Republica @ The Garage, 14/03/13

Republica at The Garage, 14/03/13

Supporting bands: Kovak Tenek

Tonight there seemed to be a great sense of excitement in the air at the Garage live-music venue as it was the start of Republica’s 2013 tour. Republica, a band who most people will know for the punky/rocky anthems 'Ready to Go' and 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' which blared out of speakers from England to America and also featured on soundtracks for films such as Wes Craven’s Scream.

Opening for Republica was Kovak, a funky, indie-disco sounding band who’s lead singer Annelies Van De Velde bedazzled and mesmerised the crowd with her seductive vocals on track such 'Killer Boots', 'Radiate' and 'Living the Dream'.

This was then followed by Tenek, a two-piece band made up of  multi-talented/skilled Geoff Pinckney & Peter Steer. Together they played edgy and intense tracks such as 'Welcome to the Dancefloor' and 'A New Foundation' to an already familiar crowd who danced and sang along. Tenek’s tracks incorporate powerful synthesiser pop beats fused together nicely with strong and haunting guitar melodies.

Once Republica entered the stage, the venue cheered, welcoming the band while bracing themselves for an energetic set. Just as the band were about to kick off with 'Bloke', a power failure in their equipment occurred prompting Saffron to laugh and reply to the crowd “Trust us to blow the place up!” The audience cheered and shouts of “Saffron I love you” and “I named my daughter after you” filled the room. This technical glitch delayed nothing as the band then got into full-swing with 'Bloke' followed by 'Rush Hour'.

Band members Tim Dorney (keyboards), Johnny Glue (guitar) and the band’s new drummer Conor Lawrence were all on top form as they belted through tracks 'Out of the Darkness' and 'Get Off' while Saffron sang, danced and interacted with the crowd. Her charismatic persona was intact the throughout the gig as was her punky vocals and matching punky outfit complete with her trademark red-as-a-London-bus highlights.
New songs 'Hallelujah' and 'Christina Obey' showed that Republica are back and still deliver in full force. While the awesome ’Ready to Go’ was saved for the finale, this kept the crowed jumping and the band then finished with ‘Pub Pusher’, a personal favourite of mine (due to its Queensway reference) which Saffron then played guitar to as the band blew the crowd away.

With Johnny Glue

With Saffron

With Tim Dorney

Republica

Tenek

Kovak