Monday 20/10/03 The Bellrays @ Academy 2, Liverpool

Lord Almighty, who is this afro-bedecked black mamba with her rip-roaring fire an’ brimstone screaming, James Brown preaching and Rocksteady Aretha soul power? Her name, people, is Lisa Kekaula, and she’s gonna eat you alive. Describing themselves as a band with ‘Maximum Rock & Soul’, The Bellrays may be on the other side of thirty for bands in the preferred spotlight these days, but that doesn't stop them truly astonishing. In what turns out to be an utterly overwhelming, non-stop punk-soul blitzkrieg, commendations couldn’t come higher for genuinely giving-a-damn about putting on a stunning performance.

Thundering into a gut-busting ‘Slow Down’, the leading lady commands gazes by raising her hand aloft, and rippling her body across the stage. The incessant driving energy behind her lays down some serious soul percussion, whilst guitarist Tony Fate seems to have grown up in the school of Townshend when it comes to magnanimous riffage. Never breaking for air, ‘Shot Down’ leaves you in flames, ‘Stupid Man’ leaves you stupid and ‘Fire On The Moon’ wills you to set the venue ablaze. From a beautifully ear-splitting concoction of Stooges, Who, Sabbath, and Motown, and fronted by a woman who brings visceral aural-sorcery, we are invited to **** any preconceptions about age, and appreciate a band with maturity and experience that rocks five times as hard as any young contemporaries. She comments during a gospel-soaked ‘bring it down low’ moment: “we don’t make it easy, but real”. If you conjure up a female version of righteous Jules of Pulp Fiction, you’ll understand. ‘The Red, White & Black’ – is out on October 27th 2003 - through Poptones/Telstar Records.

Photos by Dave Kent