Baskery

This was the third-time I've seen Baskery live, which just so happens to also be the exact number of times they've toured the UK.

The fact I have never missed an opportunity to catch them live speaks volumes about my opinion of this band as a live act.

In fact, I would say that everyone, regardless of musical taste, should always try and see this band whenever possible, and at every opportunity, because they are quite simply one of the best live acts you will ever see.

I'm not a Country music fan - which is good, because Baskery don't see themselves as Country either. Their instrument choices and house in Nashville may give you the impression that they do, but they will admit they find themselves hard to pigeon-hole.

Lots of attempts are made to classify their genre, like "Mud Country" and "Banjo Punk", but really the closest I can get to defining the sound that three Swedish Sisters singing in harmony accompanied by slap double-bass, banjo, and electric guitar, is "Folksy music you can really Rock Out to".

It's just damn good music, and there's no other way of putting it. It transcends your normal genre boundaries, in the same way that it requires absolutely no love of the Blues or Motown to appreciate the music in the film "The Blues Brothers". If you have any sort of love for music at all, it will appeal to you and get you stamping your feet to the rhythm.

Then there's the performance itself. I don't care if you're Robert Downey Junior himself, you will never... NEVER... be as cool as these three ladies from Stockholm. Stella, clearly unaffected by "Middle-Child" syndrome, slaps away at her double-base "Henry" with effortless skill, while youngest Sunniva plays the "Bono" front-man role as the charismatic vocal gymnast and rhythm guitarist - occasionally losing herself in epic guitar solo moments, kicking wildly into the air and jumping on top of drum-kits with glee and reckless abandon. Then there's Greta, the eldest sibling, who somehow possesses a brain capable of supreme mutli-tasking skill which allows her to simultaneously play drums with her feet, banjo with her hands and harmonica with her mouth. It's really something to behold.

Baskery is one of those bands whose live performances are far more impressive than their recorded body of work. While their albums are good in themselves, they lack the passion and fervour that comes across in their live performances. Each track seems to gain an extra five minutes as they descend into lavish solos and instrumental jams that see them playing with tempo and just generally rocking out in their own world of sound down to the very last beat.

This is clearly something the girls REALLY enjoy doing, and I defy any audience to not find themselves similarly lost in the musical journey with them.

This particular performance was at the intimate Kitchen Garden Cafe - a small seated venue (I would've prefered standing given the frenetic nature of their performance so we could've at least danced around a bit and loosened up) which had excellent sound quality, and pushed you right up as close to the artists as possible. It's definitely somewhere I'd like to go to again, and the smaller gigs suit such a likeable bunch as Baskery very well, as it offers more audience interaction and camaraderie.

I couldn't have been happier with how this gig went, and was almost tempted to see them again the very next night at another venue (but sadly funds did not permit this).

Please, no matter who you are or what sort of music you like, do yourselves a favour and SEE THIS BAND!