February

28/02/02
hmmmmmmm
I'm getting a bit worried about Shifty Disco's choice of bands. Tonight's band Elston Majeska are up there along with Panda Gang as one of the worst bands I've ever seen. There was no direction in their music, and their selling point - sampled keyboards and guitars on a backing tape - just made them even more annoying. The best songs were actually those when they just played full out on their guitars, bass and drums, but even then they just sounded like they were trying to be Oasis or something. And don't get me started on when they got the harmonica out...
Gig Count: 19

22/02/02
Weeeeee Zooooooooooom
A whole evening of guitars and electronic gadgets, and not that much vocals. R-Cane started off quite promising, until it was apparent that they can't end any of their songs (they just stop suddenly), and that they were just a metal band, but without the vocalist. The stools came out for Mountain Men Anonymous and it really didn't get any more exciting, they tried a bit of asian sounding panatonic chords, and just seemed to drag on. But still surprising everyone how good they are were South Sea Company Prospectus, who sound exactly how a 21st century band should sound like, with all their wizzy electronic noises, and fusion of dance beats and rock.
Gig Count:18

21/02/02

Don't Bring Me Down So at last Goldrush return to Oxford for a proper gig, after a gap of over 6 months. It's getting increasingly odder and odder watching Goldrush gigs, the way they've changed over the past few years (especially in the past year, since they were signed) and the way the composition of the audience is changing. This gig was also very different to the last Goldrush gig I watched, at the Barfly, maybe it was just an Oxford crowd, but there seemed to be less anticipation, and for the first half of the set there was very little interaction between the band and the audience. Even the heckles didn't help that much (including the now regular appearance of the Garo/Marrow chant). The most worrying thing was the way the band sounded so polished, it seems they're going down the route of Travis, Coldplay, etc..(they are even touring in a big double decker tour bus). Maybe this was just the product of all the touring they do. However with Best Intentions they may have their equivalent of Alcoholic, a song that could break the band into the world of the Top 40. Certainly with this gig, the band now feels more like one of those constantly touring bands instead of just a local Oxford band that we cherish. Shame that they didn't play the Kylie cover or Pocket Socket Rocket. Gig Count: 17

18/02/02
And you complain that venues are dying
People complain about the lack of venues, and yet only go to the popular ones. Take a risk sometime and just go to a gig of bands you've never heard of. Tonight's gig was one such example. Part of the Track and Field tour, Kicker were twee indie types. They weren't that bad, sounding like the happier, uptempo side of Belle and Sebastian. Ashley Park were doing the alt-country type thing, but their songs never really seemed to rise about the gentle plodding.
Gig Count: 16

17/02/02
Student Bands
Although it is a university town, there have been very few university bands who have really become part of the music scene (MBICR, The Klyvz, Hester Thrale), some people reason that it's because the bands are around for a couple of years and then piss off when everyone leaves uni. Well at least IMSOC are trying to raise the profile of the bands, by this battle of the bands competition. As you would expect, one uniting factor about the bands is that they all have pretty pretentious names. Autochtone (the eventual winners tonight) were really hard to pin down, in their short set, their songs seemed to have influences ranging from the Sex Pistols to Flaming Lips and some of their songs seem to change mood about 3 times. Endless City Lights improved from their gig on Monday, at least there was less talking in between, and they had a song that sounded like a theme tune to some children's program involving dancing pixies or something. As a complete contrast to the bands before, Our Man In Havana were quiet, very quiet. Sometimes this can be done quite well, however there didn't seem to be any change in any of their songs, and it just ended up feeling quite monotonous.
Gig Count: 15

11/02/02
Back to the Cellar
I seem to spend an unhealthy amount of time in here. Anyway, tonight Drowned In Sound took over Trailerpark. The Loves cancelled, so it was up to Endless City Lights to start the gig. Mainly made up of writers from the website, musically they were ok, though there was far too muck speaking and stuff in between songs. It was good to see a bigger audience for Delicate AWOL this time round though, after their gig at the Point at the Zodiac last December. Their jazzy type post rock thing sounded much better in the Cellar than in an almost empty room at the Zodiac.
Gig Count: 14

09/02/02

Unlucky 13th?... Nah So. my 13th gig of the year, and a bluddy good one it was too. It all started pretty strangely, interview all the bands at the same time (except for Six Ray Sun who were soundchecking at the time), getting juicy stories out of them (you'll have to wait a couple of weeks for me to type the transcript up and for the tour diary to appear). But when the gig started properly it was great. South Sea Company Prospectus kicked off the gig in a great way, actually they sound more like a dance group than a rock group, especially with a track that started off sounding like the Orbital's cover of the Dr Who theme. Personally I thought Six Ray Sun weren't as good as last time, but that was because of the sound, which sounded all wrong, there didn't seem to be enough bass, and the general mix seemed to be a bit odd. Dustball rocked as usual, Jamie got so into the music that he even tripped up over his own mike stand halfway through the set, and Senor Nachos still reminds me of being 14. Coming on after Dustball was a hard job, but The Rock of Travolta did it well, with their usual rock posing, Spinal Tap references, and just general show. And there were quite a few new tracks in their set as well, including one referring to cliques and stuff. Anyway this show just showed how many ace bands there are in Oxford, just go and watch them, and prove A&R men wrong about their type of sound not being able to sell records... Gig Count:13

07/02/02
Mad 80s Rocking
Ponyclub are running away with the title of band I've watched the most so far this year, and already they seem to have improved. Somehow they have the confidence to carry off their act (involving dodgy clothes and 80s rawk guitar solos) with style. Somewhere in the middle of that there are some great tunes as well. That was something that Frigid Vinegar don't have. OK it was fun the first time round, with Dogmanaut 2000 but repeating the same joke for a set is just a bit boring, and annoying.
Gig Count:12

02/02/02
Little Rawkers
Fifth gig in a week (and I thought a fortnight ago was bad enough). I hardly ever brave The Club that Cannont Be Named gigs, but I thought I'd break a tradition tonight. I spent most of the gig trying to work out whether the lead singer of Rachel Stamp looked like Brian Molko or Richey Manic, in the end we decided he was their lovechild. Certainly the sound was quite like early Placebo, early Manics, in the punk glammy sort of way, maybe even like King Adora but with a less pop sheen. Oh and their bassist reminded me of that gay barman off the second series of Queer as Folk as well..
Gig Count: 11

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