Follow The Sun

South West England isn’t particularly known for it’s illustrious musical heritage, and sometimes you have to wonder that if you don’t own a tractor and a fiddle you’re not going to be taken too seriously.

Sitting quite discretely on the fringe of Taunton town centre is Rockers, and as far as live music in this neighbourhood is concerned, it’s one of the few places still to have a pulse.

You could easily be forgiven for thinking that Follow The Sun grew up in the musical havens of Manchester or London, submerged in a pool of Britpop, vintage guitar rock and that ridiculously over encompassing genre ‘indie’. In actual fact they hail from an idyllic countryside town in Northern Dorset. Hardly the most credible of musical backgrounds, but then again it was only just west of the border where a like-minded three piece thought they’d have a play around with guitars and drums and call themselves Muse.



Singer/songwriter James Thornton is the Noel Gallagher of the group, wielding a classic Epiphone 335 and on the odd occasion swapping vocals duties with front man Edward Hoddersmith. Switching the singers helps bring a rather interesting contrast to the group, and although Hoddersmith’s voice is probably the more driving of the two, Thornton deliver a slightly flatter tone, working in the bands favour and giving them a softer edge that fits in far better with their style of music.

‘Coming For Me’ is an infectious guitar based number, with a catchy little riff and a tune that will stick in your head for many hours after the gig has passed.


Perhaps the best song of the night is the ironically titled ‘Words’. Not a tribute to Boyzone, but a melodious instrumental that unifies the band better than any other song on the set list. However some of Follow The Sun’s originality is lost on ‘Is it Alright’, one of the groups more conventional songs that draws similarities to a lot of late 90’s Britpop copycat groups like Semisonic, Shed Seven, and The Seahorses.

The band have managed to become extremely tight considering it’s been so long since their last performance, but it’s hard not to think that with a little more time, and a bit more live experience this band can only go in one direction.



Thornton takes the lead when it came to the evenings penultimate number ‘See it through’, another highlight of the set where the band’s exceptional drummer was forced to work overtime to keep up with the songs constant change of pace. It would have worked great as a final song, but instead Follow The Sun decided to end proceedings with ‘Smiles and Guilt’, making for a rather awkward ending.

The band deserved more than the meagre crowd that turned up for tonight’s performance. The worse rainstorm to hit the South West in years coupled with the fact this gig was right in the middle of the festive season can’t have helped matters much either. With the New Year just round the corner it might be the time when Follow The Sun pack in following, and start leading the way. I’m sorry, that was a bloody awful pun.

Set List:

Ed’s song
Coming for me
Dreamer
Reflection
Way
We won’t be looking back
Is it alright?
Reveal
‘Radiohead Song’
Stand high
Words
See it through
Smiles and guilt

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.