The Norden Art's Centre continues to provide a great platform for the people of Maidenhead and the surrounding areas to see top quality Country and Americana acts both big and small in their two performance spaces.
Fred’s House have been frequent visitors over the years and have built up a core base of fans eagerly waiting for their next engagement.With the evening spread across 2 hour long sets, no-one was going to go home short changed.
The studio was really busy and as they launched into their first song you could see they were as highly polished as ever.Vikki’s voice shone through the room with a distinct clarity, and once Griff and Gafyn joined her they provided the most beautiful harmonies, that carried you on a journey through each and every song.
Such is the wealth of material they have now collected they can afford to throw in "Shut Up And Dance", one of their classic singles as early as the second song.Their track “I’m Not Saying” was described to us as a song about depression but as I listened carefully to the message. It really could become a bit of a “song for survival” for anyone with MH struggles, it had a very bluesy tone and resonated well with me.
Griff was very excited about their new material which he has been able to coerce the band into producing into vinyl. However I was more shocked when he showed us proudly a 7” disc, like a proud newborn father, I’m so used to seeing standard 12” records that this quirky little product which also gives you the digital downloads will be a sure fire hit!
The new material, as stated in our single review, has a slower feel to the standard uptempo Fred’s House we have been used to, but it’s definitely a sign of a growing confidence in their songwriting skills "Can We Just Pretend?" being a prime example. Thankfully the new album is written and almost ready for us, they hope to have it out to the public in the next few months, after a busy summer.
I have to give a special mention to their new single, which is fun and fabulous. Prior to the gig we watched the video, please head over to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBWslSpkl4w) they had an absolute blast recording it apparently, playing dress up, Gaf was the stereotype rockstar, Vikki a queen, I won’t spoil it, just go and watch it, it shows how much fun Fred’s House really are, never taking themselves too seriously and this really comes across whilst they play, they have a lot of fun on Sunday night and that drew the audience in and just makes the band all the more likeable, who couldn’t like Fred’s House?
By the end of the night at Norden Farm, with a storming encore of "Need Somebody To Love" everyone was stomping their feet, clapping their hands and having a great time. That is the Fred’s House effect, they are such a feel good band, and in Paul Richards they surely have the smiliest drummer ever, if you haven’t seen them head out to a show near you, they are on tour until the end of May, full details here http://fredshousemusic.co.uk/
Set List
Part One
This Little Boy
Shut Up and Dance
I’m Not Saying
Fire
Can We Just Pretend
Forget About It
Fine Life
Old Man
Bonnie and Clyde
Never Gonna Love You
Beautiful You
Part Two
The Chain
Careless
Better By Miles
Sooner or Later
Looking Glass
Earthquake
Standing
Ghost Town
Bad Place
Another Universe
Encore
Need Somebody To Love