August 4, 2004
Playing an extraordinarily short set were Heroic Trio. Fronted by two females and a guy on the drums, their performance gave us something a little different to start this week off with. Good use of irregular and throbbing drum beats, plenty of variation in the vocal tones, and loud inventive bass lines ensured that what we did see of this little show was certainly notable, and original, I can't really think of another band or artist similar, but if you like the melodic and mesmerizing, you'll enjoy this. Disappointingly restricted with their movement, considering they had so much room on the stage to play with. This meant that their stage presence wasn't exactly enthralling, but their music was certainly creative and proved to be of high-quality and crowd pleasing throughout.
Old skool punk rockers The Rockitts took to the stage next, and seemed to have their fair few of technical difficulties, their keyboard player couldn't be heard above the rest of their din and they had to stop after only a couple of songs to replace their bass drum pedal with Hinterland's. The Ramones and The Buzzcocks stylee, there's certainly plenty of get-up-and-go about this performance. Well thought out intros were soon replaced by the lead guitarist settling happily into juicy chord filled riffs, with the odd solo, accompanied by crashing drums and loose but essential bass. Their stage presence demanded the audiences' attention with plenty of movement, catchy choruses and clever lyrics, and the backing vocals working very well, these guys are pretty well polished for a proper hands-on punk act.
Bringing a smiley, feel-good mood to the night was acoustic, verging on folk-rock act Glasshour. The vocalist used inspired lyrics along with an impressive range of tones, and he pulled them all off in style, his acoustic guitar gave a full ringing sound, and you knew that there would be something rather vital missing without it. The lead guitarist showed brilliant technique, and pulled out mandolin later on in the set, just to convince any further non-believers that he really kicked ass. There was more blinding technique and powerful backing vocals coming from the bassist. The drumming was simple, which fitted, because it would have been a shame for it to over-power the rest of the sound. They generally looked pretty comfortable in front of a crowd, and the crowd felt pretty comfortable with them, it was hard to find something not to like about Glasshour. By the end of their set we manage to sum it up as: an acoustic Levellers crossed with David Gray, plus some R.E.M for good measure. {shrugs}
Hard hitting, in your face all the time. That would be the sound of Hinterland. Obviously not giving a shit about the well-being of their instruments, with bashing, crashing and general thrashing going on all over the place. A very energetic and punked-up-really-hard form of Feeder. With excellent interaction between guitar and the Pitchshifter influenced bass. Unassailable vocals with good variation at appropriate times, but the drums stole most of the attention by being very very very noisy. For a three piece, these guys certainly have a full sound, and there isn't a feeling that there's something absent. Plenty of movement from the two guys at the front ensured good stage presence. Hinterland perhaps lack a little variation and definition between each song, but then why be bothered when each song makes the hairs on the back of your neck dance the Funky Chicken?!?
Tonight's heat was yet another close one. It was Hinterland that caught the attention of voters the most though, so we'll be seeing them in the semis. To see more pictures from this gig click here Review ~ Steph Photos ~ Andy 'Pyro' Butler
Written By Steph
Photos ~ Andy
