Dalaro – Think Tank, Holts Yard, Newcastle, June 15th, 2013
Not my first mistake of the night, but I thought wrongly that Think Tank had took over Warehouse 34, where I last visited Holts Yard to see The Selecter, (near where the toilets were based) instead Think Tank has moved to number 20-something across the fair expanse of the ‘yard’ not a venue to be caught short in, I muse. Under leaden skies I catch what I came for. Their were a couple of acoustic singer songwriters, that at times raised above the over crowded norm, raw promise, if not quite the finished article. Also part of this Saturday’s array of talent, were tonight’s main focus for us
Dalaro were formed in early 2011 by 4 school friends and it’s been hectic since then, a fair blitz of gigs, studio and rehearsing, that while they weren’t writing and experimenting. After a false start, for a new guitarist a fourth band member materialised at the start of 2013 in the form of Adam Terry. The four-piece now complete, Gateshead’s Dalaro, were warmly received. From the opening of ‘In This light’ a couple of things were evident, the lads not afraid to stretch their musical muscles to create some choice moments in the opening couple of songs, already I am thinking that Dalaro are no band in-progress, the first impression is, this is the start period where the band come into their own. The band are tight, keen and musical, but more than that they have a number of strong songs within their repertoire. Songs such as ‘The Tom Song’, ‘Empty Amusements’, ‘Empires’ as well as the new single ‘The Unknown’ all entertain. Call for the small expanse between audience and stage to be filled was led by ‘Neville’ (at least so named by the band), who bravely stepped forth, a ghost of 1990’s Madchester, all Bez/Mani like posturing.
Experimentation saw singer guitarist Conner Templeton, undertakes a spluttering of keyboard parts, I can imagine a tired festival reviewer, alcohol soaked, could walk into a tent at the wrong moment and call Dalaro an electro outfit, Metronomy, Django Django or Tame Impala, clearly they are not, think indie-rock with, if not quite a total remake, at least more heavily tweaked with some nifty modern breaks, bridges and refrains. If this were cricket, the Dalaro would be described as a strong batting team, with strength in depth. Also in the plus Colum, the new single also cements the view that he new material from the yet to be titled EP, works very well. Happy to report that the last shots of the 9-song set raised the bar, with ‘Take My Heart’ and ‘The Fear’ signing off on a high. The band are due to go into the studio to finish “the new EP”. Until then, a pleasant introduction, as their live set clicked, expect more from Dalaro in the close to medium future. 7.8/10
Steve Janes