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There are, inevitably, dangers with reviewing gigs like this. Not least the fact that the bar was open for 13 hours meaning we missed a good chunk of the later part of the evening as the olympian amount of alcohol consumed meant anything more exherting than getting up from the bar was proving difficult. But anyway, what I can remember...
NOVELIS - Promising start to the day, these youngsters appear to be metallers very much in the Raging Speedhorn mould. Very loud, very angry and with two vocalists who both take time out from the screaming to jump into the moshpit and start slamming people. All good fun.
PRAY FOR HAYDEN - Okay I admit I've seen these guys before but just take my word for it they're an excellent band. Sounding like Hell Is For Heroes on morphine, they spew out riffs heavier than a concrete rhino and packing just as much of a clout. Could well go on to bigger things.
TENNESSE TRAINCRASH - Sadly, after what had gone before, this lot were just dull. Nothing wrong with them per se it's just that this second-hand Television riffs, static stage presence and slightly scowly vocals has already been done much better by other bands in the last two years. The only real novelty about them is the boy-girl vocals and even that wears off after a few numbers. Going nowhere fast.
KENOSHA - Bit better. Two blokes who look like Hanson after the rehab years plug in and give the crowd some above-average riffarama with suitably angsty vocals. Yes, there is a passing resemblance to Hundred Reasons but the music has enough of an identity to stand up on its own. Enjoyable.
STUFFY & THE FUSES - This lot are probably better known as Chris T-T's backing band and their music has a similarly enjoyably twisted outlook on life. Nice to see that a few bands who journos would almost certainly fit in the "indie" pigeonhole are still on speaking terms with the concepts of wit and imagination. If you see these guys playing near you, you could do a lot worse than check them out.
BONSAI KITTENS - One of the more enjoyable oddities of the early day, Bonsai Kittens are effectively a more grown-up version of Shampoo and all the better for it. Two girls with guitars and a sound FX machine sing cheerfully warped songs about festivals and pet cats and slip in a chirpy cover of Erasure's "Love To Hate You" for the finale. Again, a group I'd recommend should you see them playing near you.
BLACK HELICOPTERS - (pic above) Clearly setting themselves out to be Leeds' answer to the Cooper Temple Clause, it's easy to see why this lot have been attracting such good press locally as they make a truly fearsome racket with the guitar and keyboard onslaught combining to pummel your resistance into the floor. Of all the bands tonight, this lot look likely to go the furthest.
SMILEX - (pic above) They had a tough act to follow but bloody hell, this lot were superb. Within 30 seconds, the lead singer has thrown his mic stand across the room and pitched a barstool straight into the front row of the audience. Within three songs he's wandered up to at least three people near the front for a staring contest (he wins every time natch) and swan dived off the top of the amp stack. He finishes by scaling the rig and swinging right across it while all the time his band churn out some top-drawer headbanger-punk material. If there is any justice in the world, I think we've just found four megastars in waiting.
LITTLE JAPANESE TOY/SAMMO HUNG/THE SCARAMANGA SIX - After what had gone before, it was gonna be difficult to follow it up and so these three proved. LJT play a sort of electro-pop thing which isn't a million miles from Depeche Mode but doesn't really hold your attention, Sammo Hung are average girl-fronted rockers who sound a bit like a house-trained Hole (though still a million miles better than the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) while Scaramanga Six provide some solid if unspectacular rock fodder. In all fairness to 'em, I was completely wasted by this point so I'd probably need to see them again to judge them properly.
LES FLAMES! - (pic above) The evening finally picks up again with the arrival of these guys who play the sort of kickass rock 'n' roll that's sadly lacking in the music scene today. Clearly already well on the way to being local legends, they inspire mass outbreaks of headbanging and chuck some top drawer tunes in for good measure. Again, hopefully a band on its way to bigger things...
BABY FOOD - ...all of which inevitably means that Babyfood's electroclash unplugged set sinks like a stone. Possibly just an off-night but the off-kilter vocals and acoustic guitar just really don't mix very well at all and you end up just wishing they'd finish.
ROBOCHRIST - (pic above) But at least we go out on a high with the mighty Robochrist who makes the crucial right decision of actually plugging his guitar in! Now clearly on his way to local legend status (as the chants of "Robochrist! Robochrist!" from the audience prove), the great thing is that while this sort of thing (Atari Teenage Riot-style guitar FX mixed with samples of "Count Duckula", "Grange Hill" and a wonderfully twisted re-hash of the "Werther's Original" advert to finish off with) so obviously shouldn't work, it not only does but it does so bloody magnificently. We've said it before, we'll say it again - the guy is a star in waiting. The world just doesn't know it yet. Hopefully that's all about to change.
Review and pics by Andy James
