New Rhodes Live at Louisiana, Bristol
06/05/03

Phlem got a mysterious email from a bloke claiming to be the manager of Bristol based band 'New Rhodes', inviting us to a their next gig at the infamous Louisiana, Bristol on the promise of a promo cd.
Of course Phlem accepted the kind offer and went along… the first meeting with a band member was with bassist jack who was quietly cool and gave us a New Rhodes badge - yeah! Although he also informed us that the badges were crap... Phlem have to disagree as it has still kept itself pinned to one of our jackets!! We then met the louder and bigger haired guitarist Joe who had already been to the Phlem stall with singer James on a previous occasion, plugging New Rhodes as we plugged Phlem nights! Then came another Joe - the manager - with no cd - boo hoo!

The New Rhodes were so cool. They dressed sharp - a mix of new wave, mod, grungers with smart shoes and big hair. Rok!! The sound was refreshing and up to date, yet still retro, mixing strokes/new wave/ garage and rock - right up our street - brilliant! The new Rhodes made it look easy on stage, losing themselves in the music, and really going for it. So often this can become uncomfortable and slightly embarrassing to watch, but the new Rhodes can really carry it off, encouraging the crowd to become involved and getting us all in the mood to rok!!. This is quite a feat for a usually indifferent crowd at the Louisiana. This is the kind of stuff that makes you want to be in a band yourself! Phlem just has one question does 'Rhodes' come from Nick the androgynous Duran Duran bloke or from the fender keyboard??

After the gig we speak to the frantic drummer of the band Chris, who is very enthusiastic about his music and the general scene in Bristol, despite their lack of support and recognition from their home town (one song 'Open your eyes' was even introduced as a tribute to a local listings magazine). He also seemed very excited about his goody bag full of stuff from people at the gig including CDs from other Bristol bands and of course a 'bang' flyer! After speaking to Joe and James for a while about their music, gigs in London, the Bristol scene and bang - including the raffle, the conversation got a bit bizarre. They ended up getting very excited about customising a keyboard for us to give away as a prize ha! - watch this space!

Album review coming soon, now that we've managed to get our hands on it!