BUNTER`S BAR, TRURO (20TH APRIL)

RUDI`S MESSAGE

Thursday night in Truro has many things to offer those who shelter from the cold spring rain, but by far the best things come in musical forms and Rudi`s Message, the good time ska band from Cambourne, helped to dry us all with their infectious good humour and 2-tone tunes. They`re a covers band that formed back in the 90`s to recreate the rude boy sounds that were made popular by bands like Madness and The Specials, and they do it damn well my friend. `It must be love`, `Gangsters` and `Shiver` were particular highlights, as was the old Toots and the Maytals tune, `Monkeyman`, which became a theme for the night as their own bass player Gary `Monkeyman` celebrated his birthday. But close your eyes for a second and you`d swear you were hearing the original artists playing live - it`s really exceptional. The place wasn`t as packed as I`ve seen it in the past, but those who were there, clearly enjoyed the music and the band performed a great show with lead singer Simon bouncing around like a rubber ball.

Live gigs are often won or lost depending on the audience reactions and interactions with the bands; great bands have died on their arses when the audience wasn`t up for it and conversely dire little gits have had fabulous success when an audience has taken to the gig.

Rudi`s Message are a great solid ska band that you really should see, its just a shame that not many people made the effort to on the actual night - it was their loss. The one drawback of having this sort of high quality musicianship in a covers band is that it`s really a waste of obvious talent; maybe they should showcase some original material too, because I`m sure they would win more fans. That said, I`d recommend Rudi`s Message to anyone who still has a pulse.

(photos by Fang)