Live Review: Promise Of Redemption, Rob Lynch, Jimmy Holland, Trevor Leonard - Purple Turtle, London (24/09/11)

There’s a sense of anticipation building at the Purple Turtle tonight. Shane Henderson is making his UK debut under the moniker of Promise of Redemption, after finishing a two week nationwide tour with Valencia supporting The Wonder Years.

First to take the stage was another Valencia band member; Trevor Leonard (Triangle Shirt Factory) and what initially seemed like an empty venue suddenly came to life with a sense of intrigue of what he had to offer, playing songs mostly from his “The Leak” EP. Leonard's sincerity in his music becomes quickly apparent and his brand of alternative folk certainly has its desired effect on his attentive audience.

Next up was Leeds local Jimmy Holland, unfortunately his voice was suffering a bit tonight, but thankfully it wasn’t detrimental to his overall performance with “To Hell With It” providing a big highlight to his set. Jimmy has an infectious enthusiasm for what he does and even the most cynical minded listener would have come away feeling a bit happier from what they’d just seen.

With the turnaround of the show speeding by, in next to no time Rob Lynch took to the stage, opening up proceedings with a brand new, as yet unreleased song. It’s clear that the majority of people in the room are a fan of his music, and make no mistakes; this performance will have done him no harm at all to the yet to be converted members of the crowd. Finishing things up with “My Friends and I” he was joined on stage by Shane Henderson, in what was one of the best sing-a-long’s of the night.

Such is the emotive, honest, and raw feeling to Promise Of Redemption's music, it’s really no surprise that as soon as he took to the stage and launched into “Remember The First Day” that every word was sung back to him just as passionately as he was singing it, and things didn’t let up there, with a set spanning just over an hour long that also delved into the Valencia back catalog and a special Get Up Kids cover. It was clear that no one in the room wanted the show to end, but alas after a gut wrenching version of “Dana Leigh” the set was concluded with the Valencia classic “The Space Between,” an ending which ensured that everyone in attendance left feeling upbeat and positive.

Shows like this make you proud. Proud to be part of a community that cares so passionately about music, that no matter what the cost or how much you know about any of the bands on the bill, people are still willing to come and support the people involved in making shows like this happen. Tonight’s show was perfect, and we along with many others can only hope that it isn’t another three years before Shane gets back to the UK to do it all again.

Chris Marshman