RUSTY SHACKLE | LIVE REVIEW
The Moon Club, Cardiff, Fri 15 Apr
Tickets had sold out and the black box that is The Moon Club was filled to bursting. “Hell-lo, Cardiff! Are you enjoying yourselves?” shouted lead vocalist Liam Collins. The room erupted in a resounding, ‘Yes!’ The floor and walls vibrated. Rusty Shackle, crammed on the tiny stage, had the audience in the palm of their hands from the moment they picked up their instruments. From my vantage point on a table by the bar I could watch the jumping and jigging without getting caught up in the fervour.
The folk-rockers have a following (many fans had travelled up from Caldicot) and their appeal spans a diverse age range. But apart from talent, professionalism and great Celtic-influenced music, what the Monmouthshire six-piece have that a lot of bands don’t, is the ability to engage with the crowd and they won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. It’s evident they enjoy performing and the energy they bring to the stage is infectious.
The Moon Club – much like its unrelated namesake which Cardiff gig-goers of the late 1970s may recall – isn’t the most glamorous of venues, but at £7.50 for three bands you can’t complain. Paving the way for main act were the rather sedate folk group The Minerals, and Vince James who, with his folk-rock-indie-pop-with-a-bit-of-country, is a name to look out for.
Rusty Shackle are on a tour of the UK at the moment to promote their new album Dusk. I couldn’t tell you the titles, but the new songs are equally as foot-stomping as the band’s older stuff. These boys know how to create a buzz. This wasn’t just a small gig in a backstreet pub: this was a stadium concert in miniature.
words LYNDA NASH photos CHRISTIAN RUSS
