The night started out with local Michael Painter as a support act, giving his all in the vocal department and driving guitar to give the crowd a warm welcome.

A humble six-foot or so lead man of Fiction Plane – Joe Sumner ( son of Sting ) – appeared on stage with the bass in one hand, thanking his support act Michael like a true showman. Seton Daunt followed with his guitar and ampeg amp alongside Pete Wihoit on drums, clutching his Stewart Copeland signature drumsticks.

It was a steaming Sunday evening and they soon leapt into the anthemic title track off their new album called ‘Left Side Of The Brain’ which had the crowd wanting more. With the sound of great walls of guitar melodies and a strutting edge sounding rhythm bass line to carry the howling, the most memorable lyric was held by Joe Sumner who, to me, has a more unique vocal style held by anyone else in the next wave of music generation.

They soon went into the second song ‘Cross The Line’ with a great change over; drums building up in the intro. Halfway, the trio went into a different reggae rhythm with the use of a hard edged strut as signified by their main guitarist Seton. He also used great musicianship, adding dynamics and nicely placed effects throughout to add that extra ingredient to their magic formula.

In the third song lead man Joe puts down his bass and picks up his other sword (acoustic guitar) for a more sedate styled song. The song sounded like a symphony with the use of only drums and two guitars; a real powerhouse. The mixing guy was really having fun with the dials during this. It was nice and twangy on the lead electric guitar by Seton and the night was packed in with differing rhythms and a powerful drum beat to carry the trio through a good one hour set.

Other highlights were ‘Anyone’, the angst ridden ‘Death Machine’, the boppy and danceable ‘It’s A Lie’. The infamous ‘Two Sisters’ was the highlight of the night amongst the the front dancers and crowd. There were exceptional emotions in lyrics such as “I don’t want to say so I blew her a kiss and said f__k yourself and your cigarettes”, seeming very typical of the time. The way Joe talked about love gone wrong at the start and going into a raunchy guitar solo lead by Seton really gave the night another upper strength.

There was also some moments of sheer fun shared between Joe and the audience. The crowd participation (singing back and clapping overhead) as well as some different grooves showed us who was in control, especially the appeal in the entertainment ring as well as the musical scope they held to enlighten a new generation of music listeners.

This band is a must see in the future and their stage antics – well crafted and catchy social iconic songs will make them amongst the best bands to watch out for in the future. They played an encore and they mastered it all in true rock spirit.

Be sure to check out the pics from this show here courtesy of LWPhoto.