Sunday 31st May: 2010, and the last weekend in May sees a major music competition, a multitude of bands descend on one venue and play their hearts out in front of a large, screaming audience in order to gain the votes of a panel of experts, resulting in one being crowned winner with prizes including some high-profile gigs.
No, I'm not talking about Eurovision. That was last night. Tonight is the final of the Fibbers Battle of the Bands contest. To be fair, the two events are fairly similar. Except BotB is a lot smaller than Eurovision, there's less cheese, a lot less Lycra, very little silly dancing, a lot less (I would hope) political voting and an act from the UK has a very good chance of winning.
Oh, yeah, and the music is orders of magnitude better.
As I understand it, bands reach the final through a series of knockout heats and semi-finals, during which it is the audience which votes for the winners. So, the more fans, friends and family members the band brings along, the more chance of progressing. I think one finalist is put through by a judging panel. This year, this method resulted in five very different bands making it through to tonight's final.
Sadly, Kill The Captain had to drop out at short notice. A shame as I'd not heard them before. Some other time maybe.
The running order was decided on the day and first to take to the stage were The Littlemores, a band I had seen and enjoyed earlier this year, despite their music not being to my usual tastes. Ska-like, I stand by my earlier description that they sound like The Jam gone pop. As last time, they were joined on stage by multi-instrumentalist Ben Crosthwaite, who added the accordion to the previously featured trumpet. Ben adds a different dimension and a large degree of originality to the band's songs, which deal largely with aspects of youth and contain a degree of humour. My favourites from tonight's set were For The Lads, which tells the "story" of a young man who ends up joining the BNP, to the disappointment of others and something whose title begins with "O" (I'm writing this a week after the event and can't read my notes...) which featured the aforementioned accordion and some strangely Santana-like guitar-playing. The overall feeling is one of fun and The Littlemores had their large and somewhat vocal support bouncing.
It was all change in the audience as the next band took to the stage and fans of Scarborough boys The Shadracks moved to the front. If the Littlemores embody fun, the more traditionally indie sounding Shadracks could be said to represent cheekiness. There's lots of Cheshire Cat grins and more than one audience-involving gimmick, such as getting a volunteer to play tambourine on stage or keyboard-player Joe running into the audience with a small hand-held keyboard. Sadly, the vocals weren't as clear and the songs a little less memorable, but the set did include a reasonable drum solo (not something you see very often from local bands). It was, however, another very good performance.
Third up were Lost From Atlas and regular (hah!) readers will know that I really like this band. (In fact, they were one of the two reasons I was here tonight.) Unusually, the Atlas boys broke up their set a bit so that Danny could speak although, to be honest, he did look a little uncomfortable doing so and I can't help but wonder whether they thought it was expected of them to engage with the audience a bit. I'm fairly certain that there as some new material in the set which was another excellent one from an outstanding band who were described by tonight's host (Alexander King who, it has to be said, did a particularly good job as compere) as "bewilderingly good".
Finally, and with quite a disparity in age to the rest of tonight's acts, Maybe She's A Clone took to the stage. Described to me as "loud guitar rock", they are listed on the link above as "rock / emo / indie" What is emo anyway?? This was another new band to me, despite knowing one of the members. They follow the twin guitar pattern of one of my favourite local bands but manage to sound very different. Although I thought I detected a little Southern Rock (a la Black Stone Cherry) in the first song, that soon disappeared and the overall impression I was with was something more akin to The Engineers as, even without keyboards, they managed to produce a similar soundscape. Again, the vocals, shared throughout the band, weren't that clear from where I was standing but the riff-driven guitar-playing was superb. Highlight for me was the brilliantly melodic Breathe Again.
And then, after a short deliberation on the part of the judges, the results were announced. Perhaps a little unfairly, the acts were announced from three to one, leaving fourth place somewhat unrecognised. The full order was:
4th: Maybe She's A Clone
3rd: The Shadracks
2nd: Lost From Atlas
1st: The Littlemores -a result which went down well with what seemed to be the majority of the audience.
Personally, I wouldn't have ranked the bands in that order. Based purely on personal taste, Lost From Atlas would have been winners, followed by Maybe She's A Clone, The Littlemores and, finally, The Shadracks.
That's not to take anything from any of the bands - despite two of them not being my "thing", all of them were thoroughly entertaining and, overall, it was a fantastic evening.
