June

20/06/02
Country Music is Good. Shock!
Forever given a bad name by artists like Garth Brooks, it's taken me a while to realise that I actually enjoy country artists. One such example were The Gutheries. While some artists are afraid of that country taga, and move as far away as possible, the Gutheries met it head on, dragging out the accordion, mandolin and the steel guitar, singing some gentle and very beautiful songs.
Gig Count: 55

27/06/02
Chilling Out
You can imagine Silverman appearing on some of those chill out complilations. Playing music that sounds like Mazzy Star but with beats, they were so laid back, it felt wrong to stand up to listen to them. It's a good soundtrack to the end of a hard day.
Gig Count: 54

26/06/02
And Down Underground
Second time in a week for Antonia then, and I have to admit this is the first time I've seen her properly (been on the door and stuff the other couple of times). Her songs are the FM friendly type songs that appear on Radio 2, and you can imagine it being the soundtrack to a drive across the States.
I blame Black Nielson for dragging me down to London in the middle of the week. After every show they just leave you wanting more, and so a near-stalking type obsession to catch as many gigs as possible. They have a gentle innocence in their music that makes them so adorable. Never content with the familiar old material, their new songs shows them developing their own sound.
People in the bar were doing that Coldplay/Goldrush comparison, but their set just proved how wrong they were. For example, their next single, Wide Open Sky, is a jaunty little song that Coldplay could not write. There are hints of some other bands though. Along with that Richie Sambora comparison (see the review from the gig supporting the Coral), the addition of a jazz section has made them, on occasions, sound like Amnesiac era Radiohead as well.
Gig Count: 53

24/06/02
Meanwhile Down at the Cellar...
While the whole world passes us by, this was another good gig at the Cellar. Dave from Eeebleee sang us some Eeebleee songs and some of his other songs. Without the other instruments, the solo set showed how great some of those Eeebleee songs were. She may have been quiet recently, but KTB is back from her travels. In the months while she's been away, she has matured, and her new songs sound much jazzier. Hmmm still not that convinced about Antonia. Her gig tonight was already a bit rockier than the last set she played here, but it just still sounds that little bit too bland.
Gig Count: 52

22/06/02
Yay, A Day in the Sun
Summer's finally here, and to mark the beginning of the Oxford festival season, it's Charlbury. It worked as a sort of warm up for Truck, preparing you for what you need for a day outdoors. I arrived just as Sextodecimo were playing, and I think the lead singer's t-shirt said it all for the band, Volume Over Talent. Then it was Caliber doing their bit of rocking. They still sound a bit too gentle for the rawk monsters they want to be, a bit more dirty bass and growling please. After that the afternoon just got better and better. Young Knives a proving to be an ace festival band. This time they came onstage wearing slogans on their tops, such as 'Buy Nestle' and 'Capitalism Works'. And even the sun came out for their set. Eeebleee didn't work that well outdoors, their sound got a bit lost, and the intensity that was there at their last show just wasn't there at all. Similarly for Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia, they just calmed down everyone for a gentle late afternoon. Like the Young Knives, The Samurai Seven works well as a festival band. Their new material is still not as immediate as their old songs, it just seems like they are trying that little bit too hard. From cheery pop to more intense rocking, South Sea Company Prospectus worked really well outdoors, all their sounds just filling the air. They were probably the band of the day, everyone seemed to enjoy their set from the kiddies up at the front who air guitared their way through the set, to their parents. And to round off the day Dustball played a storming set, with the whole band literally throwing themselves around on stage. It's just so fustrating to watch them, and know that people outside of Oxfordshire just aren't listening.
Gig Count: 51

21/06/02
Hmmm Strange
Once again I've forgotten what the first bloke on was called. But he played an acoustic show, trying to be like Jeff Buckley. It was pleasant, but nothing remarkable. I sort of expected to be surprised at what The Bees were going to sound like. From their single, A Minha Menina, I thought they sounded like the Fall. How wrong could I be? It turned out they were some odd fusion of Jazz/Funk/Reggae band, that comes across as the Fun Loving Criminals, but stoned. Most of the songs tended to go towards a jam situation, and a jazz styled solos of each member wouldn't have been out of place.
Gig Count: 50!

11/06/02
Over dramatised Goth Rock
It seems the whole selling point of Queen Adreena is in vocalist Katie Jane Garside. She flirts around onstage in the style that Marilyn Monroe might have done, while singing breathy, high vocals like Kate Bush, singing the lyrics of Sylvia Plath. Her performance onstage demands your total attention, such that the rest of the band are just a support for her act. As often in these cases, it just doesn't quite gel together, and those airy vocals just leave you gasping for something more substantial.
Gig Count:49

10/06/02

I love Trailerpark OK, I'm very biased with that statement, but this gig was probably one of the best Trailerparks ever. The Lollies were a sort of punky version of Lush, but with a Canadian accent. National Prayer Breakfast are possibly battling for the position of my favourite live band, they're up in the top 10 anyway. Not only are they great musically with their garage bluesy type rock, but they were also dressed for the part. The lead singer was wearing a John Travolta style white suit. They sort of sounded like an Irish version of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, if that's possible. Of course one of my favourite live bands at the moment (and for the past 5 years or so) are Dustball. Having songs that sound great acoustically is the sign of a great band, and they definately showed that. It was really surprising how well the songs worked completely stripped back to just 2 guitars. Gig Count: 48

09/06/02

We Hate the Fucking NME As we all know, the NME's gone downhill recently. I had decided that it wasn't worth believing any of the bands that they hype up. So to my surprise, the first band on tonight were actually excellent. I can't remember their name, but it was just 2 blokes with acoustic guitar. It's pretty normal so far, but then as soon as they sang it just turned into something very surreal. Although they had strong liverpudlian accents, they were singing songs in the style of midwest American country hoe-down type songs, that was half the set. The other songs in the sets were more a cross between Greek style music, and 20s Charleston type thing. Believe me it worked. Goldrush suffered sound problems at the beginning of their set, but they were sorted out pretty quickly. This gig didn't have the special atmosphere of their last gig in Steventon, but they still rolled out a pretty professional performance. They seem to be rocking out a bit more now too, I'd never noticed before how Garo's guitar solos sounded so much like the guitar solos out of Bon Jovi songs. At this point in the evening, I was thinking that maybe I'd have to readjust my distrust of the NME, but then The Coral justified my original stance. Apart from their singles, which are pretty good songs, they just seem quite dull. They do have some interesting ideas, especially by having eclectic influences, just like the first band, but tonight they just seemed to have turned up to full volume, and the interesting bits weren't allowed to shine through. Gig Count: 47

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