12/1/2006 In Shadow @ Hertford Marquee

Subject	In Shadow @ Hertford Marquee
DateCreated	1/14/2006 7:48:00 AM
PostedDate	1/12/2006 7:01:00 AM
	I made my second visit in a week to the Hertford Marquee - a club that puts many well known Camden and West End venues to shame. This time I was there to check out In Shadow (also on MySpace) after seeing their amazing singer in a cover band. For some reason I was expecting In Shadow to be some lighweight indie/alternative band - I could hardly have been more wrong!  This band are heavy! Think female fronted rock not unlike Skunk Annansie and you won't be too wide of the mark - only darker and more intense - and heavier. Kayle Black is one of those rare people who just looks like she was born to front a rock band - an absolute natural. Not only that, but as well as amazing stage presence and charisma - she also has a fantastic voice! The rest of the band are pretty good as well. The guitar and bass players look pretty damn mean - and they sound it too. The bass is really heavy, yet very dynamic and clear - really driving the whole band along. The seven string guitar playing is intricate yet driving riffs abound. These are rock musicians of the highest order.  With songs as good as 'Hear U Scream' this new band deserve to go far. As usual at this excellent venue, the sound mix and quality are superb! Being at a venue a good few miles out of town I was surprised to bump into a drummer I used to be in a band with many years ago. Kev also turned up at the same venue a few months ago when my own band played there - quite a surprise as I hadn't seen him for so many years - then I bumped into him unexpectedly again at the Dublin Castle recently. It turns out he was at this gig in Hertford to support one of the other bands as he's been doing some stuff to help them out. The band in question is Copious. In Shadow had been billed as the headliners at this show, but Copious ended up going on last as I guess being a local band they brought all their friends and family with them and got the best turnout of the 3 bands on the bill. Apart from having quite a decent frontman I found their performance rather lacklustre even in front of their home crowd. They have quite an Oasis influnce to their sound and have one or two decent songs though - early days for them yet...