Brilleaux Newspaper Review

The following report taken from the KOKOMO website was also printed in the Tauranga Newspaper The Weekend Sun.

(Brilleaux were on after Grant and Derek from Kokomo, and were simply superb. OK, so it was a Saturday night, and I’m sure the red wine had been flowing with the generosity that you would expect at a festival, but seeing them pumping it out in a hot sweaty bar full of enraptured punters I formed the firm opinion that they are pretty much the best rhythm and blues band in New Zealand today.

They are now - as was only one other band I saw in Whangarei - the complete package; they could play on any stage, anywhere in the world, and get the same reaction. As far as I see it, they have several essential factors - which every top band need - going for them.

Firstly, in Graham Clark they have a great frontman. I’ve watched Graham perform for a couple of decades now and – without wanting to sound condescending - he has become really good at it. He is both relaxed and energized while on stage, can talk to a crowd at the level required, has slick moves, and projects absolute commitment.

Second up, they have a great rock guitar player. Bruce Rolands, with a suit, bald head and grinding guitar, is the Keith Richards of the band: driving rhythms, crunching R&B lead and… that X-factor, the fact that he just looks right, absolutely embodying what a cool rock ‘n’ roll guitar player should be on stage.

Then there’s the rhythm section, with Beano and Brian Frank playing together as one unit. It takes years to do this properly and they’ve put in the hard yards. Brian having a weird DIY bass doesn’t hurt either. A bit of quirky character is always good.

Next there are the songs: the band are amassing a slew of solid originals (remember Graham wrote most of "Wonder Why I Can't Get No Sleep" from our Songs Of Love And Not album), and from the crowd reaction in Whangarei they’re songs an audience can relate to. It helps that being blues-based they have familiar rhythms, but when you’re slotting your own tunes in amongst classic R&B they better be strong enough to hold up.

And lastly (though I’m skipping a few things) Brilleaux have a gimmick. They have Graham’s theremin, that strange electronic instrument beloved of sci-fi movies and Brian Wilson. People are understandably gobsmacked by it and it provides that most essential thing for a band - it is memorable. Often bands forget this. You can be really really good without being memorable. Brilleaux manage to be both.