WHEN RIVERS MEET / ARIELLE, The Wharf, Tavistock, 14 May 2023

Opening with ‘’73’, the title track of her most recent album, Nashville-based singer/guitarist Arielle led her three-piece band through a lively and varied set which certainly captured the Tavistock crowd’s imagination – 

especially when she tore up the rulebook and stalked the stage with a fabulous and frenetic instrumental.

The Wharf was pretty much sold out, and the enthusiastic reception which greeted When Rivers Meet, the Essex based quartet formed and fronted by Grace and Aaron Bond, was repaid with a stunning 21 song set of the band’s beguiling hard rockin’ blues. With a new album ‘Aces Are High’ due in the summer (trailered by a couple of new songs, ‘Play My Game’ and the excellent ‘Perfect Stranger’), their Breaker Of Chains tour is the perfect showcase of what makes this band so exciting. A playful atmosphere between the musicians gave the performance a feeling of intimacy, and by peppering the set with stormers like ‘Did I Break The Law’ and final encore ‘Testify’ while also taking the foot off the gas for their more plaintive material (‘Bury My Body’, for example) the band kept things diverse and interesting. And it was a nice touch to have Arielle back on stage to add some additional guitar to set closer ‘Lost And Found’.

© John Tucker May 2023