Superstar Pelican / Tempered Elf
Week 14 - 19th May 2005
By Sharkey

Armed with two smaller camera’s, a notebook and small miniature army of pens, I was ready to review, this week -

Superstar Pelican - Returning to the stage sooner than I had expected, I still had their last performance relatively fresh in my mind. They kicked off into one of their many originals and a powerful one at that.

As usual they had perfected their hard rock sound, blending various elements together and giving their own unique sound, and as usual some outstanding drumming and brilliant slap bass lines. Although this week I thought their singing was very static, that didn’t stop the singer from putting energy into movement and expression on stage. This I think attracted the small group of head bangers and moshers.

A weird combination of bass solo parts and gary moore-ish guitar lines that seemed to mix well despite the difference in sound. But this soon dropped down into their usual Rage Against The Machine inspired breakdowns at the end of a few of their songs.

Most of their originals were brilliantly constructed to keep the audience listening and nodding away (or head banging in the case of the few near the stage) and never quite staying on the same path twice. The band energy increased as the set went on. Drumming, guitaring and bassing all gave more performance especially at the end of the set with their improvised outro.

A brilliant band with plenty of energy and brilliant original songs, well worth seeing.

Tempered Elf - An atmospheric song plays in the background as the curtains open and the band launch into one of their many original numbers.

Like the Divide before them, this band keep their stage image consistent with their style of music. So all clad in leather and headgear they stalk the stage playing their own unique brand of rock. Some good solo guitar and harmony parts from both guitars give a good ingredient into the tempered elf style of rock. As well as the upfront bassist (looking like he leads the band) doing his usual trick of strutting round stage showing off his wireless bass.

They managed to get a small group of head bangers who were most probably fans as they shouted out requests for songs in the TE repertoire (and probably bought items from the merchandise stall the band brought). One of their songs sounded very Guns and Roses influenced complete with wailing guitar lines onto of dramatic chord sequence’s giving out a very powerful sound and really emphasising on their riffs.

They played one of their new originals called “Shine” which was quite a quiet relaxing song that soon launches back into their full blown rock ballad complete with solo’s and stage movement.

A good classic rock band that has all the elements for a successful local group.

Stay tuned for next week - Cya there!

Majere writes:

Despite force-powered shenanigans seeming to have poached a few BOTB regulars, it's a fair crowd tonight for an evening that promises to be rich in contrasts. With more technical wizardry to contend with as well, it's shaping up to be an interesting night...

At the newer, or at least younger, end of the BOTB age spectrum, Superstar Pelican have a lot to prove, both to themselves and the somewhat fickle audience. Though this is perhaps not quite as tight a performance as their first round set, there does seem to be a definite attempt to engage more with the audience. There's also a notable increase in confidence and stage presence from the lead guitarist and vocalist, though they do still trail some way behind the band's inspirational bassist. "Red Dawn" is once more a set highlight, and there is less time spent messing about between tracks, to the extent that the drum and bass players have to wait until the end to get a quick jam session in. This still feels a little like a band in the process of finding its own identity, but that process is well underway.

INTERLUDE - Having been appointed the monkey to Dale's organ grinder with the new live recording rig, of which more may be said later, I am witness to the process of the sound team pulling a quick-change to get the intro track running in time for...

Tempered Elf sit more at the 'veteran' end of the BOTB lineup, and as such this is once again a professional and solid performance. Here also it is evident that the band are making an extra effort to engage their audience, even to the extent of opening up with last round's crowd-pleasing finale "Reaper's Tale". Some determined fans of the Elf do provide some much-needed crowd response, even as the overall audience gradually thins. A request is shoe-horned into the set part-way through, leading to a slight overrun which will hopefully not count too much against a band who put in an otherwise largely faultless performance. There are no exploding cod-pieces, psycho-killer masks or spiked shoulder-pads to be seen, but few fans of well-played guitar could find much to fault here. A good, solid real-ale performance- not too frothy and maybe not for the kids, but of undeniable quality.

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