The Magic Numbers/ Franc/ Goldenhorse
@ Water Rats – March 16th 2004
by Kate Etteridge

On an unusually warm March evening, this Logo magazine-sponsored night promised to deliver some music of an innately summery variety. First band of the night, Goldenhorse, took that instruction and kicked off the evening with inarguable style and panache, not least for the singer looking like a cross between Carrie Von Bondies and a young Olivia Newton John. By the second song they had established an upbeat rhythm, skipping along, resonating of the carefree style of early Cardigans, spinning, swirling sounds that shook your hips along. 'Maybe Tomorrow', "an oldie but a goodie", illustrated perfect 3 way harmonies which put that taste of summer air in your mouth. Goldenhorse’s strength lay with the charismatic vocalist, layering the sprightly guitar melodies and firmly definite drums with a note-perfect voice that spun situations of waking up and sleeping with your lover, taking the audience to that moment in their own lives and keeping them there, remembering every touch and tremble. Ranging from colourful funk meltdowns to big pop songs mixing with Debbie Harry, songs about dancing, summer, being free, and then straight into rootsy cowgirl blues – ‘my love, he left town, with a gun in his hand’ where seasons pass, days stay the same, reminiscent of tragic film scores where the guitar ends up playing off into the sunset and we feel for the song and the singer and her pain. Last song of the set picked up the tempo again with a dirty funk intro, stopping and starting all over the place, jamming it up and down to an extended outro that kept the crashing rhythm moving until the closing chords.

Second band of the night, Franc, have been written about as a successful and happy mix of Dylan, Van Morrison with a sun-kissed West Coast sound. Not intending to put a complete dampener on things, but my first impression was a band sounding like the Charlatans but with a harmonica. Obviously this is not necessarily a bad thing, but unlike Goldenhorse, this set was certainly less inspired. Using textures of country ballads and summer road trips, ‘California dreamin’, was something to believe in’ their formulaic acoustic-rock leaned toward the genre of ‘drive time’ music – i.e. that which accompanies your journey on a summers day, driving along with little care and plenty of abandon. Fourth song in 'Baby you’re a Rich Girl Now' pushed along the same vein as The Thrills in that polished radio friendly hit of summer way, and next song in 'Different Sides' balanced it out, turning to when the night draws in, using the sole acoustic guitar to start and close the song, darkly opining to his lover ‘you and I are from different sides, I want to banish you, you’re not the bleeding kind’. Unfortunately, the majority of the set was composed of borrowed riffs and guitar sounds, taking the attention away from the good songs that they do have – at times slipping into confrontational territory, creating unexpected edginess to the set, but always returning to the same harmless rhythm, 'For No-one' finishing the set.

Headliners of the night The Magic Numbers bashfully graced the stage, mumbling small hellos before jumping straight into the first song 'The Mule', resplendent with 2 part harmonies and most strikingly, an excellent sense of timing and balance, allowing the song to breathe and enjoy its own space, and then breaking into its chorus, ‘one more drink and I’ll be fine, one more girl to take you off my mind’. Even by the second part of the song the room had pretty much packed out, illustrating again what a live showcase band should be - INSPIRED. 'Long Legs' burst in with a country Kings of Leon drum intro, complimented by shiny little guitar licks and classic rock n roll solos and riffs. The overwhelming strength of The Magic Numbers, evident soon into the set, has to be their almost telepathic knack of knowing where each other were going, keeping a tight reign on the songs, performing humbling 3 way harmonies and just creating an awesome, wonderful sound, which was undoubtedly helped by their closeness (three out of the four are related). The difference between this band and their predecessors tonight is the sheer power of their songs – you close your eyes for a moment and you’re really feeling this band, hearing every string picked, every slide on the guitar. 'This Love' entered the room with a heavy heart, dedicated to ‘someone no longer here’, the lead singer losing himself in the song before it builds up to something so beautiful, crying ‘this life, this heart, this is waking up’, closing to an amazing response from the crowd. The Magic Numbers, the name itself sounding like a childhood book or programme, even made use of unusual childlike instruments such as the dual xylophones in 'Him for Her', adding an extra dollop of innocence in tandem with plaintive and cracking vocals. Swinging from naïve and youthful tales told in multiple harmonies (echoing the light and dark of the Beach Boys), and bright guitar work, to more edgy and spiky rapture, pulling hard at our heartstrings, taking us to a place of summer trysts and romantic warm mornings. Final encore songs 'Wheels on Fire' and 'Try', were perfectly gorgeous, with the inevitable climax from just voice and guitar to involve the entire force of the band, hammering the guitar to build up the sound, using the instruments to complete capacity, creating space, immaculate timing, massive sound, effects and vocals to a rousing finale asking of the appreciative audience before leaving us all utterly drained in emotion ‘why don’t you say goodbye’. And reluctantly, with ears ringing, we did.