There is such a buzz around Blues/Rock band Brave Rival with two exceptional studio albums, debut, 'Life's Machine' (2022) and the recently released 'Fight Or Flight' (2024) under their belt and a growing reputation as a great live band and rightly so.

Brave Rival formed in Portsmouth in 2019 and are Chloe Josephine (lead vocals), Lindsey Bonnick (lead vocals), Ed 'the Shred' Clarke (guitar), Billy Dedman (bass) and Donna Peters (drums). Josephine, Bonnick and Peters have origins in the Folk music as a vocal trio, this sublime blending of lead vocals and harmonies which is at times haunting, yet incredibly powerful and is a huge part of the appeal of Brave Rival and what sets them head and shoulders above the competition. There are elements of Rumours line-up Fleetwood Mac and 'Barracuda' era Heart with a sprinkling of Jefferson Starship and Joe Cocker but with their own stamp in their sound.

The songs themselves are thought provoking, heart-wrenching and hard-hitting with great sing-a-long choruses which anyone present at a gig will be singing/humming long after the band have left the stage.

Brave Rival have this air of sheer confidence yet, humility about themselves and come across as very likeable and are not afraid to have a laugh and joke with the audience.

From the opening song 'Blame The Voices' the band had the full attention of the crowd and didn't let go until the dying notes of the last song. 'Seventeen' and 'Bad Choices' are about decisions made for better or worse, shape who we become and the latter, was the first of the real audience participation songs, were the group had the fans singing along.

'What's Your Name Again?' had a brilliantly call and response section that the crowd enthusiastically got into. 'Stars Upon My Scars' and 'Insanity' both written during the Lockdown(s) were quite poignant.

There was a surprise cover and excellent version of modern classic Bond theme, Chris Cornell's 'You Know My Name' (he would have loved it). Other set highlights were 'Five Years Later', 'Run and Hide', 'Fairytale' and set closer 'Sink Or Swim'.

The band are all fantastic musicians and virtuoso Ed Clarke is a guitar hero in the making.

The way things are going for Brave Rival, it is only a matter of time before they are playing much bigger venues and they will become a household name.