As we enter this wonderful, intimate venue, the closely arranged tables and chairs sit in the shadow of the low stage, packed with people and pints. MetalTalk are here to enjoy another showcase from the awesome Blinding Talent Agency, fresh from the truly electrifying Bitchin’ Hour/Dylan Gers/Electric Lady gig that CEO Mark Adams put on last week. This time it’s a nice time to watch a more slow-paced gig from seriously good singer/songwriter Col Gerrard and co.
Col Gerrard
The Camden Club – 17 September 2025
Words: Ben Roberts with Sara Harding
Photography: Eric Duvet
Col Gerrard, with his five piece band, kick off the set with Come On Over and a sonic wave washes over the room. The guitar is wah-wahing with sound, and the song has a groove which all of the five dudes on stage slot into perfectly.
There’s a distinctness about Col’s voice. It’s raspy, emotive, and is complemented by lead guitarist Simon Connelly’s vocal harmonies.
Go On sees the tempo ramp up, and a new voice joins the cacophony of sound. Col and his band really have their Queen going on with lead guitar once again, and now drums lending a hand to layer the vocals. We have to say, their live sound really is polished.
Being here, immersed in the live musicianship, the songs take on a whole new life. If you aren’t hearing Col live, we must say you are missing out.
We hadn’t realised what was on Col’s tee – a picture of Robert Redford. The gig takes a moment to remember the late legend, and it is for him and Paul Newman that Col dedicates the next song, Sun And Sky. It’s a calming song, saved from sadness by the bright energy of the band and the gentle assurances of the lyrics, like the refrain “it will always come back to you.”
The Way I Feel changes the vibe of the room completely. Simon drops his green Gibson (which Col jokes is because he is Irish) and takes up the keys. Before long, the air is full of gloomy, dark chords, and Simon and Swiss Dan on drums are casting very cool, haunting vocal overlays.
The vocalists are all mood and the slow driving drum beat gives the song a revolving and ethereal quality.
This could not be any more different to the song to follow, You Need Me, where Simon has to switch instruments once again. This time, he picks up an acoustic guitar. Bright and sunny chords mark a dramatic change, as well as a markedly more upbeat tempo. This gig has been quite the palette of moods so far, but it has always had Col Gerrard’s identity at its core.
It’s a great band. You can tell they’re all mates and believe in each other.
We are reclining in rickety chairs somewhere near the back of the club, with a clear line of sight on all of the band, when we see not for the first time Matt on bass, Swiss Dan on drums and Pete on bongos all exchange smiles and laugh.
The room is rocking and the audience are hollering as they blast out the chorus of What Am I Supposed To Do, all three vocalists, and more or less the entire room, singing along.
The gig ends with a cover of the classic Beatles track The Ballad Of John And Yoko, which Col dedicates to all the oldies in the room, to a laugh. Yet again, the band are having a blast, drums, bass, and bongo are somehow managing to cheekily point and accuse each other of things mid song.
Col’s songs all look back on a life lived to the fullest, and don’t shy away from the bad and the ugly in between. But they don’t lean into it either. In Col Gerrard’s hands, negativity gets spun out into groove, and we get to enjoy these great tunes.
And that’s what we love at MetalTalk, and with Blinding Talent, who support the British music scene, we get to experience all kinds of bands, and this gig for sure is memorable for all the right reasons.
Col Gerrard has sent us off into the Camden night feeling a little lighter, a little breezier than before, and that is what going to gigs is all about.
