by Darren Coleman
Having seen The Knott on a few prior occasions together with the fact that I have their demo CD always close to hand in my car, I knew that I was in for another good show. Except that this time it would be different as the night was billed as an acoustic special and The Knott as we all well know are a full-on very satisfying indie-rock sound, so it was fair to say that there was a large helping of curiosity lightly dressed with a portion of apprehension in my mind as I sat awaiting the start of their set.
Following on from a night of experienced, well proven acoustic acts The Knott took to the stage less their drummer, Roy. A 12-string guitar replaced Matt’s usual trademark black Yamaha bass and on the other side of stage sat Andy with a 6-string and total absence of effect pedals. As frontman Lee took position between his companions it became obvious that tonight, without that wall of sound that he usually climbs on top of and sings aloft from, tonight Lee Knott and his merry men would indeed be tested.
As the set started the unexpected took hold, here was a band that I hoped, well expected to be able to hold their own headlining an acoustic mini-fest, what I did not predict was for them to totally exceed my (and indeed many others) expectations, from the opening number, to which I have to admit to being entertained by Lee’s singing “me, him and him and….those” as the mismatch of the number of members on the night influenced the lyrics of the song, through to the end of the set I was transfixed. When I say ‘transfixed’ I feel the need to quantify the extent, I’m talking ‘transfixed’ to the point that my beer glass remained empty till the last chord was strummed!
The vocals, the harmonies, the guitars, everything was just so ‘right’, The Knott’s usual great sound was taken to another level,
songs I’ve heard many times before entered a new dimension of feeling and meaning. To say that I was impressed does not even come close.
Should I be disturbed that even now, Lee’s voice is still in my head singing “?¢‚Ǩ¬¶we all become pictures on the wall?¢‚Ǩ¬¶”? No, I think not. One thing that I have learned along the way is there is a lot to be said for a song that sticks (and is welcome) in your head after the event, the set provided many. This was the first time that The Knott has performed an acoustic set, I’m pretty certain that it’ll not be the last, contact the band, contact your local venue, shout at local promoters, do whatever it takes to make it possible to see and hear this for yourselves! Trust me, you’ll not be disappointed.
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