Reverend & The Makers - Live at Bristol Academy, 10th February 2023

As chilling as it may be, Jon McClure (The Reverend) and his comrades (the Makers) are perilously close to becoming veterans of the music industry. At least, by recognisable criteria.

The forthcoming Heatwave In The Cold North is Reverend And The Makers’ seventh studio album in sixteen years, which itself follows a 2019 Best Of. Sobering facts, to be sure.

However, experience has its demonstrable benefits in their live show; after a brace of support acts in the form of Supergrass drummer Danny Goffey (punchy pub-punk rock) and Ramona Flowers (80’s electro-pop), McClure and company utilise the best tricks of the trade from the off across a packed set, as the slow keyboard notes from the title-track of 2007 debut The State Of Things build the atmosphere succinctly before the Streets-meets-ska bop of the song truly kicks in.

Shortly afterwards McClure shrewdly gauges the capacity for crowd interaction by dividing them for some ‘nah-nah-nahs’ on the appropriately sun-kissed ‘18-30’ – not that much prompting is required because a) it’s Friday night and b) the love Reverend And The Makers get from their audience is unconditional.

Even so, no chances are taken, with the backbone of the set made up of tracks from the debut garnished with choice career cuts and a sprinkling of new material: the title-track is Marvin Gaye-inspired soul while ‘High’ (a self-professed B-side, the subject of which is unambiguous) is knowingly slovenly.

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2023/02/review-reverend-and-the-makers-bristol/