Live Review: The Teskey Brothers – 26th April 2023 – Eventim Apollo, London, UK
2 min read
The Teskey Brothers made their triumphant return last night to London’s Eventim Apollo, performing their first UK show since before the events of 2020. The multi-award winning rock band have made a name for themselves in the last few years for their energetic and soulful performances, and last night’s sold out show was testament to that. Fans gathered in their masses outside, being fed in slowly but surely from the moment the doors opened, till the moment the band began.
When they did begin, the crowd erupted into cheers. Copper frills backing the stage lit up, and from the sweet intro playing, the band emerged. Tight musicianship was immediately obvious, and was matched by the simple but pretty lights.
They begun with Remember the Time off their new album The Winding Way, following it with Carry You, riding on the soft slide guitar, twinkly piano, and Josh’s gruff vocals. “There’s lots of songs about love”, according to the singer, as they launched into another new song, Take My Heart. “I’m sending this one out to all the older parents out there. Particularly all the mums”. Later into the song, Josh was on his knees, the band playing as softly as possible. He sung to the people in the front row “you can get so low” before getting a larger singalong of “it wasn’t enough”. It was a powerful moment, made even better by the band’s volume control.
Fan favourites Oceans of Emotions and So Caught Up were followed along word for word by the audience, and even their cover of This Will Be Our Year by The Zombies got a singalong, one that could lead casual listeners into thinking that it was another original. The band jumped into an instrumental section, Josh highlighting the player on the Hammond organ before once again singing. It ended with a groove change, and a rocking solo, showing off Sam Teskey’s talent for a great middle eight. By the end of What Will Be, Josh was joining his brother by the amps, playing off each other melodically. On his harmonica, Josh blasted out high country-esc tones while his brother cranked up the power on the guitar. It was a jailhouse rock ending to a bluesy night, filled with heartfelt soul tunes.
Setlist:
Remember the Time
Carry You
Crying Shame
Oceans of Emotions
Take My Heart
I Get Up
Rain
This Will Be Our Year (The Zombies cover)
So Caught Up
I’m Leaving
Paint My Heart
What Will Be
Encore:
Pain and Misery
Hold Me
Writer and Musician, Ryan Bulbeck has been published with a number of online publications, and has worked with a myriad of great artists, both as a performer, and as a producer. His most recent band The 295 are still active, playing shows around the UK.
