2 reviews of non-screaming ground gigs for you.
The first..
The Lost Levels, Platform one, Collider, Faster than Robots
The waterfront, May 28th
I havent been to the waterfront in quite a while. Memories of it are not the fondest.
I can safely say that that hasnt changed much. Nothing to do with the bands, but more the venue itself. Firstly, its big. Big can mean empty. Secondly, The sound. The God Awful sound. :( Muddy as hell, too much bass throughout and generally not all that.
Anyways.
The night started promisingly enough, considering it was a tilting sky night. It was nice to see Mr. Tilting Sky branching out slightly in his choice of bands. Faster than robots kicked things into gear with a sonic youth/pixies tinged sound, although I have seen this band play better and sound better. Unfortunately they came across as slightly dull, not helped by the lack of guitar in the mix and too much bass. Not a bad band by far, but a little more energy and diversity would be nice.
Collider push their luck. By far the best band of the night in my opinion, but they take a while to get going and their set slumps slightly at the start. Towards the end, it picks up quite a bit of life and pounds it into gear. Most effective use of a nintendo DS Ive seen by a band! Post rock guitar lines steeped with radiohead urges while pushing everything forward with one of the most energetic drummers I have seen. Hugely promising and I for one, want more.
And who said that grunge is dead? No-one told Platform one. Unfortunately.
Coming across like early Queens of the stone age and nevermind era Nirvana with a few, somewhat contrived, effects they bash out a reasonable set, but its nothing new and you get the feeling you have heard it all before. Admittedly, the loud parts are pretty good and the screaming does need work, but its got some punch. Not bad, but not terribly good either.
Lost Levels have something about them which I quite like, but I cant wholely place what. This band also start off slow, with a quite kraftwork look and a doves mixed with most of the 'THE' bands you have heard of. Still though, the mix of guitars and piano is nice. They seem to bring out the big guns slightly too late in their set though, and by this time I have lost a bit of interest. Although, these big guns are pretty big. There is 'That' riff, which you will love, and the 'epic' song at the end.
Not the most inspired night, but a decent blend of treadded ground and new sounds. 6/10.
The second...
Fever Fever (single Launch) with The Brownies, BK and DAD and Cruiser Chimps
The Crypt/Take 5, May 30th
A definate party atmosphere is in the air from the word go in this tiny venue. Its all friends, muffins and alcohol. Cant be bad. Then you realise the bands are playing in what was, literally a crypt. The sound is pretty awful, and that is admitted by all the bands. But as far as sound clarity and acoustics are concerned, thats not what this night, or even this music, is about.
Starting the gig are Cruiser Chimps. 2 parts of the musical party that is Bearsuit I believe, this girl/boy, drum/guitar duo seem to know what they are doing. Art punk played very roughly, with frenzied yelps of vocals and the occasional piece of melody thrown in for good measure. Loud and very proud. Enjoyable.
BK and Dad are a vicious beast. Sometimes slightly unconvincing/overly honest in their experimentalism but always very very loud and very very good. Again, the sound does them no favours, but the expert drumming from Pip and moments of hugely agressive sounding guitars are spot on. You can see (and hear) why they are one of most Norwich's gig goers favourite bands. I just wish they would play more in a nice, simple 4/4 so I can rock out more.
The Brownies are a band whos name I have come across lots but havent had the pleasure of witnessing live before. To my surprise I am massively impressed. Sparring female vocals, joyfully big riffs, blasting drums and pounding bass all come together to create a band who are far more punk than a lot of bands who will openly call themselves punk. The closing song is a highly, with a deliciously catchy and violent streak coming out in the vocals. Which is especially impressive considering the size of the 2 girls which it is coming out of. The first Norwich band I can say that probably live up to the hype around them.
Still though, This is Fever Fever's night. Playing to a heaving rooms which is very much in party mode by this point, they never fail to disappoint. They use this to their favour and punch out a furiously riotous set which is fittingly lapped up. I can only assume the packets of lube which are bring thrown out throughout the set is to aid the movement of anyone who wants a closer look. Massively catchy, dualing female vocals underpin this band, and what with the guitars lacking in volume during their set, they certainly are the focal point. The night is capped off finely with a suitable vicious end and party bags for everyone lucky enough to be in attendance.
Superbly loud, viseral, art punk party of a night. I only wish I had remembered some earplugs! 9/10.
Bam x
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Set Guitars to Kill...
Oh my! :D
Im probably not the best person to review gigs that I actually put on, because Im bound to be biased. But lets recap. (Im probably going to review 2 more gigs Ive been to lately, later.)
Friday. May 22nd. The Marquee.
Lets set the tone. AMAZING.
