May

27/05/02
Country Music Can Be Good
Wow, what a gig. The artists tonight proved how powerful simplicity can be, just guitars and vocals. Dolly Varden are a couple from Chicago. When the woman sang it sounded like Joni Mitchell, while the range of the bloke's voice was amazing. And country music isn't just about dead relatives either, it was amazing when they finished off the encore to their set with a cover of You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman, of course sung by the husband, and going into I will always love you matching Whitney for all her squeals. Like Dolly Varden, Bill Malonee went into depths about what each of his songs were about. He was making fun of his own genre too, explaining that one of his songs was about his dog running off with his wife. It was just impressive how all this was being generated by just a bloke and a tiny amp.
Gig Count: 46

24/05/02

What a Surreal Week Just as I thought my week couldn't get any stranger... I wasn't that impressed with Tempertwig again. They do play interesting bass and guitar lines that intertwine together, but somehow it just doesn't really work with the fast spoken vocals, which is probably their selling point. I last watched Theremin at their debut gig, over 18 months ago. At the time I was impressed at how relatively (for them) punky some of their songs were, but now they seem to have dropped most of those, and just got out their acoustic guitar to sing like Haven. It was a shame that hardly anyone stayed for Black Nielson, but in a way it added to the partylike atmosphere. The band are an adopted Oxford band anyway, so their set featured stage invasions from Deadly and Handsome Dave, and Deadly's attempts at breakdancing. Their new material is much tighter and less dreamy than their old songs, and they are also moving away from the early Grandaddy heavily influenced sound, and more into a natural progression of their own style. Gig Count: 45

22/05/02

Punting Good Fun So my first proper Punt, or in other words a glorified pub/venue crawl, so you should know what state I'm in now. Anyway, starting at the beginning. Varjak, at Borders, was pretty good, however sounding a bit too much like Tori Amos for my comfort, but apparently her cd has more electronic sounds on it, which can only been a good thing. Then after an early break, things got going properly at Jongleurs... Malkovich weren't that good though. They were just too nice, although they had the growling guitars that was required of metal bands, when the vocals kicked in they just sounded too polite. It was quite surprising to see South Sea Company Prospectus on this bill, it's seemed like they've been around for ages, but they are still one of the best live bands around in Oxford at the moment, with their electo noises, and dirty bass. Then a quick dash down to Genesis to see Mr Duck, who still seem to be stuck in the 80s. Along with the semi goth sounding songs, and James' random mumblings, that occassionally sound like Morrissey, Alex seemed to be playing around with odd noises from his guitar and the drum machine beats. Running back into town to the Cellar, it was scary how packed the Cellar was, even before 9.30. The Cellar just turned out to be the venue of the night. Possibly the most impressive band I saw were Sunnyvale Noise Sub-element who managed to pull dance beats along with some rocking guitar riffs, a bit like South Sea but even more experimental. They even had the best heckle of the night of 'Buy A Laptop!' (aimed at the fact that the two computers weren't working at the beginning of the set). The buzz band of the evening were The Young Knives, everyone I had talked to seemed to have wanted to see them. The audience weren't disappointed, getting the usual Young Knives show. It is quite amazing how every set they play seem to be different, just proving how much material they have. Their ties and harmonies reminded me a bit of early Samurai Seven. After the Young Knives, I saw a bit of Sexy Breakfast, who really don't know what they want to be. At times they had rocking riffs, while in other moments they sounded like Supergrass. I also ran off to Po Na Na, and caught the end of Chamfer's set, but can't really remember much. As for the rest of the evening....well...... Gig Count: 44

17/05/02
The first band rules again
How often can it be that in the space of a month there are two gigs where the first support blew everyone else off stage. The Elastic Bandidos were great. Playing with melodicas, and synchronised guitar swinging, they painted a picture of a married couple living in a trailer somewhere in the Midwest of America. Four Storeys have got a bit rockier since the last time I saw them, but they're still just quite dull. The songs never go anywhere... the set just starts and then lingers... Jack Drag were a disappointment too. They sounded like some cross between the Eels and Fun Loving Criminals, but the lead singer didn't really have the character to pull it off.
Gig Count: 43

13/05/02

Yee ha! Tonight started pretty normally for a Trailerpark night. First on were The Vessels, who've been Mark and Lard's single of the week recently. I felt a bit out of place without the hay bales, and other appropiate objects for a very country sounding band, from London. Their single was dreamy in the right way, but as the set went on they got and more country like, if they went on any longer we'd be country dancing at the front. Monkey Drink are the off shoot of Juno Pixie, performing while Dave's away. They sounded more macho than Juno Pixie (pretty easy really), and seemed to be having a lot more fun with the computer and samples, and instruments swapping. But the highlight of the night was the 'performance' from Oli and Sleeve, sitting in a corner of the room playing with various casio keyboards, playing (amongst other things) a great version of the theme from Doctor Who. Genius. Oh and the Goldrush and Fonda 500 videos were pretty good too... Gig Count: 42

