September 20, 2006
A Man Down
Its mid week Wednesday with high spirits and pints in hand and to start the night off is pop punk A Man Down all the way from Brighton whose feel good sound has the very early saves the day feel to it. Theres emo too with painstakingly obvious lyrics such as broken hearted boy but dont put this review down yet. Theyre not weepy or drone like sounding and they shout out marijuana which gets a few cheers. The songs did sound quite similar to each other with the exception of tempo changing but at least there was no urine, bottles or spit involved which are all objects some bands in this genre know too well. People were dancing about and getting into it as well proving when youre drunk and with your mates sometimes theres nothing better than a bit of emo pop-punk.
Beat my Guest
Next it’s ‘dance time’ with the Beat My Guest lot who fuse ska with speed with even a hint of punk. This band doesn’t take life seriously. One song even has its own dance routine and if you’re not taking part they’re gunna stop the song altogether but with the punching trumpets and catchy riffs making your feet move naturally anyway there’s no chance of that. The sense of humour shines through with lyrics such as’ baldy, you’re a wanker’ with two bald blokes at the back on cue to make the song even funnier. The set continues with a ‘go wolfey go go’ Mr. Wolf cover, a James brown cover and an old song politically and metaphorically stabbing George Bush.
Ordo Ab Chao
After this Ordo Ab Chao take the stage where at this point the crowd has unfortunately decreased in size which really is a shame because the sound has got a lot better since I last saw them, with tighter song structures. Could this be down to the fact they have a new line up? They call banks the modern mafia. They answer the question ‘What the fuck are we?’ with ‘a mess…gay… only on Tuesdays’. They have a slight Rage against the Machine feel to one or two songs. They talk about government agencies and terrorists whilst having songs that are gradually becoming more and more familiar. In other words? Worth going to see.
Mr Wolf
Finally it’s three piece derby band Mr. Wolf but it’s gotta be said that you couldn’t help feel a bit embarrassed for them with less than 15 people in the room. That’s what you get for public transport not running late enough. But they got on with it nevertheless and where other bands would have given up these continue so respect is given. The sound has been influenced by bands that are so different to each other but the generality is feel good ska influenced chump-rock as their genre is now known. The potential was there to be even better if more people were there.
Reviewed by: Kristi
