Thursday, June 25, 2009
Club Fandango at 229. 24.6.09.
One of the joys of blogging is you can see other peoples reviews of gigs you've been to. Whilst surfing for an ex-pipette I came across Taper Girl, (blog called weetheoptimist) who not only saw her in Islington, but follows Jemina Pearls blog (like I do). I miss Be Your Own Pet. Anyway, this blogger, not only has excellent taste but mentioned she had seen a band called Colour Me Wednesday several times. I noted the name a couple of months ago and then last week saw they were on a bill at the 229 venue, in Great Portland Street. So I headed along to what the promoters call Club Fandango for an evening out.
Now then, I have this problem with several venues putting on unsigned or smaller bands on the same bill, is that none of the bands were anything like the other. I may have limited knowledge of putting on a gig, but surely you know what style the act is you have booked and put them with similar acts. But no. The Water Rats is the same. This means whilst each band has their twenty or so followers but they quickly lose interest in the other acts and either leave or chat at the back when another act is on. Anyway these are my views of the four acts on this Wednesday.
Maxfield were the first act on. Apparently playing Glastonbury (is it that easy to get on the bill?). Fronted by a tall dark woman with overpowering outgoingness they played funky dance with guitar riffs. Musically they were not too bad with Never A Stranger being their best song, though not really my sort of thing.
Colour Me Wednesday can be barely out of their teens. Two girls, a cute guitarist and a vocalist with an ankle bracelet, and two blokes on bass and drums. I thought their opening track ‘New Day’? was great, reminiscent of the Darling Buds and the Primitives from the nineties period. However the next two tracks had a reggae beat with talkative vocals like a poor Lily Allen or Specials. Things perked up a bit when they played ‘Lost In The High Street’ which was back to the shoeglaze of the nineties like Lush. Written about Uxbridge, it could be they want to do to this area what Richard Archer did for Staines and Feltham, and maybe with a bit more maturity they perhaps could do so. Finally a couple of covers were played towards the end of their brief set, one by Dinosaur Junior, showing a cool musical taste and fantastically ‘One Night Stand’ by the Pipettes as a finale. I was almost about to break into a finger dance when they said goodnight.
Showing the diversity of the acts on the bill Kym Brown was next. Do electronica with her keyboard and dancing like a japenese robot, this was not my thing, despite the shortness of her skirt. This really had nothing in common at all with the rest of guitar based acts and I quickly lost interest propping up the back of the bar. To be fair her last song, was a proper song ballad and wasn’t too bad, but I won’t be looking out for her in future. Strangely she also got the biggest audience of the evening.
Introducing themselves as the legendary White Man Kamikaze I soon lost respect for the last act. These were heavy and loud. The only tune in each song came from their keyboard player whilst both guitar and bass just thrashed whilst the singer shouted out the chorus’s. For some reason their small audience consisted of a few scantily clad rock chicks which made up for the lack of a decent song though I decided to head home after four songs in as did the audience that stayed from the other acts. Credit to the band that lured me though as it appears they did stay (or at least the two blokes did) for all acts that appeared.
Finally it was a good basement venue with a bar to one side, a decent stage and good sound system. Wouldn’t hesitate to go back to check out a band I may be interested in. Hopefully the bill won’t be as diverse but that would be unlikely in the age without common sense.
Now then, I have this problem with several venues putting on unsigned or smaller bands on the same bill, is that none of the bands were anything like the other. I may have limited knowledge of putting on a gig, but surely you know what style the act is you have booked and put them with similar acts. But no. The Water Rats is the same. This means whilst each band has their twenty or so followers but they quickly lose interest in the other acts and either leave or chat at the back when another act is on. Anyway these are my views of the four acts on this Wednesday.
Maxfield were the first act on. Apparently playing Glastonbury (is it that easy to get on the bill?). Fronted by a tall dark woman with overpowering outgoingness they played funky dance with guitar riffs. Musically they were not too bad with Never A Stranger being their best song, though not really my sort of thing.
Colour Me Wednesday can be barely out of their teens. Two girls, a cute guitarist and a vocalist with an ankle bracelet, and two blokes on bass and drums. I thought their opening track ‘New Day’? was great, reminiscent of the Darling Buds and the Primitives from the nineties period. However the next two tracks had a reggae beat with talkative vocals like a poor Lily Allen or Specials. Things perked up a bit when they played ‘Lost In The High Street’ which was back to the shoeglaze of the nineties like Lush. Written about Uxbridge, it could be they want to do to this area what Richard Archer did for Staines and Feltham, and maybe with a bit more maturity they perhaps could do so. Finally a couple of covers were played towards the end of their brief set, one by Dinosaur Junior, showing a cool musical taste and fantastically ‘One Night Stand’ by the Pipettes as a finale. I was almost about to break into a finger dance when they said goodnight.
Showing the diversity of the acts on the bill Kym Brown was next. Do electronica with her keyboard and dancing like a japenese robot, this was not my thing, despite the shortness of her skirt. This really had nothing in common at all with the rest of guitar based acts and I quickly lost interest propping up the back of the bar. To be fair her last song, was a proper song ballad and wasn’t too bad, but I won’t be looking out for her in future. Strangely she also got the biggest audience of the evening.
Introducing themselves as the legendary White Man Kamikaze I soon lost respect for the last act. These were heavy and loud. The only tune in each song came from their keyboard player whilst both guitar and bass just thrashed whilst the singer shouted out the chorus’s. For some reason their small audience consisted of a few scantily clad rock chicks which made up for the lack of a decent song though I decided to head home after four songs in as did the audience that stayed from the other acts. Credit to the band that lured me though as it appears they did stay (or at least the two blokes did) for all acts that appeared.
Finally it was a good basement venue with a bar to one side, a decent stage and good sound system. Wouldn’t hesitate to go back to check out a band I may be interested in. Hopefully the bill won’t be as diverse but that would be unlikely in the age without common sense.
# posted by Rich @ 2:48 PM 
