January 14, 2006
To kick off this first heat of Hucknall's Shock & Awe Promotions BOTB we have punk rockers Sheriff Fatman. They power-slam into the night using guitars that played in unison especially on the choruses to give the band interesting dynamic. At times it seems messy but with the bursts of power from the guitars it works really well. The drums really gallop along and provide the stable kick to much of the sound with a really consistant boom to them. For all the power in the music the vocals lacked the same oomph at times and some backing vocals might have helped give them a greater effect. Sheriff Fatman mix their catchy, powerful punk with a more traditional british rock n roll edge and they really tried to interact with the audience, this didnt always pay off though and lacked movement on stage. This was still a good set and with some real kick to their sound and the nice British feel and a very welcome lack of American accent on the vocal, it was a great start of old fashioned, fun, beer driven punk rock.
Next up were a band who Saggy Pants have worked with before and as their set started the sound guy seemed to be lost, as the Yes My Ninjas? boys took over the stage. Mixing everything from drum n bass to folk with weird keyboards and heavy metal guitars thrown in at random intervals, the crowd grew as intrigue grasped them and they tried to work out what this weird sound filling the room was. Their crazy changes between ska, folk, metal, drum n bass and electro were just to much for people to handle, just as they began to dance Yes my Ninjas? changed again and the crowd didn't know what to do. They played a really tight set and with the cool visuals being played onto the backdrop, they put on a really great show. Yes My Ninjas? certainly won over a few more fans tonight and with their eye catching stage act, weird mix of original music and insane attitudes they are fast becoming one of Nottingham's best underground bands.
After Yes My Ninjas? the next band are really gonna have to put on a show and as far as effort went they were bang on…almost. Fallen Skies took to the stage with bags of attitude and as their frontman leapt around the room, screaming into his mic, what could have been just complete bullshit for all we could tell. Fallen Skies were lacking a bassist tonight and they really missed that in their mix. The guitar riffs were over simple and layered in shitty distortion and as the set progressed it all started getting a bit tedious and the frontman's mega ego started to overwhelm the crowd. To make it all worst Fallen Skies broke the rules of this Battle and played a cover, which the drummer, at first, refused to play. Fallen Skies are filled with angry, unfulfilled, and most probably unjustified teenage angst, they could do with a bit more imagination and certainly more professionalism.
To finish off this first heat we have punkers Jonny No Stars. We have seen and worked with these guys plenty of times in the past so knew what to expect and we weren't let down with the lads putting in a classic JNS performance. As per usual the lads seemed to get really into the songs and enjoyed every moment, possibly due to the odd beverage or ten. Jonny No Stars play punk the way it should be, they love having a laugh and hate everything else. The songs are fairly catchy and the guitars work well with their changes between dirty punk distortion and clean ska riffs. The vocals are really powerful and with the added help of well timed and well placed backing vocals, Jonny No Stars biggest asset is their catchy hook lines that are sang out with power and purpose. Some more movement wouldn't go a miss whilst playing songs but with a fun and relaxed attitude in between songs, they still provide an entertaining show. The ska breaks tonight were really nice and I was dying out for them to employ the use of some bass. Jonny No Stars are always good fun to watch and with their catchy and tradtional punk attitude, they produced the quote of the night "Nazi Punks Can STILL Fuck Off!".
Review – Gaz
Written By Gaz
