The Ruby Tears with support from Villanelle and The Northern Wonder, plus The Midnight Foxes at Liverpool’s Outpost 02/06/22

Review by Dave Clare.

It’s a humid Thursday evening and I’m off to see The Ruby Tears at Outpost on Renshaw Street, this is a great little venue if anyone hasn’t been yet, it is a decent sized room at the back of a nice bar, friendly atmosphere and the sound is always good in there. 

First, up to the stage, tonight are The Midnight Foxes, a five-piece indie band from Cheshire. They have a really raucous start here with their first song ‘Running in the Rain’, chiming guitars and nice harmonies, they almost have a bit of a stadium sound, they remind me a bit of The Cult with this song. Their new single ‘Smoke from the Embers‘ sounds more indie and jangly, and this one gives me a Buzzcocks vibe. The Midnight Foxes close their set with ‘Fireflies’ and for me, this is their most impressive song tonight, again the band are steady and look well rehearsed. This tune has a huge heavy ending, singer Spike leaves the rest of the band to it for the last minute or so and the guys really show what they’re made of. It’s a great performance from a band that I hope to see more of. I have just enough time to say hello to a friend from work at the bar before our next band is onstage.

(The Midnight Foxes_Credit: Adrian Wharton)

Villanelle and The Northern Wonder have come over from Manchester to be here tonight and they have brought a few people along with them too. This is another five-piece, two girls, and three boys make up this group and we have a keyboard, with two guitars, bass, drums and vocals here. The first thing I notice about Villanelle & TNW is their attire, they are dressed very sharply and look very impressive. Their music is impressive too, first song ‘December Bloom’ is giving off a bit of an Iggy Pop sound but as the band work through their set, the songs get really rocky and a bit darker. ‘Gold Standard’ stands out and I’m impressed by the dynamics of their music, I’m hearing a bit of an Arctic Monkey’s sound now mixed in with Nick Cave. ‘Unravel‘ is really dark and I like this band, they’re a little bit different from what’s about at the moment and I’ll be following their music, it’d be interesting to see what this band does next, especially in the studio. They end their set to great applause.

(Villanelle and The Northern Wonder_Credit: Nathan Cole)

Next up is our headline, The Ruby Tears, I grab myself a drink and get ready for the four-piece’s set. 

Before the show tonight I asked singer John if there is anything that I should mention in the review, he told me to mention something about their hair, so I will, the band do indeed have fine hair, not in the Kajagoogoo or Bon Jovi style, but they do look well groomed and dapper as the take to the stage. This band has a nice back story, having come about due to the lockdowns, it was originally a songwriting process online between Liverpool based guitarist Jeff and singer/guitarist John who lives in Manchester, eventually, Jim (bass) and Mark (drums) joined up with them and now we have a real live band who also have some great songs available to listen to on digital platforms.

We get a thumping bassline for our first tune, ‘Hanging With The Girls‘ we get some lovely guitar breaks from Jeff and Robbo is steady on the drums here, this is a great pop tune, I hear a hint of The Stranglers and John sounds a bit like Ian McCulloch at times. ‘Satellite’ has a bit of a “Marr-Esque” riff and “Small Town Valentine” also has a “Smithsy” vibe, amazing drumming here from Mark again.

(The Ruby Tears_Credit: Nathan Cole)

‘Makeup Smile’ has nice a shuffly beat and we get some lovely backing vocals from Jim, the band showing their versatility and this one sounds a bit “Stones Roses” maybe, but ultimately, The Ruby Tears have their own great “Poppy” guitar sound, these are really good well written, well structured tunes and I think this band would sound great on the radio on a summer’s day. John tells us that ‘Piccadilly Sunrise’ is about a walk through Manchester city centre in the early hours, and it does sound a bit jangly and a bit Mancunian, our singer plays some nice 12 string guitar on this one.

Next up is ‘Change Your Mind‘, John says that this is their “hit” as it’s had 12,000 streams so far. This song has a great melody and a big chorus. ‘Perfect Stranger’ closes the set tonight, and John throws some amazing shapes, showing us that he is a great frontman, and he works the crowd well here, jumping off the stage at one point. Jeff looks super cool playing his sky blue Eko guitar and the lads finish with their rockiest song. The crowd want more, but it’s a hot humid night, so we’ll have to wait for another gig to see more of these fellas.

The Ruby Tears are very active on the scene, and if you haven’t seen them yet, then I’d recommend anyone to get along to one of their shows, and check their socials for upcoming gigs, including a London show at Dublin Castle later this month. 

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