Live

The Bridport Dagger

Angus Reid 21/01/2008

It's a fine line being shambolic, for some bands like The Libertines and Art Brut it can come across as an endearing roughness that encourages people on, for most it just sounds like a total mess. Luckily for The Bridport Dagger, they fall on the right side of this divide, and despite the technical difficulties evident tonight, they manage to make it into a compelling live show, bristling with energy and rock'n'roll verve.

With a sound somewhere between archaic folk melodies and the kind of rock'n'roll you'd expect to find in a Tarantino movie, watching this bassless trio hammer relentlessly at their instruments feels almost like watching Gene Vincent, Dick Dale and Buddy Rich perform together, such is the devotion to their craft. Frontman Jason Powdrill has the kind of deep, rich holler that hasn't been heard since the Sonics first howled into a microphone.

The show doesn't pass without the near obligatory technical difficulties for a band at this stage, and sure enough, during second song “One for the Road” a mic stand decides to attack the drum kit. Undeterred, the band simply start over as if nothing had happened, the epitome of cool. Yes, it's a little messy, and a little rough around the edges, but isn't that what good rock'n'roll music is supposed to be about?