June 25, 2005
25/06/05 – Bunkers Hill (Nottingham)
Well…what to see today? spoilt for choice really,Teenage Casket Company in Retford (yes it IS in Notts), Y&T at City, Touch too Much and a Hog Roast at MFN Shipley gate, Summer XS at the Arena (thankfully neither Jo n Twiggy nor Richard (Prestige/McFly) have invited me) or the Starrlings at Bunkers Hill, decisions, decisions.
So, as I round the corner to Bunkers I am met by hoards of bustling, screaming girls, must be good these Starrlings, but of course this is the backstage / load in area for the Arena, today hosting the cream of the British pop biz… and Chesney Hawkes.Now Bunkers Hill has been revamped recently downstairs and it seems to me that rather than stopping the decorators at the upstairs venue door, a portal beyond which dark, and unfathomable forces lurk, they have actually given the place a bit of a pressure wash !!, good? bad? another debate.
The whispers I had heard told me the Starrlings had the potential to be great…and they were correct. As they blast into their opening offering, “New York”, the quality of the songwriting hits you straight between the ears.This is followed up with more hooky, riffy, edgy brit/rock/pop reminscent of all that was best about the The Kinks/Troggs/Small Faces, even tipping it’s hat to Hendrix at times but with a fresh “now” feel. Two good vocals in the band give great scope for different colours, textures, character and harmony which is used well, but this leads me to my critique. Identity!…the name “The Starrlings” is perfect even down to the two R’s in the spelling, it conjurs up just the kind of music they play, but there it ends. Like so many bands they look like a bunch of mates who are going to different clubs after the show, however, in a show with technical (amps) problems and an audience that were rushing to the windows to see what the screaming was about every five minutes (all liggers at heart aren’t we?), non of which phased them, the identity crisis is all. The Starrlings could be a force to be reckoned with…soon.
Writen By Roger England