12/05/02
Fun and (not) Sun in the park - part 2

What's the best way to get rid of a hangover? Spend the day in a park listening to more bands. They seemed to have learnt their lesson from yesterday, and all the Fox FM sponsorship, and inbetweeny bits were gone. South Sea Company Prospectus were really suited to playing outdoors, their electronic noises sounded just seemed to fill up the open air, and scare the kiddies walking by. Hmm Hedroom, opening with a cover of the theme from Inspector Gadget, the set was downhill from there, sounding like an even worse version of Alien Ant Farm. Ah well we were rescued by The Young Knives, coming onstage with comedy beards, they fitted into the whole surealness of the weekend. If you were to judge the bands by the participation from the kiddies (always the best way to judge bands in this situation), then the winners were The Young Knives. And remember the kids are always right... Gig Count: 41

11/05/02
Fun and Sun in the park- part 1

Whose idea was it to have Dustball on so early? Playing at around lunchtime meant that I missed them (I never get up before 1 y'know...) but the trip up to the depths of council event hell was worth it for Smilex. Lee probably spent more time off the stage than on it, running around the bemused crowds, getting the crowd involved, making the set an interactive affair. Shame the sound was so shite though, but then what do we expect from something run by FOX fm? Gig Count: 40

10/05/02
Sounds So Right

Part 2 in my many part minibender, I really didn't intend to get as drunk as this, so apologies to anyone I spoke to. As soon as you went upstairs at the Wheatsheaf you knew it was going to be a good night, with the steam rising off everyone, as it got warmer and warmer. First on were Antihero who seemed to deal with pretty eye-catching song titles, such as Who's Looking Out for Number One and Rolling Stone T-shirt. Their endless touring showed through with a pretty tight and polished sound. Their constant touring partners Miss Black America were also pretty impressive. Trying to work out who they sounded like, it eventually came to me that at times they were quite like the Smashing Pumpkins, while the lead singer looked like a cross between Richey Manic and Jarvis Cocker. While watching them, it struck me strange how bands like Cooper Temple Clause could become sucessful, while a pretty much similar band (MBA) would still be playing the toilet circuit. They seemed to have what was needed to be successful, the melodies and the energy. Maybe they just don't have enough hair. Another injustice in the musical success world are Dustball. They could have been so successful, but they are still here plugging away. It's strange to think that back in 1998 they were playing upstairs at the Zodiac, and tongiht they ended up playing to a half empty Wheatsheaf (most people seemed to disappear after MBA - silly people). But they are still as good as they've ever been, actually I would argue that the recent material is much better than the songs before. It was just rather disturbing to watch a moshpit that used to be full of underaged teenagers a few years ago, now full of people in their 20s and 30s.

Gig Count: 39

09/05/02

Now this was strange There definitely should be more gigs in 'unconventional' gig venues, such as the one tonight at Steventon Church. Just like the Truck festival itself, this gig had a village fete type feel to it. At one side were the Brownies, over there were some old couples, and in another corner were teenagers who would probably spend more of their time listening to Garage. Certainly the gig being the event in the village for the night helped to create the atmosphere, but the way the music from the bands fitted in so well with the acousitcs of the venue probably helped too. Normally Black Nielson would sound very quiet, wherever they were playing, but here they filled the whole room with their Grandaddy-esque songs, with Lasoo the Moon sounding particularly beautiful. Also playing songs of their forthcoming single, these songs seemed to pick up where their last album left off. But tonight was really like a homecoming, over all homecomings, for Goldrush. Originally billed as an album launch (the album now due out in late June) the band played songs off the album, in the order on the album. The stand out songs from the set were Best Intentions, this song has to be a single some time, and Don't Bring Me Down, ending the set on a hopeful and upbeat mood. In the encore they even played Dead, which with Joe's high vocals sounded particularly good in the church. Gig Count: 38

03/05/02
Burn baby Burn
In theory Burn shouldn't work at all. They look like your dad, they wear baggy leather trousers, and play dodgy rock riffs. They seem to exist in some alternative universe where Spinal Tap didn't happen and Led Zeppelin still rule the world. While other bands take the rock posing act of Spinal Tap, and use it to great effect, Burn seem to be more inspired by the musical side of things, the riffs and the good old traditional rock and roll tunes. Like The Young Knives, they're bringing back some melodic rock into a city that has focused for too long on looking cool. In the words of Burn themselves...'We are Burn and this is how we say goodnight. We say Hypertonic!'
Gig Count: 37

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