Possibly one of our most highly anticipated acts of the whole weekend for #TEAMw21 was The Deep Blue.Our Long Road research has already identified them as being special, our only concern was whether their unique sound would work in a festival environment and it most certainly did. The Deep Blue defy many conventions, forinstance there is no guarantee that whoever sings the first verse of any song will necessarily sing the second, and although an instrument may be held, it's appearance in any song may be fleeting or it might be the centrepiece! The one thing that makes you sit up and realise something special is happening is when their voices come together - even then it may not be to sing the same line!!
Things would start fairly straight forwardly with "Yellow and Gold", one of their more standard songs, driven from the back with a powerful backbeat, the combo of keyboard, bass and guitar proved to be a perfect backing for their sublime vocals which only towards the end gave a taste of the entwining and interweaving to come.
They would introduce an unrecorded song "Honey Love" as being about "growing up leaving home and becoming a woman" With a prominent guitar line and percussion providing the main base for the divine harmonies. Another new song "Chance" came with a funky little bass line punctuated by lovely little guitar flourishes from Georgia
"If there was a chance you know I'd grab it with both hands" referring to being in a band.
Midway through it would segue into Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere, a song purpose built to show off team harmonies
It was a short interlude and a double drum beat from Sophie, brought us back to the funk of the original song.
Niamh would introduce The Deep Blue's latest single "Cynical" and this was where their skill at giving their material room to breathe without fear of clutter in the sound really came to the fore.
An almost dreamy verse vocal would be matched with the most minimal of backing, The chorus would see the other vocals wrap themselves around Niamh's lead to produce something truly special.
The a capella "Something Good" from the bands "Sugarcoat" EP, would provide 90 seconds of sheer beauty before the slow drum beats, punctuated by guitar lines took us into "Lost Boy". Katie carefully picked out piano chords that would prove as key to the song as the group vocals which diverged in a number of directions challenging the viewer to pick someone to follow.
"Cotton White Linen" had it's Lockdown origins explained, Katie on keyboards would also have a side line in artistic interpretation, with free flowing hand gestures, Georgia on vocals also provided excellent electric guitar work, supplemented by Sophie on acoustic guitar instead of her usual percussion duties.
Another unrecorded song "Orange Is The Only Colour" was initially just guitar and triple vocals. It would be halfway through before Katie's keyboards would enter the fray, Georgia's playing was more fragments of guitar work yet proved highly effective, on this tale of parents whose grown up child had gone missing.
It was to be an afternoon of finding out just how much material The Deep Blue have up their sleeves, "You Made Your Bed, Go And Lie On It" was more of a fusion of full band dynamics with powerful vocals.
Barely a second passed and they had immediately lunched into another full band offering "Take A Good Long Hard Look At Yourself" which found room for both a Niamh bass solo and one form Georgia on guitar. It ended with the band in a praying stance with hands clasped together
The drums and atmospheric keys led into the eventual crowd singalong that would be "He Said / She Said", a slick little piece of pop embellished with divine snappy group vocals.
It was back to the debut EP to close out with "How About It?" which came with the pertinent point about female safety at night. At first an amalgamation of everything that makes them so good, full instrumentation and each member taking a different vocal part and then all coming together.
The sound would gradually build showing that The Deep Blue could rock out if required with Georgia channelling her inner Lindsay Buckingham for a farewell solo and Sophie duly pummeling her drum kit. A highly entertaining set certainly unlike anything else across the weekend, The Deep Blue were both fascinating onstage and charming company off it - we at #TEAMw21 look forward to seeing the results of their third EP.