The Transients -Irish Rock in Tempe

By Hotsource Correspondent - Toni Cocilovo

It is not often that you come across rich Irish folk sound mixed with traditional rock, and even rarer to find a band that can pull it off on a live gig – The Transients do both.

It is a sound that lead vocalist Leon developed whilst living in Dublin. After bumping into bass player Dean the next generation of The Transients was born. Chi came along and solved their need for a drummer…and then came Nick on lead guitar.

Dean explained how the band benefited from a mixture of both experienced members as well as those that were new to the live gig scene.

“As the current incarnation, The Transients have been together for 6 months. Leading up to this Leon and myself have been jamming acoustic gigs for a little under 18 months. Both of us have close to 10 years experience while for Nick and Chi, this is their first time on the stage.”

At their recent gig at The Harp at Tempe, whilst not the headline act, they received appreciative rounds of applause from the small crowd. Dean and Leon have a combined 10yrs of performing experience between them, which shines through as they play on not missing a beat, even when Leon snaps a guitar string mid-song. Not to be outdone, both Nick and Chi are brilliant at their respective instruments.

Their first few tracks are of a softer rock style, giving the audience a chance to think about the lyrics with Leon setting the rhythm on acoustic guitar and the occasional harmonica solo.

Leon also provides the lyrics for most of the bands songs. “201” was written after hearing about the Madrid bombings whilst in Dublin, and is a soulful yearning melody, while more harder edged tracks such as “Nitpicking” show that this band has a wider range to their name than just soft rock.

For more information on the Transients check out  www.myspace.com/thetransientsaustralia