July 28, 2004
Starting us off were the so obviously very nervous The Kay Sound Fashion. However upon finding out that this was their first gig (ever!) I wasn't surprised. Their opening song wasn't that impressive, and the drummer seemed to be concentrating so hard on his rather undemanding beat, that he made even that look as if it was such hard work. Their second song set the scene for the rest of their set, the vocalist brought in an acoustic guitar, and this made whatever was wrong with the opener, right again. This time it was clear that this is what The Kay Sound Fashion really sound like. Bright and 'twangy' clean riffs accompanied by drawn out distorted ones, subtle bass lines, and varied, well ordered vocals. It's good old fashioned 90's feel good indie rock, with a sensitive edge. It lacks the creativity and arrogance of modern day indie/rock n roll, which I'm stubbornly saying is most definitely a good thing. They managed to keep up a good mixture of slow, moving songs and faster enthusiastic songs. They ended well on a very funky number. Very harmless, very agreeable.
As if to rip through the complete opposite of the state of mind the first act left you in, Tarpot brought onto the stage with them bizarre costumes including a skeleton, a terrorist and the Devil, along with plenty of metal attitude, oh, and a guy in leopard print boxers, a gas mask, holding a plunger, and just dancing strangely all the way through the set (nutters?). What I can only portray as a Slipknot crossed with Rage Against The Machine spoof, these guys describe themselves as 'cockney hero metal' and I guess that's what it is… Riotous drunken Brit metal, with punching guitar riffs, fast throbbing drums, and excellent interaction between the two frontmen, these guys couldn't fail to get the crowd all riled up and moving. They played with the sound at the end of each song and set straight off with another with out a pause for the plunger guy to get his breathe back. Each song with different within its own right, but never failed indecently assault the senses.
Sibling were up next, bringing louder than God himself lead guitars, which regrettably drowned out the rest of the band, but what we could hear was pretty good, thrashing British rock really. They left little to be desired musically, they were very well practised, with clear, ringing, creative guitar riffs, steady and simple drumming, and first rate bass with a lovely double bass effect on their penultimate song. The only thing I would say is that the vocals weren't striking enough, but that could have been because they were drowned out. Something told me that if these guys showed a little more presence, and it didn't feel like I was listening to a photograph, then their performance would have been elevated to certainly a higher altitude than the one it was on.
Crowding the small Junktion 7 stage with 6 members, Weeble were ska, and fast and loud ska it was too, it had the aggressiveness of Capdown, plus an assortment of punk and senseless humour, ala Lightyear. All of which made their set an absolute skank-fest. They showed exceptional interaction between the two vocalists, and clever use of lyrics, along with the punchy guitars, and a small horn section consisting of a trombone, a trumpet, and a saxophone for one song in the middle of the set. Unfortunately the horn section wasn't as prominent and as catchy as I'd hoped, and was kind of lost in the sound of the two guitars, the bass, and the boisterous drums. Weeble had brought a good following of fans with them, which they thrived off and gave energetic and often ridiculous stage charisma, there was infectious confidence pouring in bucketfuls off the stage, this was ska to really get you psyched you up.
A very entertaining night and so much variation between acts, there was really only one winner though. Weeble go through to the next round, and we hope the performance will be just as good. To see more pictures from this gig click here Review ~ Steph Photos ~ Andy 'Pyro' Butler
Written By Steph
Photos ~ Andy
