The History Of Apple Pie

The Green Door Store, Brighton – 15th February 2013

The new year is always slow for both gigs and releases and it was some relief to get the first show of the year under our belts with the visit to the south coast of London five-piece The History Of Apple Pie, fresh from the release of their rather impressive debut album, Out Of View. With their recent Manchester outing slated in the latest edition of NME, we were looking forward to this with no little interest, having already been pondering how the thoughtfully pieced together long player would translate live on stage.

Whatever the music press might be saying, the atmospheric Green Door Store is packed to the rafters as THOAP appear; there is undoubtedly a buzz for the band and an appetite for the fuzzy, if familiar, guitar pop they bring with them. Anybody expecting fireworks, however, is sorely disappointed. Five band members on such a small stage doesn't lend itself to much in the way of histrionics, which is just as well as THOAP are certainly no showboaters; they stand and play and on the whole let the music do the talking. Not that they are dull to watch. Lead guitarist Jerome Watson, house right, spends the evening crouched low caressing his Telecaster, while his counterpoint, Aslam Ghauri, house left, stands tall, barely looking at his instrument and radiating cool. Bassist Kelly Lee Owens has about two square feet in which to move, yet is mesmerising as she nods her head from side to side in a movement that sends her whole frame swaying hypnotically. James Thomas is half hidden by his pared down drum kit, while singer Stephanie Min, also on guitar, rarely escapes far from her microphone.

As the band kick off with an unfamilar opener, the vocals are completely inaudible under the thrashing of four guitars. They are little better as the band storms through 'The Warrior' but the sound man finally ups the volume in time for the gorgeous ‘Mallory', which is followed by 'Tug' and 'See You' in the best section of the night. The voices possibly remain just a little too quiet throughout and it is difficult to hear what Stephanie is saying between songs but, that said, it's hard to better the noise of three guitars being played off against each other and most of the songs are familiar, so half of the audience are able to fill in any gaps themselves.

Three more album tracks follow before the band launches into the final number, the magnificent 'Before You Reach The End' and before the band does indeed reach the end, Stephanie and Kelly are off, leaving the three boys to play with their toys, sending out showers of feedback and ringing metal for a good four minutes before everything finally comes to a shuddering halt. It's a nice end to a decent evening. The History Of Apple Pie aren't the most dynamic live band you'll ever see, but they show more than enough to hint that one day they may be up there among them. There's no front, no attitude, but a lot of decent songs and a lot of love for them. And we're more than happy to share in that.

Out Of View Review

Photos Gary Packham