Revelator Band

“The singer, who also plays a mean harmonica, pogos and writhes around his mic stand while growling songs with a rasp and a manic grin; where he gets the time to breathe in amongst the jumping, singing and blowing the harp, I have no idea - but he’s a great front man, both from a performance point of view and the way he entertains the audience in between songs. . . . His right hand man on keyboards also plays bongos in a steel dustbin, and his piano playing is frantic and skilled; he really bangs down on those keys hard and fast in places. The rest of the band are solid performers and the whole lot are very tight. . . .Want to see The Revelator Band live? Get there early.” - thebeatsurrender.co.uk

“If, after the Zombie Apocalypse, lost on stormy seas, South of Pandemonium and half way to the edge of the world, you spy a distant cove and find yourself in a saloon run by Blackbeard’s ghost in the hull of a grounded galleon, then expect to see The Revelator Band on stage.

As the wind howled and shook the ancient timbers of our Wakefield watering hole, the Revelators took the stage. Black clad and hatted, their potentially sinister aspect negated by affability and self-deprecating humour, they steered the audience on an exhilarating course for three hours or more. The songs evoke the atmosphere of dark Victoriana, press-gangs and smoke-obscured opium dens; pantomime-pirate blues-rock driven along by a foot-tapping, tankard-bashing beat, colourful lyrics roared in a voice evocative of Tom Waits at his theatrical best.

Frontman ‘Captain’ Barnaby Neale accompanies the songs with larger than life aplomb, capering, stomping and whirling, missing only a swordstick and a parchment map to the location of a mysterious jade monkey. Rictus-grins and rolling eyes animate the face as the hat is given about all the doffing that a piece of headgear might reasonably expect in an evening. The songs are inventive, compelling; anchored by the creative rhythms solidly maintained by Doug ‘Dusty’ Jopling on drums and by some expertly-played bass guitar. The guitar playing is clever, disciplined and perfectly judged. On the piano, Christopher ‘Fingers’ Taylor has overcome the pain of a recent wrist injury to produce a powerful, dominating performance.

Together the songs are more than the sum of their parts, drawing influence from the likes of Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart and fusing them with roots in traditional blues, boogie-woogie and rock and roll. The storytelling aspect of the songs comes across beautifully, reminiscent of tall tales of rum-soaked piracy and yet the feet are still, somehow, firmly on the worn paving slabs of England’s North, in touch with the wry humour of folk that make the best of hard times and find moments of joy and profundity in as little as weak winter sunshine turning wet pavements to silver.

Should the zombie apocalypso be unexpectedly delayed, then keep your eye on the gig listings. If you get the chance to sign up for a tour of duty with the Revelators, then seize it. Trust me, you’ll come away with treasure aplenty.” - The Vaults