Live at The Green Room

Some of the older readership of Small City Big Personality website may remember The Green Room under its previous guise as Mucky Mulligans.  Since it re-opened, it’s been the best place to go in Perth to sample beers with the impressively stocked 'Around the World' speciality beer bar that even issues you with a passport to be stamped every time you sample a drink from a different country.  Upstairs there's a great selection of lagers and beers on draft- I’d recommend the Bearface lager- and the peaty open fire provides the ideal accompaniment to a malt whiskey on a wet Scottish day.

Last Friday night The Green Room was hosting a triple threat of local acts in the form of Brandyn Duthie, Vulture in the Lobby and headliners The Ground we Tread.  The night was organised by a group of University of Highlands and Islands students to raise money for PADS a Perth dog re-homing charity.

Opening solo act Brandyn Duthie provided capable acoustic support, entertaining us with a mash-up of Pretty Pretty Please, Caledonia and Take me Home Country Roads. Also, his original songs showed a lot of promise.  Next up was Vulture in the Lobby, a band with a great name (kind of like a line from Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas) and a great sound. An instrumental band that play both originals and covers, drummer Joshua McGrath, bassist Lia McFie and guitarist Findlay Baxter, have a vibe that is part surf rock, part Hendrix, with a little bit of Chicago blues on the side for good measure.  The drums and bass provide a really solid and downright funky foundation for guitarist Findlay, whose flights of fancy ring some great tones out of his Strat, stomp-box and Wah pedal. 

The Vultures also show great taste in their choice of cover versions by including one of the greatest guitar instrumentals ever, Rumble,  originally by pioneer of feedback Link Wray.  This was followed by another tasty original Weird which has a cool segment where bass and guitar riff in unison followed by some feedback drenched solo-ing and nice tom work from drummer Joshua.

Bringing the night to a close were pop punk five-piece The Ground we Tread who originally gigged as an acoustic trio before recruiting a second guitarist and drummer and turning up the gain in 2016.  They have been playing together in their current form for a relatively short amount of time but are already starting to carve out a name for themselves.  They have a new E.P. just out and are  undertaking a short tour this April to promote it, they even have a merch stall, in short these kids have their shizzle together.  They also know how to put a song together as evidenced by first track of the night and the E.P.’s lead track Sweet Taste.  Hard hitting drums from Ross Stewart, pumping bass from Nathan Blair, simple but effective riffage from Brodie Mack and Euan Reid provide a bedrock for a really strong lyric from singer Shannon Henderson who has just the right amount of growl in her vocal.  Other stand-out tracks included Without Purpose with its catchy as hell refrain “I know it seems like all I do is complain but I swear I’m not like this everyday, you just make me feel this way", and a stellar cover of The Wonder
Years Dismantle Summer. 

The band bring things to a rousing finish with energetic final track Blisters.  After a quick lesson on how to shake hands properly from drummer Ross and guitarist Brodie and a quick visit to the merch table to buy a rather fetching beanie, it’s time for chips then home.

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Listen and download The Ground We Treads New E.P HERE >>>