Live Review: Tumbleweed, Kadavar, Blue Pills

Sweden's Blue Pills performed as a tight unit and set some mellow vibes. The Swedes had a number of throwback moments – ranging from Aretha Franklin to Jimi Hendrix – as their guitarist was front and centre for many a shredding solo. Meanwhile, Germany's Kadavar gave a dynamic showing. There were a myriad of time signatures and sparse arrangements that built and built. They brought an edge to the evening and led perfectly into Tumbleweed.

Let's be blunt: it's more often than not that a band creating music together for more than two decades will drop in quality. This made it all the more impressive last Friday when Tumbleweed took to the Mojos Bar stage to put on a terrific show. Complete with a setlist comprised of new material and back catalogue gems, Tumbleweed were seriously on point. The ensemble was groovy, heavy and melodic all at once.

The group produced a polished wall of sound and the crowd more than obliged the rockers by lapping up each beat, note and riff. It was great to hear the boys enjoying themselves along with the crowd. They were talkative and comical before breaking back into dark and brooding numbers.Songs from the brand new record, Sounds From The Other Side, were solid and translated phenomenally to a live setting. The instrumentals were intricate and vocalist Richard Lewis was a performer in the truest sense – egging the crowd on with all eccentricities included. Tumbleweed headed an awesome night of music, supported as they were by rocking compatriots from all parts of the world.