Gig review by Ross Barnett
Broken Witt Rebels produced a set of the highest calibre to a full house at The Musician on Friday night.
Before Broken Witt Rebels took to the stage at 10pm, The Musician was treated to two wonderful support acts to get the musical juices flowing.
Birmingham based band, The Surrenders opened proceedings with an action packed set before The Della Grants showcased why they’re one of the best new British bands to successfully merge blues, rock and R&B into their music.
Prior to the spectacular performance I caught up with lead vocalist Danny Core to reflect on their progress as a band.
“It started as myself and Luke Davis playing as much music as we could, then we added James Trantor as lead guitarist before drummer James Dudley joined the band,” Danny said.
What started as a band playing the circuit in Birmingham who decided on a name from picking random words out of the Metro newspaper, they have grown to support acts such as Icelandic band Kaleo, whose song Way Down We Go can be recognised from the second trailer of Marvel’s Logan.
“Our name was mainly Luke’s idea. It was a random three words, but we played into it and have become the name and brand. I can’t see another name being more fitting,” Danny added.
“We had to work hard, we had to do it the old fashioned way and we had to make our name by playing live to anywhere and anyone we could.
“The great thing about it was that you needed good music and we believed we did have good music.”
Returning to Leicester for the first time since last July, Danny offered a passionate and emotive mid-performance thanks to the crowd for their support.
He said: “A year ago we played in front of a half-filled room, to see this [The Musician] packed out means an awful lot to us.”
Despite an appearance at Camden Festival the day after Leicester, Danny and the band were delighted to play in Leicester once again: “We believe that you have to reach a level of success before you take days off – any time you can get work is a good time.
“We love Leicester and Carol, of Casbah [Music Management and Promotions], has always been very good to us so when the opportunity arose we wanted to do it for her.”
Having released their first EP Howlin’ in 2014 and second EP, Georgia Pine in 2016, what used to be a hobby has turned into a career.
“The band, for a few years, was a hobby and we only practiced when we could squeeze it into our lives,” Danny said. “Then we started to gain a good fan base and we achieved some success so we quit our jobs and decided to go for it.”
Despite being six months into 2017, there is still plenty to be expected from Broken Witt Rebels: “We have a very busy festival season, the Isle of Wight, Download Festival and then we’re off to America before supporting The Cadillac Three in a tour around Europe in November.”
