The Nicole Fermie Trio at the St. James Wine Vaults
There were perils of making Radiohead my favourite band. My outlook became too intense and benign music and entertainment began to not have the same impact. In focussing on the maudlin aspects of life Radiohead allude to a Nische maxim 'if you stare into the abyss, the abyss will stare back at you'. Despite being one of the most expressive and dynamic bands this effect can relay on its listeners. This prompted me to trade the pensive dirge for a funk surge as I tried to expand my horizons with Nicole's outfit.
During the first number I heard an audience member snarl ' Ferno who, I don't know what all the fuss is about.' This made me determined to not be the killjoy amidst a potentially emboldening evening. It seemed a hasty jibe considering the support act had perforated our eardrums with homage to the power chord. From the outset of Nicole's set, the wall of sound roused my sluggish nature and prompted me to attempt a groove. With 'The Metres' influenced first track I found myself singing the memorable riff despite it being my maiden listen. The dirty, gritty bass craftsmanship of Mr Barter prompted me not to flag and salvage my cider. With his sound exuding elements of Timmy C and Jaco Pastorious, Barter was a solid grooving player on the stage. As Barter was accompanied by a drummer possessed by the spirit of Bonham, the robust rhythm section failed to waiver. Nicky provided an intro for the song she had written when she was sixteen. She disarmed the audience with a self-deprecating quip about it containing a typically sixteen-year-old girly theme. During this number the audience was grabbed by an interlude where she raps/sings and you can hear the influence of her favourite band TLC. I felt a yearning for more idiosyncratic touches of this kind.
As the performance progressed I felt there was a need for space in the sound. There was moment in one of their tracks where Scot carries on the bass line while Nicky plays a couple of discordant notes and that felt like a real opening. Perhaps one way could be to introduce Simone style a cappella to keep the audience guessing. My reason for this is that Nicky is able to evoke Simone style expression in her voice. The atmospheric ballad 'Stay' wonderfully breaks up the set as it begins with just Nicky on guitar and subtly builds. During this ballad Mr Gill encapsulates what's great about the unit. Through his attentive approach he illustrates that there is nothing tentative about this band. His Rambo attire symbolises this man's unrelenting approach in working in a fill as the song climaxes. It's quite a feat to permeate romance through the room, but 'stay' caused tender moments as I looked around. I felt structurally there needed to be more layered tunes like 'Stay' instead of riff after riffs.
The adrenaline filled onslaught was crucial in expelling the introspection left from my prior musical leaning. With Nicole's interaction with the audience and blistering jazzy runs up the guitar there wasn't a moment to be contemplative. I felt lifted from the empathy I was able to derive from Nicole's lyrics. In being a student pursuing bands on the side 'champagne lifestyle on a coca-cola income' particularly resonated. The way that she covered human struggles and memorable interaction was a release from the celestial motif raised by my heroes Buckley and Yorke. The inclusion of a funkified version of 'Waterfalls' was a nostalgic trip. As it retreated me to a time when I wasn't weighed down with the thoughts about leaving a 'videotape' before my trip to the pearly gates. Nevertheless the hold Radiohead has over my musical leaning and playing won't subside, but even they illustrated during 'In Rainbows' to be partial to the funk. As '51 steps' was more like Nicole's sound than the pathos synonymous with the band. Nicole Fermie trio act as musical defibrillators for a man trailing about half an hour behind real life like myself.
Max Webster. email-jwibbly@hotmail.com read more