Prezence at the Fox and Duck

Prezence describe themselves as a 5 piece classic rock covers band and that is easily a good enough reason to go and see them when they play at local pub on an otherwise free evening.

The line-up is classic too with drums, bass, lead guitar, keyboards and vocals.

Between them they had just a little too much equipment to fit comfortably in to the Fox and Duck's cosy alcove, so the keyboards were thrust forward in to the main part of the bar.

The band clearly know what they are doing and they love their music. And that's a powerful combination.

What then determines the the quality of the evening is the quality of the set-list, and that's a personal choice.

For me, there was plenty of good stuff especially the seventies bluesy numbers like Stairway to Heaven, Wishing Well and Child in Time (boom. boom. boom).

And it was good to hear some seriously underplayed classics like Deep Purple's Burn.

My highlight was the end of the first session when they played Stargazer and Highway Star.

Of course I sang along with them.

Prezence try to be faithful to the originals rather than reinterpreting them so you get to expect the original and it was slightly disappointing when you did not get "Does anybody remember laughter?" or the vocal fade out on Stargazer with the "I see a Rainbow Rising" line which, after all, gave the album it's name.

But that is just me being picky and it did nothing to lessen my enjoyment of the evening. Nor did the slide at the end towards the lesser rock of the American 80's with songs like Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. I have zero Bon Jovi albums.

A few weak songs and a few missing lines hardly mattered in two hours wallowing in the music of my youth and re-experiencing the classic albums that I've bought several times over the years.

Prezence know what their fans want and they deliver it in style.