August

29/08/02

The The The The....
Fuck the Strokes, bow down at the altar of The Datsuns. With the same retro cool T-shirts, and loads more style, they are the new pin-ups for your walls. Hair everywhere, and possibly even more riffs than hair they just stormed through their set with all the AC/DC, Spinal Tap style you ever wanted, with the added bonus of Jack White style bluesy vocals. Yet another gig this year where the first support blew everyone else away.
Following on after that was going to be difficult. D4 rocked in their own way, but just didn't have enough oomph to overcome the high that's been built up. But if it was down to style alone, they too could battle it out with The Strokes (mmmm a battle between all these 'hair bands')
The Bellrays meanwhile seemed to have too much to say. Storming through 2 minute pop songs without even a pause in between. The four members of the band were pulling in different directions and just produced a noisy sound. Even the lead singer couldn't overcome the other instruments. She sounded like a cross between an angry head teacher, Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald. The band were certainly more soul/gospel than rock, asking us if we were 'Ready to Testify' etc. One song sounded like a variation on Heard it Through the Grapevine while, more worryingly, another sounded like Gary Glitter's Leader of the Gang, yes really. However you can't doubt their song writing skills, the single They Glued Your Head On Upside Down being a highlight. Maybe if they gave us time to pause and take it in, we could grow to appreciate them more.
Gig Count:68
16/08/02

Even Better than the Real Thing... Maybe
It's the 20th Your Song and it never changes, just one evening of drunken fun and bands losing any dignity (if they had any in the first place) that they have. Oh and in jokes.
No surprises then to Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia covering Menswe@r, in their usual shambolic way. I couldn't really take it in, possibly because I wasn't drunk enough, yet.
Hieronymous lose their gentle touch and play a set of stomping pub rock style covers.
The summer Your Song, of course, is to celebrate promoter Mac's birthday, and coincidentally also occurs near the anniversary of Elvis' death (or for tonight on its 25th anniversay). So ATL? reform for the evening (well not really) and play an set dressing to emulate the great man and his songs.
One of the stars of this year, The Young Knives, renamed themselves as The Phat (or Fat) Knives. Along with bringing out The Stars in Their Eyes feel to the evening, they also bring some loving into their room, with their rendition of They Don't Bring You Flowers, complete with classic 50s flower throwing.b
Shouting Myke just play the standards, however the highlight was their cross between Under Pressure and Ice, Ice Baby
It's quite amazing how the Four Storeys manage to countrify anything they play, including the Who.
Another band of the year are Smilex. Continuing where they left off at Truck, the barrage of empty (and semi full) cups started almost as soon as they came onstage. But they claim the glory for the evening, if just for the cross dressing factor that has to happen at every Your Song.
Over the past few years we'e developed sever rules for Your Songs. No doubt what goes on will confuse most of the passersby, but they're what makes the evening fun, and long may it continue.
Gig Count: 67
12/08/02
Going Dancy
Hmm this seemed more like a club night than a proper gig, and it didn't really work, not having enough of a club night atmosphere on a monday night. Culmulonimbus and Blunt Instruments both were sort of hip hoppy, Blunt Instruments even dragging their turntables out. However they did end up sounding a bit like Craig David in one song. More amusing was Paul Taylor playing around on his keyboard, with samples and silly noises, maintaining the fun side of music.
Gig Count: 66

10/08/02
Hopefulness
Most of the music that we listen to is depressing, hey, it's cool to be depressed, but then when people start writing songs in the major key it can sound so good. McAlmont and Butler. Ambitous arrangements with overlays of guitars, there was a little bit of that Phil Spector sparkle, all tinged with that bit of uplifting factor and hope. But for this sort of soulful pop (mind you, good soulful pop) you needed someone with the voice to carry it off, David McAlmont, luckily, had it. However, while they were excellent at doing that uplifting pop thing, it turned out that the duo only had 2 types of songs, opening with some rather forgetable pop songs, and finishing off with a few of those optimistic songs, which all sounded like variations on Yes.
Gig Count: 65
06/08/02
Back to the roots
It's nights like this that inspires you, and shows how that there are still people out there who won't change their sound to accomodate everyone.
Sunnyvale Noise Sub-element are one such band. While the elements making up the songs were the same (guitars, bass and a computer) half the songs sounded quite dancy, growing out of beats, while others were more post-rocky, based around guitar lines. No wonder they are confusing everyone then, but then confusion is a great thing.
Meanwhile Econoline were more conventional. It was good to see that even in the space of 7 months or so, they've moved on. They look like the unlikeliest bunch of rock monsters, more like indie kids, but they do rock, sounding just as ROCK and punky as At the Drive In.
But not as PUNK as Cat On Form. None of that Blink 182 type punk for them, just back to the roots of punk, both in attitude and style. Their drummer even refused to look at the audience, instead prefering to drum with her back to us. They were abrasive and powerful, and are just one of the best live bands this year (could even compete with Lapsus, yup they're that good). And for once when they go rambling on about politics and all that, it sounds like they mean it, instead of just using it for another media angle.
Gig Count: 64

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