Wednesday 02/04/03 Grand Drive @ Leadmill, Sheffield

As I arrived at the gig (a little late, as usual!) I could hear the opening strains of the band's set floating out of the venue, and even if I didn't already have the intention of going in, their vocal warmth and beguiling harmonies would have certainly enticed me in off the street.

The venue itself was welcoming and pleasantly atmospheric, and although the audience remained seated, clapping politely at the appropriate moments, their absolute focus on the stage betrayed their understated approval of the band. Four-piece Grand Drive from South London performed songs from the new album 'See The Morning In', from which their new single 'A Little Like You' is due for release this week (07/04/03), and the performance of their distinctive sound, fusing a sophisticated country-rock style with soulful melodies and heart-warming vocals, ranged from the downright uplifting to the wistful and melancholic.

The band asserted an unobtrusive stage presence, not attempting to build up any rapport with the audience other than through their music, and kept the introductions in the diminutive interludes between the songs really brief, which I thought was a shame. Although you don't want a band blabbing self-important, egotistical rubbish between each and every song, a little foregrounding of the records in this case would have been a good way of establishing the band and their music a little more to perhaps an unfamiliar audience.

Not that the music and the quality of the music didn't stand up well on its own; Grand Drive's characteristic harmonies were crisp and flawless, and their chugging beats and rolling melodies reduced the audience - myself included - to a relaxed, quietly appreciative reverie. Those looking for abrasive, energetic music to scourge the soul and fire the spirit would have been disappointed; Grand Drive don't want to instigate radical life changing decisions, but when writing wanted to strip down production to a minimum, and to make "a great big beautiful thing out of little pieces", as Julian Wilson (vocals/keyboard) so aptly put it.

The end result is a unassuming stage performance that impresses through it's warmth and artistic strength rather than raw, vigorous charisma, and I have to say the band deserve all the critical acclaim they have recently enjoyed; the album was voted the second best of 2002 (no mean feat) on Virgin Radio's Captain America show, and 'A Little Like You' earned a stint as Radio 2's Record of the Week.

I can only envisage Grand Drive's imminent exploits in the States as they embark on a 14 date tour will only create more fans of their beautiful, soothing and hypnotic sound, and fully expect them to return to our attentions with more stunning melodies in the very near future.