REVIEW: REEF AT LUSTY GLAZE BEACH, CORNWALL (29/05/11)
If, the Apocalypse was, in fact, to take place on the night of Sunday 29th May 2011, and just hypothetically, if it was the southern-most-westerly tip of our little old island to feel the initial impact – then, to the ether-world, the distant universe – it might look as though Fraggle Rock outtakes are being shot on Lusty Glaze beach. Alas – no such luck.
To the greeny-gremlin looking down on us from space, this party might appear superficial – weak, even. A patch of sand no bigger than their spaceship; hundreds of lithe, sweaty, some drunken, bodies stick together under the torch-lights of the open-air stage. The rocky Cliffside illuminates eerily against the artificial glow. Oh hang on – there he is again. It’s Senior Fraggle. His tousled, surf-sex locks sway in motion as he seems to belt out a catchy hook-ridden ditty Come Back Brighter. It’s only been a year since the Reef boys graced these shores and left us glazey-eyed and lusting for more (see what I did there?) – but with a former break of seven years, that’s enough for any adoring fan – or intergalactic being – to wait.
Limbs extend upwards towards the sky – in a pilgrimage-to-the-stars. Jittering people mesh into a mass of energetic moshers, bemused onlookers and quite frankly, gone-with-the-fairies types. Debut single Good Feeling, Stone for your Love, and I Would’ve Left You satisfy the crowds as the full-band simply – uncomplicated – as untwisted as their denim jeans – belt out the old-time 1997 classics such as Place Your Hands, Yer Old, and the more reflective and if-it-weren’t-for-the-drizzle – romantic – Consideration.
Not ones to ignore their surroundings – the Westcountry-hinged Stringer and co’ choose songs with an apt sensitivity to their natural theatre – with the swimmingly-serene Summer’s In Bloom to the ocean-oriented Mellow. Well, that’s what I like to believe. But isn’t meaning in the ear of the beholder? With most of their key-hits having made their budding chirps towards success in the mid-90s, it is no surprise to find that many of the Cornish-dwelling rockers tonight, are a good decade older than those with their cans of Jim Beam, religiously recording every minute on their mobile devices. But then, as we walked up the steep hike of steps heading out of Lusty Glaze – and into, what could only seem our date with destiny – inscribed on each step was a name. Time passes but the memories remain.
A decent set of over fifteen songs chosen from their back catalogue of four studio-albums, and a long way since the early days of their ‘Purple Tape’ – with an impressive (if a tad try-hard) clash with Pixies’ producer, Al Clay – it might just be that they’ve earned their seminal status as much as the next band. I’m not so sure what the aliens, might think of this though. Maybe they’d scoop us up, spit us out and zoom off into a vacuous void – never to be seen again. But maybe – just maybe – they’d like what they see, stay for a while and crack open a tin as they chime in with the rest of the crowd as Gary sings – “I’ll go my own way”.
Words and photo: Melz Durston
