A strange coincidence that this was the second four-piece Brighton band I saw in Edinburgh, two nights in a row but not strange that this was a show to love. Genn took to the stage full of swagger under the booming Diamonds Are Forever for an intro and proved themselves to be musical gems over the next sixty minutes.
Their sound can be quite heavy and at times during the first few songs almost gothic, with some fantastic guitar-work reminding me of a Bunnymen tune or two (that’s not a good thing – it’s a GREAT thing in my book). A Reprise has a very catchy (and again, heavy) hook that when they belted this out, I could feel it rattle through me - I was standing pretty close to the stage mind, but still felt every note as they played. The power and energy they had onstage was relentless, with singer Leona bouncing around non-stop and into the crowd a couple of times with bassist Leanne as well, while guitarist Janelle looked the coolest of guitar players with every note and drummer Sofia was a relentless blur of arms, sticks and beats.
What countered their pacey energy-packed songs was the in-between chat where their gratitude for the crowd, being able to make, play and tour their music was so positive and warming, the love for this band just got stronger as the set went on. Apparently, this was their fourth, or fifth (or even sixth?) time playing in Edinburgh (which they love coming to) and I’m embarrassed to say I’d no idea of this and they’ve gone by me in the past. It was also mentioned they self-funded and made their recent album Unum themselves, for which I’m sure there are a lot of fans who are glad they did (me being one) and I urge you to get onto Bandcamp or instore to get yourself a copy and keep supporting these talented musicians so they can keep following their path and make more great music!
At the time when they played Wild West, I thought that was the highlight of the night for me – again some superb reverb guitar-playing - but their encore Duda Dance (which we were told was used in a video montage of Buckingham Palace) was a rock n roll finale to savour. A fantastic crowd-pleaser of a tune and a perfect way to end a great set of powerfully played songs.
Dark and heavy at times, almost haunting at others and bouncing full of rock energy in-between, but all through this set Genn were excellent and are well worth checking out for more live shows soon! Looking forward to their (fifth, sixth or seventh?) visit to Edinburgh already!
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