So, Arcadia lake turn up nice and early, or at least part of them. Good stuff. To my surprise, the 2 headliners turn up shortly after and we breeze through the most painless soundcheck and load in imagineable.
People slowly roll in for Arcadia Lake who are up first and set the tone well for the night, easing everyone into whats to come. Suitably fantastic guitar work, drums and superb vocals (the only ones of the night) all glide together perfectly. And a huge special thanks to Sarah for being able to sing as she is/was having throat problems. So massive effort on their part and massive thanks to go along with it.
BK and DAD take to the stage next and to a pretty full room. Their blazing mix of experimental and lurching rock guitar and probably one of the most talented drummers around knock the volume levels up a notch and impress everyone who hasnt seen them before. The people that have remain just as impressed.
And So I Watch You From Afar saunter onto the stage and proceed in knocking the holy fuck out of every single person. :D Such a good band. So much energy. So many riffs! Basically the loudest single band on the face of the planet (*may not be true of the whole planet). They veer to very nearly upstaging their tour buddies and headliners of the night; Maybeshewill. Luckily, MSW are up to form and continue to blow the audience away with their electonic tinged LOUD-rock. So good to see them enjoying themselves too.
Last time the 2 bands played in norwich, it was a wet monday in october to about 10 people. This time, they had at least 68 very treated gig goers to play to (both bands) and I think they relished the oportunity.
Such. A. Great. Night!
Also, a personal best for a solo promoted gig in terms of turnout. Super :)
So, its sad that that gig is now over and done with, but more things to be going on with. Namely, Tubelord :)
Roll on.
x
Im probably not the best person to review gigs that I actually put on, because Im bound to be biased. But lets recap. (Im probably going to review 2 more gigs Ive been to lately, later.)
Friday. May 22nd. The Marquee.
Lets set the tone. AMAZING.
So, Arcadia lake turn up nice and early, or at least part of them. Good stuff. To my surprise, the 2 headliners turn up shortly after and we breeze through the most painless soundcheck and load in imagineable.
People slowly roll in for Arcadia Lake who are up first and set the tone well for the night, easing everyone into whats to come. Suitably fantastic guitar work, drums and superb vocals (the only ones of the night) all glide together perfectly. And a huge special thanks to Sarah for being able to sing as she is/was having throat problems. So massive effort on their part and massive thanks to go along with it.
BK and DAD take to the stage next and to a pretty full room. Their blazing mix of experimental and lurching rock guitar and probably one of the most talented drummers around knock the volume levels up a notch and impress everyone who hasnt seen them before. The people that have remain just as impressed.
And So I Watch You From Afar saunter onto the stage and proceed in knocking the holy fuck out of every single person. :D Such a good band. So much energy. So many riffs! Basically the loudest single band on the face of the planet (*may not be true of the whole planet). They veer to very nearly upstaging their tour buddies and headliners of the night; Maybeshewill. Luckily, MSW are up to form and continue to blow the audience away with their electonic tinged LOUD-rock. So good to see them enjoying themselves too.
Last time the 2 bands played in norwich, it was a wet monday in october to about 10 people. This time, they had at least 68 very treated gig goers to play to (both bands) and I think they relished the oportunity.
Such. A. Great. Night!
Also, a personal best for a solo promoted gig in terms of turnout. Super :)
So, its sad that that gig is now over and done with, but more things to be going on with. Namely, Tubelord :)
Roll on.
x
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Calm before the storm.
Long break between posts! Completely unintentional. Busy times and things to do. But lets update.
Jeniferever gig = Good. All was well. Codes were awesome. Maths were awesome. Caesura were great. Jeni were subdued, but good. Decent turn out too, for the first day (a tuesday) after the easter bank holiday.
Anyway, twas a good night.
SUCIOPERRO. Fuck. :D Amazing.
Basically, this gig was such a massive pain in my balls from the start; With finding supports and whatnot. 3 days before the gig, Into Flight had to pull out, due to a (now) ex band member being a douche. But Cest le vie. The ever lovely Fullwater filled in as first support and all was well again.. Untill the day before, Sucio's Van broke down outside Birmingham, meaning they missed thier Leeds gig that night. ruh oh...
5 o clock. Wednesday. I recieve a phone call:
"Hey, Jez?"
Hello, Yep?
"Hi, Stuart from sucioperro... I dont know if you know, but our van broke down yesterday.. (Massive sick feeling)
Well... (Stomach falls to feet)
Just wanted to let you know, we fixed it and we're on our way" (I shed a tear of joy)
.
So, 7.45, Sucio turn up at the Marquee. Ive never seen such a quick, painless load in, set up and sound check. 8.30, Fullwater hit the stage, to an adequet crowd. Nice.
