Tag: Craig joiner

Romeo’s Daughter – Gig Review, Eleven, Stoke-On-Trent 15.9.23

Hot on the heels of recent album release, Slipstream, Romeo’s Daughter show why they are still a force to be reckoned with

Romeos Daughter rocked into town last night (the town being Stoke-On-Trent at the Eleven venue. I know it’s not a city but city doesn’t flow as well as town), along with Mick White’s ‘White Skies’. Unfortunately I only caught the last 2 songs from White Skies, but they went down a treat.

If you have never been to Eleven before, please do as it’s a wonderful little venue. Romeo’s Daughter have a handful of gigs in September pushing out their new album ‘Sliptream’, which is another slice of Romeo’s Daughter heaven (in the back seat). More on this soon.

Me and the fam go back a hellova long way with the RD guys, and with every single performance they have never let me down. There’s a simple reason for that. In Craig Joiner they have a wonderfully talented songwriter and excellent guitarist to boot. All the songs played at this gig have incredibly catchy hooks. Even if you haven’t heard songs from the last 3 albums, there is a bloody good chance you will be singing them on the way home in the car afterwards.

So, what did we get. In Leigh Matty RD have one of the sultriest singers in rock! A voice of pure velvet (touch), and a tight as a drum rhythm section of Andy Welsford and Steve Drennan, with the man who is the glue that holds everything together, Craig Joiner.

Opening strongly with 3 songs from the early days, it’s ‘Heaven In The Back Seat’ and ‘Velvet Tongue’ which evokes strong memories of me and the good missus her indoors seeing RD at the Royal Court in Liverpool many moons ago. The first half of the set was loaded with songs from the last 3 albums, all of which should have made RD the darlings of (Radio) 2 – ‘Bittersweet’, ‘Alive’, ‘Enemy’ and ‘Radio’, interspersed with 2 new songs, ‘Fate’, and ‘Over You’ the latter which has the heaviest riff Mr Joiner has written for RD, and is a firecracker.

In the middle of the set things got a bit surreal with one lady sauntering onto the stage wanting to tell RD how good they were (and was lucky that she wasn’t taken out by the Merch guy). This was followed up with a guy in the crowd wanting to pick a fight with anyone and finally another inebriated gig-goer wanted to give Leigh Matty one! Nice.

Anywho, the last half of songs was a bombardment of tunes taken mainly from the debut and ‘Have Mercy’ from ‘Delectable’ culminating in ‘Stay With Me Tonight’, and their most known song to hoards of rock fans who think it’s a Heart song, ‘Wild Child’. 

The Romeo’s Daughter debut album set the foundations for what was to come. They have only released 5 albums and an EP, but bloody hell, what a legacy and quality they have produced that makes them an incredible force when seen live. 

It was yet another cracking gig, apart from a couple of dickheads. Catch them in November, you’ll love it. 

Set list –

Heaven In The Back Seat

Attracted To The Animal

Velvet Tongue

Bittersweet

Fake

Radio

Alive

Enemy

Over You

Have Mercy

Tripping Out

Colour You A Smile

Inside Out

Cry Myself To Sleep Don’t Break My Heart

Encore

Stay With Me Tonight

Wild Child

Romeo’s Daughter are –

Leigh Matty

Craig Joiner

Andy Welsford

Steve Drennan

Romeo’s Daughter – ‘organik’ EP Review

My good self and Romeo’s Daughter go back a long way. Quite a long way in fact. All the way back to October 26th 1989, Liverpool Royal Court, when they supported FM on the ‘Tough It Out’ Tour. We went for FM, and we still do, but we were taken aback by the then unknown to us Romeo’s Daughter. Our lives have been entwined with their music ever since. The following summer we were getting married, and were looking to come to a compromise on a wedding dance song. We decided on ‘Hymn’. Not a popular choice I suspect with anyone for a wedding song, but it was one we both loved. Even our daughters (Rachel) middle name is Leigh. To make it look like we knew what we were doing, Harrys middle name, George, we told him he was named after George Lynch, to make up the fact they were both partly named after rock stars. 

Anyway, enough of the gushing, onto the EP. The guys have just released an acoustic EP (called ‘Organik’) of some of their favourite songs, and a new one thrown in for good measure. Acoustic covers can be a bit bland and uninspired, but they can can also be a true test of the strength of a song. Not all songs could be played acoustically, and thankfully the ones chosen for the EP are good ones. 

I have to say that as a fan of Leigh Matty’s breathy and sultry vocals, the acoustic versions suit her voice perfectly. They are delivered with passion and warmth. It’s weighted heavily toward the last two studio albums, ‘Enemy’ is achingly beautiful, and benefits from the intimacy of an acoustic guitar. ‘Radio’, a light and poppy number originally, is now stripped back and is still effective as the original. ‘I Cry Myself To Sleep’ (the song that mentions their name) was already a passionate number, and is now delivered with more emotion. ‘Alive’ is given a new ‘life’ in this version and is focused around Matty’s voice. The new song ‘Since You Went Away’ is typical of the last couple of albums, with poignant and wistful lyrics delivered with love. ‘Talking Love’ was destined to be covered acoustically, and the delivery suits a lower register.

Nothing here is forced, the songs suit a stripped back sound and leave you wanting more.

I’d like to see a set of two halves in the future, one acoustic to open, followed by the full fat version. Romeo’s Daughter (and Leigh) never sounded better. Its a mature EP that fits them like a well worn pair of comfy slippers. Twelve months ago it could have been curtains for them, but thankfully Craig Joiner is thankfully still with us, and hopefully for years to come and delivering gems like this.

8/10

Paul Chesworth