It’s 9:01pm on Wednesday, November 14th when vocalist/guitarist Adam Grahn and the rest of Royal Republic come bounding on to the stage at The Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton; full of energy and excitement as the small but loud crowd cheer them on. There’s no doubt about it that this Swedish band are beginning to make a huge name for themselves. They’ve come so far in the last couple of years, now with a second studio album Save the Nation under their belt, recently released in August 2012. They’re becoming increasingly popular not only through their music, but their characterising charm also.
The lights start flashing as they begin the gig with their latest single to be released, “Save the Nation”; an immediate hit with the crowd that really get them moving, never showing a slight of concern over temperamental sounding to begin with. Matching this with a few more songs from the new record, “You Ain’t Somebody (‘Til Somebody Hates You)” and “Make Love Not War”, the crowd becomes sufficiently warm and sweaty in the intimate venue from the pure energy that the band emits.
The majority of the gig follows in similar vein, with song after song being an instantaneous hit with the crowd, as they bob, jump and sing along to every song Royal Republic performs. The great thing about this band is that they like to have some fun with their music, they’re serious about it that’s for sure, but they know how to entertain which can be seen through their a-cappella version of one of their recent singles “Addictive”, in which every single band member, Adam Grahn, Hannes Irengård, Jonas Almén and Per Andreasson, sing in unison; harmonising to a tee in a humorous barber shop rendition of their own single.
Royal Republic incorporated the perfect mix of old and new, providing a comforting warmth to those who have followed them from the very beginning, though not going without the excitement of new material, encouraging old fans to come to terms with and fall completely in love their new record and every single song on it (a hard feat to accomplish, but not for them). They are a talented group of guys: they are all brilliant with their instruments and they can all sing – the bassist especially, whose exceptionally rough and ready voice gets put to good use in their cover of X’s “I Don’t Wanna Go Out”, which actually turns out to be miles better than the original song itself.
After some random chatting and covers of Scorpion’s “Wind of Change” and Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades”, the gig comes to an end as the band show how down to earth they are by stepping down off the stage to shake hands and hug everyone they can before disappearing off backstage.
