August 25, 2004
Beginning the heat to end all heats, for this year anyway, Sevenstone set the sound system to work, with thrashing, consistent riff-age, and some very apparent and well worked interaction between bass and guitar. Complete with those strong, deep, gritty vocals, as is most of the best grunge acts, the frontman (slash) guitarist let us in on some well constructed and passionate lyrics. Some very funky drumming that gave Sevenstone distinction over the rest of the rather commonplace grunge bands around, involved variation from the tribal sounding to the jazzy sounding with plentiful use of the hi-hat, all of which drew much attention, and many impressed looks from the audience. Speaking of the audience, they didn't really speak to it that much. Poor crowd interaction, and very little movement around the stage, meant that, although the music was entertaining, the stage wasn't.
Starting and probably ending their set out of tune, Bud came careering onto the stage with a two member strong horn section, so it seems we're being treated to one more than usual. Unfortunately this horn section were more like session musicians than permanent and consistent members of the band. This being unfortunate because (and I know I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again) the ska songs that Bud produce are most definitely written and performed better and are generally sweeter on the ear than the punk/emo ones that are slipped in between them. If you wondered what happened to At The Drive-In, then the lead singer is currently fronting Bud (that's an out and out lie, but if you hear him sing you'll know what I mean) I've said that before too. (:p) It's hard to tell whether these guys are comfortable with their stuff, the stage presence seems to suggest they are, but their sound just doesn't have that broken-in feel to it. Either way they certainly have a good time and even the not-so-ska songs in which you can't quite tell who's playing or singing what, get you grinning and skanking along quite contently.
Bringing a moodier moment to the night, along came Mame to show us what they could do, and they hit us hard with good old fashioned power grunge, lengthy strong vocals, bright and often melodic guitars, and some occasions of funk brought in by the bass and the drums. Speaking of which, the bass and the drums worked exceptionally well together, bringing in some brilliantly creative and notable intros. The drummer kept great timing, and the bassist, displaying a very classy fretless bass, gave a very effective performance, to say he'd only been part of Mame for a couple of weeks. They gave a powerful and respect demanding stage presence, kind of Nirvana with just a few more balls. But unfortunately they showed very little enthusiasm of movement, and this caused that respect to waver a little bit towards the end, especially when the songs were all sounding the same and not looking like they were going to budge an inch towards anything that might just stand out above the rest.
Up next were Five Moons Away, who had kindly come in to replace Kingsize Operator who were in tonight's original line up, until they were moved forward to heat 6 blah blah complicated blah. Anyway Five Moons Away came on and brought plenty of noise with them as they thrashed out their feel good, messy rock. This bunch of young lads most definitely have the right idea, and there were times of excellent technique by the guitarist/vocalist, brilliantly effective bass, and lots of very original and unorthodox vocal patterns. At other times their music lacked any sort of flow, and you found yourself aching for it to get back on track. They always managed to get it there though, and this left you relieved and happily bouncing along to whatever the loud noise was that was coming from the big black things at either side of the stage. With a bit more buffing up and a little attention to the vocal clarity, Five Moons Away could avoid that moment of despair in the middle, and the crowd could have 30 minutes of happily bouncing.
The ska tradition continues!…Bud go through. To see more pictures from this gig click here Review ~ Steph Photos ~ Andy 'Pyro' Butler
Written By Steph
Photos ~ Andy
