Northern Irish rockers The Answer headed back to London for the first time in seven years. Playing the 100 Club for their album launch shows, which sold out in quick succession, the excitement in the air was palpable… it could be the lingering smell of Carling induced flatulence… Hey! The Answer’s fan base is a slightly more mature demographic, it will happen to us all eventually.
As the band step onto the London stage for the first time in nearly a decade we couldn’t wait to hear guitarist Paul Mahon strike the first chord. As we waited patiently the familiar sound rings over the PA. Is it a bird? Is it an oscillating Moog synthesiser? You better believe it was. The non-officially released track Keep Believin’ starts as lead singer Cormac Neeson graces the 100 club’s stage. The band is sounding tight, and everyone is in fine form.
Now it wouldn’t be an album launch tour if there weren’t new album songs to play live and so the band kicked off into new single Blood Brother. The new record Sundowners released on Friday 17th March was long awaited. Neeson was very happy to tell the audience that they had beat Metallica on the Amazon Rock Charts and currently sat at number 12 in the official album charts midweeks.
The track Under The Sky created the biggest singalong, even if there was a little technical difficulty at the beginning. The band introduced another new track, which is the title of the new album Sundowners – another barnstormer of a blues track, the packed out 100 Club nodding along.
The band are like they have never been away, tighter than ever some might say even better than seven years prior. Now more elder statesmen of blues rock, but ever the pioneers. The tracks from their debut album have had a new lease of, life such as Come Follow Me, which again gets the crowd singing along. As the band reached fever pitch they closed their set with swampy blues jam Preachin’ bringing that Northern Irish blues.
As the band leave the stage we are left feeling we have witnessed something special, a band that has come back from a seven-year long hiatus, but playing like they have never been away. The new record is not a departure from the sound that got people hooked, but instead a further development. It has everything you love about the band and more, and these songs do translate perfectly live. If you’ve not listened to Sundowners yet – go do it. You won’t be disappointed.
Check out more photos from the night in the gallery below:
