August 11, 2004
Brought in from heat 8, after Erebus pulled out, Kingsize Operator had the honour of starting us off, and it’s not an easy honour to have. But their brilliant lyrics and original style saw them shoot straight up in the crowd’s estimation. Best described I guess as funky chill-out rock. These guys knew what to do on stage, and what to do with their sound, using plenty of samples and some superb timing. The lead guitarist had only been with them for 2 weeks, but he didn’t let on, and easily played his funky, bright riffs with often continuous Cry Baby™. It would be pretty safe to safe to say that the bass lines were Chili Peppers influenced. The vocalist spat the lyrics out with confidence and feeling, the song featured on the Junktion 7 BOTB compilation CD, is ridiculously catchy, this is yet another one of those sets that stick a grin permanently to your face.
The Dangerous Third came next, and brought with them a very orthodox grunge sound. Kind of like Alice in Chains, but upbeat, if that’s not a contradiction! The impression I got was that their songs could have done with a bit more thought behind them; simple guitar riffs, the odd rather messy solo, and vocals that couldn’t be heard or understood very well, made the 30 minutes a little hard going. There were a few mistakes in their performance, but I only spotted these thanks to the quick nervous glances between band members, otherwise, they covered them up very well. Amongst all this though, they pulled out some surprises, just to get you doubting your opinion. There were flashes of some well worked 3 way vocal harmonies, some impressive intros, an unquestionably talented drummer, and a bassist that actually moved around!
Going on Urban Gypsy’s description, and the song on the compilation CD, we were promised jazzy soul rock. What we got was almost, but not quite that. It was much more upbeat than expected, along the lines of JJ72, but the rather lack-lustre stage presence didn’t support it. Not one of the members looked at the crowd throughout the show, we felt a bit neglected. There was nothing denying the talent of the musicians, their technique was top notch, but the music they produced was far too predictable. The vocals lacked the desired power, which was quite a shame because she had an excellent voice. The set proved to be progressive and well thought out, with regular drum fills, varied bass lines and funky effects on the lead guitar to keep the sound rolling and the crowd interested.
With the traditional frontman hanging from the mic stand, as is the Indie style, Starscreen were on last, and immediately showed their song writing ability. Regularly impressing with clever lyrics, and even more ingenious and vastly varied riffs from the lead guitarist, who was easily the best of the night. The drummer played on instinct as appose to concentration, and there was a good show of technique from the bassist, with complex, finger pickin’ lines! Only, the vocals could have done with a bit of ‘umph’ to compliment the music. The stage presence didn’t start off too brilliantly, but it certainly didn’t take long for the frontman to get his groove on, it was just a pity that the rest of the band didn’t follow his example. Their set was another well thought out one, and got progressively more and more powerful, ending on an awesome solo in the last song, I’m still drooling!
Only the second time in this competition, a band that had the not so desirable honour of going first, had stuck in the minds of voters through the evening. Kingsize Operator go through To see more pictures from this gig click here Review ~ Steph Photos ~ Andy ‘Pyro’ Butler
Written By Steph
Photos ~ Andy
