Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts

If you haven’t heard of Ryan Hamilton yet, I predict that is about to change. And if you are wondering what he and his band sound like – imagine if Tom Petty and Ginger Wildheart had met and spent a weekend holed up in a room together competing to come up with the most outrageous melodies and hooks … it might just have sounded like this. Or, to put it another way, ridiculously infectious tunes - once heard, never forgotten.

The last few years have been busy for Ryan since his first album, ‘Hell of a Day’, was released in 2015. A rockier power pop sound followed with another album and a digital EP collection of fan club songs both recorded with his band, The Traitors, and independently funded and promoted. If that wasn’t enough, he also somehow managed to fit in a Pledge collaboration with Tony Wright of Terrorvision.

Despite being based in Texas, and his bandmates in the UK, he has toured extensively around the UK, including supporting Ginger Wildheart and then earlier this year supported by The Main Grains (another band to watch). Their hard work and touring has paid off and things have started to happen for the band. They’ve signed to Little Steven’s Wicked Cool label in the States, they’ve been getting a lot of airplay on Kerrang radio and evolved into Ryan Hamilton & The Harlequin Ghosts. Knowing that this may be their last headlining tour here for some time while they focus on widening their audience beyond the UK, I approached tonight’s gig (in what has to be one of the most ornate music venues I’ve attended) with some anticipation.

So, how was the gig? Well, rather than wasting time, building up and keeping you in suspense, let’s just jump straight to the conclusion – FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC (polite version to avoid getting blocked). Yes, as a reviewer, there is a need to be objective, but, as a passionate fan of music, this was a great gig by anyone’s standards.

Playing a 15 song set, the band took the crowd on a journey of soaring melodies and crashing guitars, with a word perfect crowd acting as backing singers – not just the choruses, it has to be said, but, in most cases, the full songs. The set included no fewer than 6 songs from ‘Hell of a Day’ (‘Be Kind, Rewind’, ‘4 Letter Verb’, ‘Records and Needles’, ‘Medicine’, ‘Karaoke with No Crowd’ and ‘Freak Flag’) and 5 songs off of 2017’s ‘Devil’s in the Detail’ (‘Smarter’ - with it’s addictive chorus “I’m still not clean, and I’m not sober. I’m just a little bit smarter and a whole lot older” -, ‘We Never Should Have Moved to L.A.’, ‘Heavy Heart’, ‘The Gulf of Mexico’ and ‘Strength in Numbers’). Not to mention new single ‘Bottoms Up’ and the B side - a cover of Paula Abdul’s ‘Straight Up’ (it shouldn’t work, but, don’t ask me why, it does). Although ending the set on a high, the absence of an encore did leave the crowd wanting more.

In Ryan Hamilton the band have what has to be one of most likeable and charismatic frontmen on the live circuit at this time, using the crowd as a willing therapist and whose rapport with the audience helped overcome repeated tuning problems with his guitar, not assisted by a very small stage. And as for The Harlequin Ghosts - a group of sharp-dressed musicians who look and sound as if they have been playing together for years; Dave Winkler (as good a lead guitarist as I have seen for sometime), Rob Lane on bass, Carol Hodge on keyboards and backing vocals, and Mickey Richards on drums (and cymbals solo - almost).

If you’re reading this and thinking “sh*t, I’d love to have seen them”, don’t despair. Their tour continues until 19 October. Then they will be going back out on the road supporting The Alarm on a seven date UK tour of larger venues in late November and early December providing the perfect excuse for an early Christmas night out. Go on, buy a ticket, treat yourself and give yourself a present. You deserve it.

And while tonight was undoubtedly the night of Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts, much respect is due for touring with a support band of the calibre of Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. Hailing from Arizona, with a genre-defying sound sure to warm the heart of anyone who savours rock-orientated, good-time, and possibly alternative, guitar-based music (and unknown to me before tonight) they are a band who I am looking forward to becoming much more familiar with.

GMcA