Well, I've never been to the Red Eye before but I liked what I saw. Although a little hesitant at first to park the car in what looked like a 'park at your own peril' zone I decided to put my faith in the immobilizer and give it a go. Once inside I was greeted by what looked like a peculiar but atmospheric L-shaped darkened room, with the bar at the short end of the L and the stage at the top end. On getting closer to the stage I could see that there was more space to the right at the back of the bar. With the posters on the wall, the lack of light and the youthful audience it had the feel of a rock venue to it. I arrived at about 9.30pm expecting to have missed the fate (lowercase f) set but was pleasantly surprised to see Stuart Royan at the bar ordering his onstage drink for the show. Next thing I knew he was introducing the first song in his own inimitable style, smiling face, rugged determination, louder than everyone else (he did have a microphone), and heightened energy, raring to go. Can't remember what the first song was though. I was too busy wondering at how different it all was to the gig at The Monarch in Chalk Farm that I had seen one month earlier. That night fifteen, maybe twenty people watched from a distance huddled around the bar. The band were together but maybe a little rusty, the audience were still recovering from the Christmas festivities, and still more hadn't turned up for the same reason. Here at the Red Eye there must have been a hundred people, many of them near the stage, many of them bopping (sorry) and singing along and many of them there to see there own band but happy to find that some of the other acts were interesting too. And then there was the keyboard player. Ah yes, the band had obviously been practising hard since I had seen them last, but they were also being influenced by the new keyboard player, the only female in the five piece band and another accomplished musician. It was obvious to me in the first song that she was complimenting the drummer in maintaining the beat. Maybe it was the mix, maybe it's just what keyboards do, but it seemed a factor to me. After that it was noticeable how well the band were playing together and listening to each other and enjoying the experience. It was uplifting. Some of these songs are great. They're melodic and memorable, pop songs if you like, reminiscent of the best Blur/Oasis tunes, sometimes there's a touch of seventies rock about them, but they're unique, and thoughtful, nonetheless - 'Caroline', 'Turning To The East', 'Time Of My Life', 'Sit Right Down' and 'Everyday Life' to name but a few. But the best song on the night was possibly the last song 'Dancing Through The Sky', a song from the heart which starts with the singer leaving Manchester, looking for something extra, leaving something special behind but believing, as he dances through the sky, that there's much to see in other places. This song reminded me of U2s 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. It had a driving bass line, a similar theme, a similar structure of verse and chorus, and a similar 'rock song' feel to it, not really one for the acoustic venues, but of course different in its own way.
So where are the weaknesses? Are there any weaknesses? Is perfection attainable or even desirable? Getting carried away would be a weakness, but I don't think that's happened so far. Maybe the singing could be better but that's bound to improve with more gigs. Maybe it would be better if the lead guitarist (Morris Phillips) didn't chew gum throughout the gig, but then it looked cool. Maybe he could sing a bit more, add some more harmonies, say a few things between songs. Hey sure there are weaknesses but many of them can be ironed out. For now The Red Eye gig was fantastic. The audience loved it, the band loved it and I loved it. For many this would be enough to feed any craving for success, but fate will be around for some time yet and who knows what will happen for them in the future. For now fate are 'Dancing Through The Sky'.
For information on fate go to
www.fateband.co.uk
Fate - The Red Eye - 03/02/2001 ©2001 Lobby The Lobster & Virtually Acoustic
No part of this work may be reproduced or linked to without the permission of the copyright owners
