The Joy Formidable Live Review + Photos | Irving Plaza, NY | Thursday April 14, 2016

by • April 23, 2016

The Joy Formidable Live Review

First and foremost, any band whose founding members have the names Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan and Rhydian Dafydd Davies, has to be good.  Add a drummer named Matthew James Thomas and the only real criticism anyone could offer is that their drummer’s name has no letter Ys — much to his European spelling detriment.

That aside, I had the opportunity to see The Joy Formidable perform at the venerable and historic Irving Plaza in New York City.

The Joy Formidable, since forming in North Wales in 2007, has been delighting spectators from the onset — they are very good at what they do.

The Joy Formidable live at Irving Plaza, NYC

The Joy Formidable live at Irving Plaza, NYC

The Joy Formidable is fronted by a woman.  Aside from the fact that she makes a Stratocaster look like a large guitar, Ritzy Bryan is loud, brash, confident, energetic, foul-mouthed, and absolutely fun.  As long as you aren’t offended by her use of the word, “cunt” then I would suggest that she is a role model for any young woman who wants to start a band.  Bryan wields a big roar of a sound while standing behind an effects pedal set-up that would intimidate the Wizard of Oz.

The Joy Formidable Live Review

Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan

The Joy Formidable Live Review | Rhydian Dafydd Davies

Rhydian Dafydd Davies

Davies provides a solid deep thump of the bass while also playing the synth and providing backing vocals.  He plays the bass, actually, I should offer, he strums the bass in such a way that the low end is a fully voiced chord as opposed to a singular bass line.

Thomas provides the Battery with a sharp snare, a constant whirling dervish of hair, and perfectly placed fills (as well as a good snarky comment from time to time).

The Joy Formidable Live Review

The Joy Formidable’s latest release is, Hitch.  This collection builds upon the sound and confidence of Wolf’s Law, the band’s previous release.  Where Wolf’s Law opened with a punch right to the gut, Hitch has a more refined feel.  Not that such a feel is a bad thing (please don’t get me wrong, I really like the album).  The band just seems a bit more pacific, and places more emphasis on the lyrics, such that any bigger a sound would make it harder to hear what they are trying to tell us.

The Joy Formidable Live Review

Now – here is the issue.  (Not really an issue, but a personal taste / opinion thing.)  The band has a big sound; almost U2ishly big.  (I will readily admit that I think U2 are overblown, pompous, arrogant, and wholly self-involved – and I love almost everything the band has produced.  U2 is in my top group of bands who have provided me near-religious experiences.) And like U2 there are a great number of sounds, instruments, and vocals which are heard but remain unseen.  Would I be happier if there was a synth player standing behind a stack of digital keys?  I might, if only so I didn’t feel like the band was just playing along to a pre-digitized number of tracks.

But – here is where The Joy Formidable prove my snobbish elitist art-school / art-shit-head opinions to be just the whining of a man who spent more time daydreaming about being a guitar-hero than practicing his scales.  Toward the end of the set, the band (sans drummer) walked into the middle of the venue, and with just two acoustic guitars, sang The Brook – without a light show, without a PA, with nothing but their voices and acoustic guitars.  And it was captivating.  Could I hope that the band did a little more of such?  I suppose, but that one song was something to be cherished.

Talent shows itself in many forms.  Sometimes it is a wall of digital sound, delightful in its full-bodied tone and heart-stopping rumble, sometimes it’s the sublime rendition of a song that needed nothing more than a wholly enchanted audience.

And, this show, like what I hope to find in all live performances, was a fantastic spectacle of sight and sound.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take notice and point out that the lettering on Hitch is by Ralph Steadman.  He is best known for his illustrations of the books by Hunter S. Thompson. — This has nothing to do with the music, but it is really cool.

ANYWAY. . .

If you don’t take the time to see The Joy Formidable on this tour – you will miss something you don’t really want to miss.

The Joy Formidable Live Review 2016 & Photos at Irving Plaza, NY by Douglass Dresher.

[Not a valid template]

▼ SHOWS TO GO TO ▼

 

Thanks to our Sponsors, Kingfish Records in Clearwater, FL!

Kingfish Records Ad

Check out our South Florida SIGT Website! 

Shows I Go To South Florida Giveaway, Reviews, Photos, and more

Please support our friends who support us! Tell them Shows I Go To sends love! 🙂

Recommended Posts