We’re back to the more traditional rock concert setting of the San Rafael horse trotting track(?) so there’ll be no tomfoolery in the hotel pool tonight, however there are some ponds lurking in the centre of the track - Anyway we’ll see what happens tonight…

I’ve listened to this highly respected band on the stereo in the car on the way to the gig, but couldn’t sing along to any of the tracks. Then I’ve had to park miles from the entrance and fallen over a cactus in the dark trying to take a short cut in case I’m late.

“This band had better be good” I’m thinking, as I pluck cactus spikes from my palm and negotiate the guest list queue. There are no other queues, it’s just those who don’t pay that turn up late and make it difficult to get in just as the band are about to hit the stage.

I hit the bar and immediately cheer up. Almost immediately it becomes obvious that his band are different again. This isn’t a night of anthems or rap, instead the sound rings many bells inviting comparisons with a spectrum of influences from Status Quo to Led Zep and any number of others in between for good measure.

Formed in Liverpool in 2001, they’ve been around a while, but stand alone amongst the acts we’ve seen this year by delving back into a different period of music pre-dating most of this year’s acts and pulling it off in style.

They also have the advantage of Abi Harding front of stage with her saxophone. This enhances the band’s sound, as do her vocals, and she’s a lot nicer to look at than the blokes with their axes…

Dave McCabe, lead songwriter, introduced one song early on by getting the audience to vote on whether the rock chicks with the inflatable guitars on the podium were getting paid. All voted an enthusiastic yes. He counter-pointed this at the end of the set by informing us all that the band had to stop now because all of the rest of their material was shit. The crowd roared and the band played on.

Having seen them, listening to the tunes in the car on the way home it all started to make sense. I just had to leap backwards and forwards a couple of decades for each new track.
I’m still playing them in the car now and becoming more and more fond…

More and larger photos on the previous zutons at ibiza rocks blog

We were really impressed with the Zutons. There was some discussion afterwards about who they were like - the great thing was that we couldn’t agree - which means you can’t pigeon-hole them. Bluesy, guitar driven indie rock ish… Lot’s of fun and arguably the best gig, music wise, of the year… We hope they come back next year.

As ever, click on images for larger versions (we’ve done bigger versions this time).

The Zutons have been added to the ibiza rocks lineup and will headline on September 2nd.