The Temperance Movement

Sometimes a band comes along that put's life back into music with their honest and real feel. In this case "The Temperance Movement" are that band. The band doesn't necessarily fit into many of today's unlimited number of silly named rock music sub-genres. As a matter, let's just call it like it is and say that these guys are nothing but straight up ROCK N' ROLL. Rock N' Roll in the classic sense of the term with the classic sound to match.

Formed in the U.K. in 2001, the band consists of....

Phil Campbell      - Vocals
Luke Potashnick  - Guitar
Paul Sayer            - Guitar
Nick Fyffe            - Bass
Damon Wilson     - Drums

The Temperance Movement (or TTM as their diehard fan base refer to them as) sound like the awesome noise you would get after throwing some Rolling Stones, the Faces, Black Crowes, maybe even a little Bob Seger and pretty much any 70's southern rock band into a blender full of hot wax, mixing it all up then pouring it out and pressing it into a 12". Pure classic rock feel and sound from a four year old band. The throwback classic rock sound seems to be the latest trend in music (ie. Rival Sons, Graveyard, Motor Sister) but something tells me that theses guys would have this same style regardless of any trend or latest fad in rock.

I was recently trading some tweets with fellow podcaster Dean Delray of the "Let There Be Talk" podcast and he told me to check TTM. Dean has yet to let me down when we are trading stories of new music and new bands we are into so after that tweet session I went on a TTM quest. I downloaded the full Temperance Movement album from Amazon and was blown away! Great song writing. Great classic rock riffs. Rock solid rhythm section. And most of all, what a fucking singer!

It wasn't even a full week after first hearing the band that I discovered they were on tour with Black Berry Smoke and that the tour was just days away from hitting my hometown of Louisville, KY. The show was sold out by the time I heard about it so I reached out and with the help of the good people at TTM's record label, Concord Music Group, I was able to attend the show with my camera in hand. Little did I know, my camera had other plans and decided to take the night off. Shit happens. At least I had my cellphone and was able to get a few shots.

The band was playing the Mercury Ballroom which is a new sister venue to the Louisville Palace. Prince was playing the same night next door at the  Louisville Palace so when we arrived at the venue there were two lines. One for the Mercury and one for the Palace. Both of which stretched around the building for about a full block. Making our way past the first line and through all the fucking people decked out in purple we found our crowd. You know, the long haired, full bearded stoner Black Berry Smoke fans! These two lines of completely different walks of life standing basically side by side were a pretty interesting site to see to say the least.

After making our way into the venue we made a not so quick trip to the bar for a few beers then made our way to the stage to claim our spots for the show. To say the place was packed would be an understatement. The band took to the stage in front of a crowd that were mostly there to see Black Berry Smoke and not really interested to see anyone but. That mentality lasted all of about a minute or so into their first song.

With a front man like this guy Phil Campbell leading the show it was hard to not take notice. The guy came out like a total rock star ready to take on everyone in that venue and make them a fan. I noticed within that first minute or so that everyone in the crowd were no longer wondering "who the hell are these guys " and were completely into it.


The band played for what seemed to be a 50 minute or full hour set, I wasn't keeping time but they pretty much ripped through their whole album. There were no gimmicks, tricks or even silly stage banter in their set, just straight up classic rock n' roll at it's finest. The band themselves sounded spot on with their album...maybe just turned up to 11. Drummer Damon Wilson and bassist Nick Fyffe couldn't have been more in the pocket and guitarists Luke Potashnick and Paul Sayer brought that classic rock guitar sound so well you would have thought you were back in the 70's.

When the band finished their set, it was kind of comical to hear all the naysayer's from the beginning of the show now yelling " who are you guys ?" and cheering for more then quickly making a B-line to TTM's merch booth. Judging from the crowd at their merch booth I think it's safe to say they had a good night and even picked up a few new fans along the way.

If you are interested in taking a little break from all the metal that we Decibel Geek's are all about and want to check out something that might take you back in time, look these guys up and give'em a shot!





Both of TTM's release's...

"The Pride E.P."

and their self titled full length...

are available on Amazon and iTunes. Also available on CD and vinyl.


Check out their single "Only Friend"....

http://thetemperancemovement.com/

http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/