Peppered Ant Legs and Swallows - 15/10/08

With the Thomas De La Rue fast becoming the premier venue for live music in St Peter Port many had gathered there, despite it being a ‘school night’, on Wednesday 15th October 2008 to see a rare appearance by ‘lady-rockers’ Swallows and some old school hard rock and pop from the Peppered Ant Legs.

Swallows kicked the evening off with their take on the indie rock style played by many super trendy bands at the moment.

Despite a slightly slow start, the band were soon flowing well and if it was true that they hadn’t had much time to rehearse for this gig it didn’t show.

What really struck about the band was the sense of fun and humour they add to a style of music that can often take itself too seriously and become somewhat po-faced. This was really shown by singer Rachel and guitarist Lisa who’s on stage interplay really provided an entertaining show.

Following their set I was left wondering how many of the songs were covers and how many were originals because, Swallows did that rare thing of managing to own every song whether they be their own or not.

It’s just a shame this band don’t make more appearances, as it is always a refreshing treat to see them play.

After Swallows came a band who have been appearing fairly regularly in recent months at various venues, the Peppered Ant Legs.

Playing covers ranging from the spaced out heavy metal of early Black Sabbath through to the upbeat pop of the Dave Clark Five they are an undeniably unique proposition, and tonight they were on entertaining form.

The band really come into their own on the rockier numbers where they come across in a much more confident light, however the pop tunes, including tonight a great version Manfred Mann’s ‘Mighty Quin’ add a real sense of fun to proceedings - even if there were a few too many extended moments retuning and changing guitars.

The Ant Legs real highlight tonight though came in the form of their closing salvo of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Communication Breakdown’ and Neil Young’s ‘Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)’, a rarely heard gem, which rocked the night well before a run through of rock classic ‘Voodoo Child’ which seemed to leave all in the pub satisfied.