Showing posts with label The Littlemores. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Littlemores. Show all posts
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Lost in the Snow
Saturday 9th January: I'm a sucker for an album launch. The spectacular venue, the canapes, the free-flowing wine, the celebrities, the record company executives, the giveaways and the well-known artistes who have spent the last few months in a state of the art studio.
Of course, in the local music scene that I frequent, the venues are a lot smaller and darker, the alcohol and canapes are bitter or lager and crisps bought from the bar, where you can also pick up the freebies (flyers for upcoming gigs and The Fly magazine). There may be celebrities in the audience but they are likely to be members of other local bands and the chance of any executives being there are slim (the older gentlemen wandering around in shirt and tie are probably relatives of the band...) The artistes themselves are probably still well-known (throughout the audience, anyway) and have almost certainly put a lot of work into their album, albeit probably not in a state of the art studio.
Still, an album launch by any other name... and it's for that very reason that I braved the Wintery weather to meet Andy at Fibbers tonight.
Unfortunately, the weather made my bus late and I missed the first act, Tom Welbrock. A solo keyboard player. I got a text from Andy saying, "Some kid playing Bach and rag all by himself." Andy seemed to have enjoyed the performance, but I obviously can't comment.
Continuing the weather theme, it turned out that the next band, Surprise Fire had been snowed in. They had been replaced by Swimwear Juniors. A four-piece consisting mainly of two guitars, bass and drum, they played a set of bright, lively pop. Not the generic three-minute variety but more complex, longer songs. The only thing that sprung to mind as a sound-alike was the result of the The Jam changing musical direction. The music was superb, the lyrics clear and the band obviously had some fans in the audience as Fibbers was turned into a bit of a mosh-pit. This was an extremely entertaining and very assured performance. There was something about the look of lead-singer Oliver that reminded me of performers from the sixties - his haircut, the way he wore his guitar and the slight lean down toward the microphone... All he needed was a suit and tie and he could have stepped out of The Beatles. We chatted to Oliver after their set (I didn't mention the resemblance) and found out that Swimwear Juniors had actually split up in July last year, as they all went off to university. Not having had a chance to properly say goodbye to their songs, they were glad to have been asked to perform tonight. The boys have now formed a new band, Trophy Club, and Oliver says that their old music has been replaced by a more mature sound. While I'll certainly give them a try if I get the chance, I hope they retain some semblance of their old sound.
Next up were The Littlemores, a three-piece of guitar, bass and drum, joined for about half their set by Ben the trumpet-player. There was quite a mixture of styles in their performance - the trumpet added a hint of ska, there was at least one piece of something very like jazz, among others - and it was a bit of shame that the band didn't seem to have a style of their own. That's not to take anything away from the music - it was another enjoyable set, although both Andy and myself preferred the songs which featured the trumpet. Again, worth checking out if they are playing near you. Their next advertised gig is part of The Battle of the Bands on the 23rd of February.
Finally, the band we were there to see (and buy the album). Roj and I had previously seen Lost From Atlas as a support band late last year. Their highly individual sound had grabbed up immediately and we were both keen to go to the album launch in November. Sadly, that date was delayed and Roj was unable to make it tonight. So impressed was he, though, that he asked me to pick up a copy for him anyway. Thankfully, nothing went wrong this time as this weekend was the last that the band were in York before going their separate ways to university (but not splitting up). Anyway, tonight's set was pretty much the same as the last time we saw them - a fully instrumental set that could have contained one long song or could have been a number of tracks with no breaks. The intricate changes in music, along with the variety of playing styles employed by guitarist Danny Gallagher still remind me of a new style of keyboard-less prog rock, but Roj described their style as math rock. Who am I to argue?? The band certainly give it their all, with Danny alternating between standing almost still and cavorting around the stage as though he was on hot coals. Liam Ledgeway drums as though his life depends on it and bass-player Orlando Lloyd, while pretty much the quiet man of the band, still produces some excellent bass-lines. I can't remember whether there was anything different between this set and the last time saw them, but both were excellent and both over way too soon.
Danny also seemed to be continuing the lack of vocals idea of the set (perhaps a bit too far) by advertising the album on his chest. Although he did speak towards the end of the set to tell us where we could get the CD from, which helped as I had previously wandered around Fibbers unsuccessfully looking for somebody selling it. If time permits, I'll try to put a review together when I have had a chance to listen to it properly.
