What I love about Reef are that they, to us who hail from the West Country, are ‘locals dun good’. Hailing from Glastonbury and Barnstaple they always seem very happy to be back. Maybe it’s the scones? Maybe the clean air? I’m not sure, but I can guess that whatever else draws them back, the reaction from the crowd must be one bloody good reason.
Rarely do you see the Lemongrove so packed. I was relegated to the back, but watching the performance through a sea of heads did not mare my enjoyment one bit… Hell, I know what these guys look like now, as I did in my 30s, when I first heard “It’s your letters”… Sorry “Place your hands”… and fell, very deeply in love with each and every one.
© Rhodri Cooper Photography
Their warm up was a band from Birmingham; the brilliant “Broken Witt Rebels”, with their classic blues rock, they certainly did – warm up the crowd that is but then Reef appeared and the crowd hit boiling point. The band entered to a riotous welcome and blew the roof off the university. During the gig they played all their, and my favourites. And as I found myself joining the audience and singing along, I was transported back to 1999, wildly cavorting to “Come back brighter” in Swansea’s Morfa Stadium, where I saw them for the very first time, although a little less hairy.
© Rhodri Cooper Photography
After the gig was over, I asked myself “Would I get to meet the band for an interview?”… But… Sadly, the answer to that was no, the crowd was too dense and still on a Reef high, I couldn’t face that… Maybe when they come home again, when Summer’s in bloom!
Review by Charlotte Cooper
Photography by Rhodri Cooper
For full photo galleries of both acts, click the links below;