The Dunwells have the power to pack the intimate Hotel Café on an early Monday night. Making their debut Los Angeles appearance, the crowd, including a who’s who of the Hollywood scene, flocked in anticipation of what this quintet had to offer. In support of their debut release Blind Sighted Faith, The Dunwells overpowered the petite stage with rockabilly pop vocals, commanding hand drumming, and fervid guitar styling.
Coalescing a folk/soul/indie sound with a little UK charm, Joe Dunwell, Johnny Lamb, Rob Clayton, David Henson and Dave Dunwell warmed up the crowd with their new album’s title track, an upbeat melody and a gem worthy of high rotation radio play. Yet the guys were quick to slow down with “Oh Lord,” breaking in raw vocals, and seemingly non-existent acoustics, adding to the intimate vibe. The hour long set bounced back and forth between the duo of lead men, and brothers Joe and Dave Dunwell, ping-ponging off each other indie folk hit after indie folk hit. Yet keeping the overly trendy crowd on their toes, might be a problem for some musicians but not for these guys. The crowd favorite came with “I Could Be A King,” intermixing honeyed vocals with all four guitars rifting in sync of the a upbeat song, lending more to the indie rock side.
One album isn’t nearly enough time to watch and listen to The Dunwells perform. Plan on expecting and seeing big things come from these guys. As Crowe tweeted, “so much fun to root for them.” Indeed Cameron, indeed.
Hotel Cafe show set list:
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