I may have only seen three out of the four bands on offer tonight, but rarely can four English pounds have been so well spent.
Of course, in the local music scene that I frequent, the venues are a lot smaller and darker, the alcohol and canapes are bitter or lager and crisps bought from the bar, where you can also pick up the freebies (flyers for upcoming gigs and The Fly magazine). There may be celebrities in the audience but they are likely to be members of other local bands and the chance of any executives being there are slim (the older gentlemen wandering around in shirt and tie are probably relatives of the band...) The artistes themselves are probably still well-known (throughout the audience, anyway) and have almost certainly put a lot of work into their album, albeit probably not in a state of the art studio.
Still, an album launch by any other name... and it's for that very reason that I braved the Wintery weather to meet Andy at Fibbers tonight.
Unfortunately, the weather made my bus late and I missed the first act, Tom Welbrock. A solo keyboard player. I got a text from Andy saying, "Some kid playing Bach and rag all by himself." Andy seemed to have enjoyed the performance, but I obviously can't comment.
Continuing the weather theme, it turned out that the next band, Surprise Fire had been snowed in. They had been replaced by Swimwear Juniors. A four-piece consisting mainly of two guitars, bass and drum, they played a set of bright, lively pop. Not the generic three-minute variety but more complex, longer songs. The only thing that sprung to mind as a sound-alike was the result of the The Jam changing musical direction. The music was superb, the lyrics clear and the band obviously had some fans in the audience as Fibbers was turned into a bit of a mosh-pit. This was an extremely entertaining and very assured performance. There was something about the look of lead-singer Oliver that reminded me of performers from the sixties - his haircut, the way he wore his guitar and the slight lean down toward the microphone... All he needed was a suit and tie and he could have stepped out of The Beatles. We chatted to Oliver after their set (I didn't mention the resemblance) and found out that Swimwear Juniors had actually split up in July last year, as they all went off to university. Not having had a chance to properly say goodbye to their songs, they were glad to have been asked to perform tonight. The boys have now formed a new band, Trophy Club, and Oliver says that their old music has been replaced by a more mature sound. While I'll certainly give them a try if I get the chance, I hope they retain some semblance of their old sound.
Next up were The Littlemores, a three-piece of guitar, bass and drum, joined for about half their set by Ben the trumpet-player. There was quite a mixture of styles in their performance - the trumpet added a hint of ska, there was at least one piece of something very like jazz, among others - and it was a bit of shame that the band didn't seem to have a style of their own. That's not to take anything away from the music - it was another enjoyable set, although both Andy and myself preferred the songs which featured the trumpet. Again, worth checking out if they are playing near you. Their next advertised gig is part of The Battle of the Bands on the 23rd of February.
Finally, the band we were there to see (and buy the album). Roj and I had previously seen Lost From Atlas as a support band late last year. Their highly individual sound had grabbed up immediately and we were both keen to go to the album launch in November. Sadly, that date was delayed and Roj was unable to make it tonight. So impressed was he, though, that he asked me to pick up a copy for him anyway. Thankfully, nothing went wrong this time as this weekend was the last that the band were in York before going their separate ways to university (but not splitting up). Anyway, tonight's set was pretty much the same as the last time we saw them - a fully instrumental set that could have contained one long song or could have been a number of tracks with no breaks. The intricate changes in music, along with the variety of playing styles employed by guitarist Danny Gallagher still remind me of a new style of keyboard-less prog rock, but Roj described their style as math rock. Who am I to argue?? The band certainly give it their all, with Danny alternating between standing almost still and cavorting around the stage as though he was on hot coals. Liam Ledgeway drums as though his life depends on it and bass-player Orlando Lloyd, while pretty much the quiet man of the band, still produces some excellent bass-lines. I can't remember whether there was anything different between this set and the last time saw them, but both were excellent and both over way too soon.
Danny also seemed to be continuing the lack of vocals idea of the set (perhaps a bit too far) by advertising the album on his chest. Although he did speak towards the end of the set to tell us where we could get the CD from, which helped as I had previously wandered around Fibbers unsuccessfully looking for somebody selling it. If time permits, I'll try to put a review together when I have had a chance to listen to it properly.
I may have only seen three out of the four bands on offer tonight, but rarely can four English pounds have been so well spent.
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