9.15: Hair Traffic Control take up second support and frankly blow me away again, as well as a nicely filled room.
10.25: After a drum change over and set up, Sucio take to the stage also to a nicely filled room and proceed in stomping the audience into pulp! Superb, absolutely. People were singing, dancing, actually moving and being right up to the stage! Now thats impressive. JP even managed a little rock star moment over some Mic issues at Paul (the sound guy and head honcho of the music at the Marquee), But it was all taken pretty lightly. A fantastic 45 minute set, And they graciously bow out with 'Crushing of the little people' and leave everyone in the room pretty pleased.
Plus they seemed to really appriciate the pain agency cake and sandwiches my brilliant girlfriend had made them. Super nice guys, all the way through. Was kinda sad I couldnt just hang out with them all more. Still though.
Great night. And a great turn out for a wednesday! My wallet didnt suffer, just.
So.
Next up, as in tomorrow, I am hosting a pretty astounding line up: Mayebshewill, And So I Watch You From Afar, Bk and Dad and Arcadia Lake.
... I KNOW! :D
Have heard quite a few people speak positively of this gig, so that bodes well. I just want the bands to have a super turnout for them to play to, after last time playing to all of 15-20 people on a wet, cold, monday night. Pretty positive we can do better than that!
So yeah, super excited for that :)
In other news, In June... On the 26th to be precise, I, along with safetydance, will be playing host to darwin and the dinosaur, hair traffic control, Maths and.... TUBELORD. Win!
s'gonna be pretty magic. Heres the poster:
Tastey.
July will play host to Screaming Ground Fest. Also Exciting! But more on that next time..
So, I feel thats pretty updated. As always, Keep checking the myspace: www.myspace.com/screamingground and things.
Roll on tomorrow!
x
Jeniferever gig = Good. All was well. Codes were awesome. Maths were awesome. Caesura were great. Jeni were subdued, but good. Decent turn out too, for the first day (a tuesday) after the easter bank holiday.
Anyway, twas a good night.
SUCIOPERRO. Fuck. :D Amazing.
Basically, this gig was such a massive pain in my balls from the start; With finding supports and whatnot. 3 days before the gig, Into Flight had to pull out, due to a (now) ex band member being a douche. But Cest le vie. The ever lovely Fullwater filled in as first support and all was well again.. Untill the day before, Sucio's Van broke down outside Birmingham, meaning they missed thier Leeds gig that night. ruh oh...
5 o clock. Wednesday. I recieve a phone call:
"Hey, Jez?"
Hello, Yep?
"Hi, Stuart from sucioperro... I dont know if you know, but our van broke down yesterday.. (Massive sick feeling)
Well... (Stomach falls to feet)
Just wanted to let you know, we fixed it and we're on our way" (I shed a tear of joy)
.
So, 7.45, Sucio turn up at the Marquee. Ive never seen such a quick, painless load in, set up and sound check. 8.30, Fullwater hit the stage, to an adequet crowd. Nice.
9.15: Hair Traffic Control take up second support and frankly blow me away again, as well as a nicely filled room.
10.25: After a drum change over and set up, Sucio take to the stage also to a nicely filled room and proceed in stomping the audience into pulp! Superb, absolutely. People were singing, dancing, actually moving and being right up to the stage! Now thats impressive. JP even managed a little rock star moment over some Mic issues at Paul (the sound guy and head honcho of the music at the Marquee), But it was all taken pretty lightly. A fantastic 45 minute set, And they graciously bow out with 'Crushing of the little people' and leave everyone in the room pretty pleased.
Plus they seemed to really appriciate the pain agency cake and sandwiches my brilliant girlfriend had made them. Super nice guys, all the way through. Was kinda sad I couldnt just hang out with them all more. Still though.
Great night. And a great turn out for a wednesday! My wallet didnt suffer, just.
So.
Next up, as in tomorrow, I am hosting a pretty astounding line up: Mayebshewill, And So I Watch You From Afar, Bk and Dad and Arcadia Lake.
... I KNOW! :D
Have heard quite a few people speak positively of this gig, so that bodes well. I just want the bands to have a super turnout for them to play to, after last time playing to all of 15-20 people on a wet, cold, monday night. Pretty positive we can do better than that!
So yeah, super excited for that :)
In other news, In June... On the 26th to be precise, I, along with safetydance, will be playing host to darwin and the dinosaur, hair traffic control, Maths and.... TUBELORD. Win!
s'gonna be pretty magic. Heres the poster:
Tastey.
July will play host to Screaming Ground Fest. Also Exciting! But more on that next time..
So, I feel thats pretty updated. As always, Keep checking the myspace: www.myspace.com/screamingground and things.
Roll on tomorrow!
x
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