Monday 12/07/04 The Calling, Zed @ Academy, Manchester

The chances are you won’t have heard of Zed, four New Zealanders who in their homeland have released three albums, one of which went straight in at the top of the charts.  Their influences are listed as The Beatles, Crowded House, Supergrass, and Radiohead, and it tells in a set packed with some good rock ‘n’ roll tunes. While it may be wasted on much of the audience, songs such as ‘Come On Down’ and ‘Renegade Fighter’ show that, if there is justice in the music world (which there isn’t), then we’ll soon be hearing more from Zed.  Nathan King is a good vocalist with plenty of energy, while Andy Lynch plays some mean guitar over a tight rhythm section – this is obviously a band who put a lot of effort in, so they deserve to reap the rewards.

It would be easy to dismiss The Calling – Alex Band and Aaron Kamin – as the result of a music talent show.  Band is a model for Calvin Klein and dates gorgeous actresses such as Jennifer Sky, as well as actually having a great singing voice.  In 2002 they took over every radio station in the world with ‘Wherever You Will Go’, while debut album ‘Camino Palmero’ demonstrated a knack for pop hooks and searing choruses.  However they had limited success following the first single, and it is only now they’ve embarked on their first UK tour in support of second album ‘Two’.

Arriving on stage as a five piece, they launch into ‘Adrienne’, and it immediately becomes clear that Band can carry his vocals on stage.  The problem, which remains for the rest of the night, is that the sound mixing is terrible – Kamin’s lead guitar can barely be heard.  The set is mainly drawn from their latest release, though from the first album a poor rendition of ‘Could It Be Any Harder’ is forgiven when ‘Stigmatized’ signals the swaying of hands and waving of lighters.  The second record is nowhere near as good as the first, which means ‘Things Will Go My Way’, ‘Dreaming In Red’, and ‘Anything’ just seem to blend into one another.

Credit to The Calling for rescuing the gig toward the end though – recent single ‘Our Lives’ puts the energy back into the crowd.  And then in the encore they commit stage suicide by covering The Clash’s ‘London Calling’.  In fairness the majority of the audience probably have no idea the song is a cover, but to those who do it is one of the most painful three minutes they’ll live through.  It’s sheer relief when ‘For You’ is performed, and of course the night is ended with a great performance of ‘Wherever You Will Go’, but it’s far from a gig to savour.  As if the terrible sound mixing wasn’t enough, playing just over an hour is hardly value for money and only Band’s vocals carried The Calling through.