live review: i dream i colour. madame jo jo’s, soho. 4 april 2011.

we all want to discover ‘that band’; the band who sell a million records, release hit singles, make the news at 10 and who shape a generation. ok, wishful thinking, it’s 2011, not 1993 so maybe we’re simply looking for the band who provide an alternative to the chart filling x factor tosh today’s youth believe to be talent. or the band who can re-use a retro sound while treading new water, top the download chart or fill a muddy glastonbury field.

many bands can tick said modern musical triumphs but lack the longevity to keep us coming back for more. but there’s one band constantly catching my ear who may have such consistency. i dream in colour are a four piece from essex, soon to be relocating to london where things may just take off for them. i saw them recently at madame jo jo’s in soho and their songs are still ringing in my head, surely a good sign – try it for yourself, check out ‘ready to go’. having first witnessed these skinny-jeaned essex boys last summer in 93 feet east, i’ve regularly checked their progress, keen to hear the promise of their self-believing new and improved songs, songs that can shape the band’s fresh confidence acquired from sell out gigs at the barfly and praise earned from rolling stones producer chris kimsey.

since i last saw idic, small but significant changes are notable in their live set. the new songs sound bigger and better once in full flow compared to the softer strums of before, they own the stage with a more dominating presence as a band, while singer richard judge could give sir mick a run for his money as he sexually swings and gyrates with his guitar, as if pleasing 1000 screaming girls – it’s quite a sight! the heavier songs flirt with led zeppelin while hints of mod tip-toe their way through songs like ‘fourteen’ – surely paul weller wrote this?! on paper, none of this may be ground breaking but idic have something that certainly sets them apart… in singer richard judge they have a charming front-man with the vocal range to rival anyone out there – no, seriously.

i couldn’t help but be blown away by the vocal delivery during the delicate intro to ‘if you’ and even more so once in full swing. set closer ‘finding the courage’ is classic indie pop, perfect for judge’s mirage of 1000 screaming girls. even with a relatively sparse crowd, idic stole the show drawing a bigger and warmer applause than headliners trophy wife, showing they’re now ready to make the step up and be ‘that band’.

i dream in colour played:
wide awake
ready to go
if you
lessons
hold on to your heart
fourteen
finding the courage

i dream in colour’s new ep ‘these folded arms’ is out end of may.

words by jamie day (twitter, blog)

after much hype, a few weeks ago i caught the band i dream in colour live in east london. i was impressed with richard judge’s born for the stage vocals guiding us through the imaginatively progressive songs, often beginning with the most timid of introductions catapulting to a mature and ear pleasing musical culmination.

i dream in colour have teamed up with sockformation to offer a free download of recently recorded single ‘if you’ produced by phil tyremen (doves, belle & sebastian) that you can download here:

i dream in colour. if you (mp3)

before the band hit the studio early next year to record their debut album they have taken to the road, relentlessly gigging to sell out venues and attracting a wave of new fans. stand out forthcoming gigs include november 11th hoxton underbelly and november 26th camden barfly. get along, and by that time you’ll have no excuse to not know all the words!

words by jamie day (twitter, blog)

live review: i dream in colour. 93 feet east, london. 28 july 2010

in the midst of the great british festival season it’s easy to forget that we, the new-music-chasing public should be out there on these fine summer’s evenings discovering bands trying to climb the musical ladder. with festivals showcasing what feels like seven million bands every weekend, we’d be forgiven during these warmer months for failing to get out to the dark and dingy gigs that turn these bands from underdogs to summer festival regulars. wanting to move away from the “festivals have everyone i want to see” mindset, last night i headed to london’s brick lane to see i dream in colour, a young london outfit playing songs from their recently released ep ‘the boiler room’ (available on itunes, produced by iain gore – mystery jets, glasvegas, libertines). i’d heard a lot about them through a guitar tech mate of mine (tech is short for technician but i’m not sure what guitar is short for*). this techie geek has worked with some big names like maximo park, the maccabees and morcheeba (he prefers bands beginning with ‘m’), so when a few months ago he described richard judge (idic’s frontman/guitarist) as the best songwriter he’d ever come across, i was intrigued and keen to catch them live.

i dream in colour are a classic indie band, a lazy summation i know, but they are and it’s not a bad thing, with all the usual suspects as influences – the beatles et al. they began with ‘ready to go’, a strong opener with a moody intro and memorable riff. second up was the one song that i and most of the crowd already knew, ‘get along’. it had all the elements of a well crafted indie pop song, evidencing the songwriting prowess i’d heard all about. a couple of tracks came and went in the middle, perhaps not quite up to the high standards on show earlier in the gig, but things picked up again towards the end of the set. ‘fourteen’ is a great song, well structured, well layered, good chorus and propelled to another level by richard’s mature and key changing vocals – think matt bellamy minus the opera rubbish. such strong vocals highlight that this is his band and these are his songs. the last song ‘finding the courage’ was my favourite. when it got going i was hoping the outro would last for ages, the kind of song that could have had a six minute ego stroking ending (the fact that it didn’t again shows there’s thought behind the writing), but with an abrupt finish their set was over and it was time to head into the night…

all in all it was good to get back to the midweek grass roots of music with a band i knew little about. during the set i felt slightly disappointed with the rest of the band – happy to just provide the backdrop for richard to shine, but on reflection that’s all they needed to do. shine richard does. extremely impressive vocals, catchy songs and the ability to veer nicely between languid and energetic. for i dream in colour to progress and climb that musical ladder where the big shot guitar techs jump onboard, they know what they need; a name change to something beginning with ‘m’… so while they consider new band names, i’ll try and work out what ‘guitar’ is short for.

(*copyright of mat horne & alex oakley. jokers.)

words by jamie day (twitter, blog)