Grand Drive

Even though True Love And New Adventures has been released for a year, Grand Drive are only now getting around to touring it. The Wilson brothers and their band have actually played only a smattering of gigs in recent times. But that’s hard to believe on the strength of tonight’s performance.

This isn’t the first time Grand Drive have played Belfast. But only one person has returned for second helpings and the band even know his name. For the rest of us, the set is balanced between songs from both albums to date.

The Hammond organ that dominates the stage also dictates much of the character of the sound. It’s a credit to the musicianship of the band that songs like ‘Wheels’ are as resonant and lush live as on record. ‘Sleepy’ loses nothing of its elegance despite the absence of the brass section that defines the song on record.

The band are as amiable as their music. Delighted by the response from the relatively poor turnout, they even fit in a request for ‘On A Good Day’. Sharing a mic on ‘True Love…’ the Wilson brothers are captivating, their voices perfectly intertwining in the warmest harmonies.

Quite how the Wilson brothers sound so convincingly American is a puzzle given that they were born in Australia and live in London. But the sunshine harmonies plough a furrow somewhere between the Byrds and Big Star. The Menagerie Bar is perfectly suited to the music. All ramshackle character, it could be a lonely truck stop on an American highway. Like all great gigs, tonight we were taken somewhere else.