as if he was speaking to god or waiting for a sign, that was the impression I got. The audience had very much bought into the whole thing from the opening bars until the end of the encore the whole audience were electrified
I find Brandon and Drummer John Hall totally spellbinding when I see The Red Stray Clays, for entirely different reasons. Brandon obviously being the front man, always immaculately turned out in suit with perfectly styled hair and the fact that he’s a towering man at six feet seven inches tall. John is because he’s always up to something behind the drum kit, like a mischievous teenager, whether it be just laughing and having fun or just the way he interacts with other band members and members of the audience as he’s drumming away, there’s never a dull moment with John. The same can be said for the rest of the band but they are just a little more restrained.
The crowd were totally wrapped up in the occasion, as we were subjected to incredible song after incredible song like “Disaster”, “Drowning” and “Devil in my Ear”, it was truly breathtaking stuff, with people belting out every single word to almost every song. “Ghosts” and “Wondering Why” are two of my very favourites and they were both sublime in delivery, the later really showcases Brandon’s totally unique voice, I’ve said it before, it amazes me how he can sound like 3 different vocalists in the same song, such is his range.
“Wanna Be Loved” and “Nobody Else Like Me” rounded off the evening in an epic fashion, Brandon looking as fresh as a daisy, whilst there were definitely some sore throats in the audience from all the singing along as the crowded wandered off into the frigid Saturday night air totally satisfied by what will, undoubtedly be remember as a legendary performance by the hottest rock band around right now.
