Beyond the Break EP launch

Thursday night saw the debut of Beyond the Break and also the launch of their debut EP. The audience that night was a veritable who’s who of Llanelli talent, past and present, with practically every member of the crowd having been in a band in town at some point. Amongst others, I spotted members of Flood, Sierra Alpha, Artimus Crisis and many more. It was reminiscent of the Llanelli scene from the twenty years ago, when crowds would pack into venues such as the Waterloo and Kavanaughs for mid-week gigs and band nights in the British Legion would regularly see crowds of over 300 people.

One big change since then is that the bands now work a lot harder and are far more professional. First band of the night, Beautiful Strangers, proved that with a tight set and even tighter trousers. Their sleazy rock tunes always go down well and with songs like Shame, Shame, Shame and Kick Me When I'm Down, you can tell why they have built up a following around the UK, playing Wakefield the day before the gig and Swansea, the day after. Their stage presence was such that one woman in the audience told me that she couldn’t be in the same room as Singer, Stu Dade Davies‘ hips as the atmosphere had become too sexual.

Next band up were Red Room Therapy from Pontypridd. Many members of this knowledgeable crowd commentated on what a big sound this band had for a three piece outfit. Their cover of Seal’s Killer got the boys from Beautiful Strangers up and dancing and when the band thought they had finished, the crowd called them back on for another. This was a cover of Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground, which really showed off their singer's vocal talent.

Finally came the band that everyone was there to see, Beyond the Break. I first saw singer Paul Jones and guitarist, Rich James, perform in the band Pig Ugly in the Stepney Hotel many years ago. They were the first local band that I saw play and they inspired me and many other music fans to get together and form bands in the big Turk Rock explosion of the mid to late 90s. They have both been performing non-stop ever since, usually together but sometimes in separate bands and have now been joined by bass player, Chris Francis, from Eleven and drummer, Aled Richards, from Bingo Fury, to form Llanelli’s first super group.

Beyond the Break opened with a high octane opening track and treated the crowd to their new tunes which were all greeted enthusiastically. They gave a nod to their previous incarnation of 21 Against, with their song, Days Like Today, which was followed by an atmosphericnew tune. The tempo picked up for the remainder of the gig with new singlPictures of Losing Sleep, a stand out track.

The band closed with an anti-fox hunting song, to rapturous applause, so much in fact, that they stayed on for an impromptu performance of Neil Young’s Keep on Rocking in the Free World. This used to be the closing track for Pig Ugly and the boys were joined on guitars by ex-Lovers of Alginoil front man, Rhodri Owens and ex-Pig Ugly drummer Leigh Hipkiss, who last performed this song with the boys at his wedding eight years ago.

The night was a huge success and hopefully the boys will go on to even greater success, starting with their gig in London on Saturday. They sill have the power to inspire as I know many members of the audience were planning to get their bands back together so the days of the mid-week Turk Rock gigs in Llanelli may be back.