CROWN LANDS
Headcount: yep, there’s definitely only two of them.
KEVIN NIXON
Haunt The Woods: a tree-mendous first trip to the UK
Kevin Comeau: strum solo.
Cody Bowles: on the fringes of greatness.
Kevin Comeau has his hands full as Cody
Bowles steps out from behind the kit.
Frankly, this is just showing off.
We approve.
VENUE OMEARA, LONDON
DATE 16/05/2022
SUPPORT HAUNT THE WOODS
Cornish prog rockers Haunt The Woods have just signed to Crown Lands’ UK label Spinefarm, hence their support for the Canadian duo on their first ever trip to the UK. At first the quartet seem a bit lost, even on the cramped stage, faced with an ever-swelling crowd, but once the music starts to flow, it’s not difficult to see why Spinefarm have declared their interest. At its heart, their sound is prog, but it equally draws from folk and there’s more than a whiff of psych in there too. You can throw Jeff Buckley’s otherworldly sound in too, the minute Jonathan Stafford begins to sing. Not a copyist, but the influence is there for all to hear, and it colours the band’s music with a more contemporary air, although Stafford’s eloquent timbre does not stretch to between song banter, which is mumbled and largely inaudible. Guitarist Phoenix Elleschild shines throughout, his tasteful yet incisive lead breaks drawing admiring looks and appreciative applause from the audience.