reviews

South Central Music Festival 2009

(Saturday)

General Paulus

General Paulus’ Gregg Kelly is on the stage, sat on a stool, surrounded by monitors, amplifiers, and other sundry musical instruments. He is strumming furiously on an acoustic guitar and belting out a scratchy vocal. He’s been known to play with a band, but for today the band is stripped back to just Gregg, his guitar and voice. It’s a raw and honest performance, mixing the best of the Howl era Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Nirvana’s more introspective moments and even a little Jim Morrison in the vocals, most notably on Souls of Generosity. This being an open-air performance on a sunny Saturday afternoon it possibly lacks the appropriate atmosphere for the brooding blues sound that General Paulus pour through the PA, and whilst the audience are polite and encouraging in their applause, one can’t help but think that to really appreciate the full effect of General Paulus as a live act this one should be seen under the cover of darkness.

MySpace: General Paulus

The Frantic

“We haven’t got any Robbie, I’m afraid,” singer Tom Beaufort-Lloyd apologises as The Frantic appear on a stage recently vacated by tribute act The Antidote. Instead The Frantic demonstrate what they do have, a strangely pleasant mix of synths, angular guitars and falsetto from Beaufort-Lloyd. There are obvious nods to Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and The Strokes, though somewhat eschewing the humourlessness of the latter two in favour of a performance full of vim and vigour. It’s Rave-Rock, and since this is their preferred term for what they do it’s just as well it’s a fitting one, though it may be their last in their current guise. “This is our last gig as The Frantic,” Beaufort-Lloyd informs us. “We’re getting sued as a US band has the name already. What do you think about Sub-Fiction?” Whatever they may end up as, there are no question marks over a performance this strong. Seek them out...if you can find them.

MySpace: The Frantic

Whitestar

There’s always a tinge of jealousy when we hear a singer with effortless pitch-perfect vocals. Perhaps it’s due to our own failed attempts to make headway in a band (as mentioned in these pages once before), but vocalist Simon’s voice, aided and abetted by a stellar band, help turn his musings into some fantastic, classic-sounding indie tracks. It’s no secret that one of their influences is Scott Walker and his fingerprints are all over Killing Horses; a song about killing horses...metaphorically speaking, we’re told. There’s also a smattering of Nick Cave and a taste of Lambchop (if you'll pardon the pun), whose frontman Kurt Wagner plays live from a seated position, much like Simon (though we’re later informed that this is due to severe back problems). It’s a pity then that Whitestar don’t play The Bed, a song written by Simon during his time incapacitated after surgery. Still, if ever a band simply dripped in great tunes, self-effacing charm and a good old rock n roll spirit, you’d be hard pressed to find better than Whitestar.

MySpace: Whitestar  Website: Whitestar

Dan Donnelly

'There is a light that will never go out', Morrisey sang. And let’s hope that it never does on the likes of Dan Donnelly; part busker, part troubadour, part raconteur, part comedian. His incendiary acoustic set, yes, we said incendiary, should, if there’s any justice, end up as one of the talking points of the festival. With a hatful of great songs to choose from and a master of using a looping effects box to create a full band at will, via the use of a few guitar lines, a well-placed thump on the guitar, or a distorted bass-line, Dan has crafted some of the most beautiful, often biting, and occasionally hilarious songs we have heard in a long time. Words probably won’t really do him justice, but the Belfast –born, New York inhabitant must have Greenwich Village eating out the palm of his hand (though perhaps not the one he’d almost crippled in a drunken brawl the night before the gig). Near the end of the show Dan paid ‘tribute’ to David Gray, with the gently mocking, There Is Room For One More David Gray, complete with a mimicry of the singer that had some of the crowd on the floor.

There is definitely room for one more David Gray. His name’s Dan Donnelly.

MySpace: Dan Donnelly

Roses Kings Castles - The Boileroom

Babyshambles' drummer Adam Ficek's new band were in town to play Guildford's The Boileroom on Monday, so we sent one of our reporters along to check them out...

You could be forgiven for thinking, as we did, that Babyshambles' drummer Adam Ficek’s side project, Roses Kings Castles, an act promoted by association to Pete Doherty, would have a certain sound to it. However, we are happy to report that these preconceived notions would be well of the mark. Adam Ficek is more than just a drummer and Roses Kings Castles is definitely more than just a side project.

The comparison to Babyshambles is always one which is going to be made, not because of any similarity musically but simply because of who Ficek is. The songs themselves, one or two of which could certainly fit comfortably on a Babyshambles, are subtle and gentle on the ear. The only real issue is that each song tends to blend into the last leaving very little by way of definition between each one.

By the time Ficek’s band was three songs in, it had become apparent that the mood in the bar had changed from excitement at hearing the band for the first time to a kind of indifference. There was an almost unanimous opinion among the crowd that the set was becoming, dare we say, dull.

To be fair, it was late in the evening by the time RKC took to the stage and the crowd had already been treated to two notable performances by the support acts.

Ficek’s music was fine, of course, but it lacked the character or originality to really deliver to a crowd already drunk on the music of tthe two more effervescent bands further down the bill. The talent is there, it doesn’t take us to explain that. Sadly, though, this time the performance didn’t outweigh the promise.

StageFrite At The Woodstock

“Punk is still a vibrant and youthful social ideal, as relevant today as it has always been. Punk, or at least the influence of punk, still exists as strongly as it ever did and is still as much about progession and subversion as it ever was. The music has changed, the style has moved on and the aesthetic has progressed, but there still exists a small group of outsiders that retain the energy of the original punk movement.”

Punk: a directory of modern subversive culture

If we’re talking grass roots, then StageFrite’s shows at the function room of the Woodstock Pub in Stonecot Hill, are without question exactly that. Financially they may not be able to compete with some of the better established shows and venues, but in the simplest terms – musically – they are way up there. You see, StageFrite book some great bands. Sure, not all of them are yet polished gems, some are still finding their feet, whilst others are reliving the exuberance of youth gone by, but all of them have great tunes and more importantly great energy, and a never-say-die attitude.

Here the punk ethos lives large.

Crisis Journey weren’t initially scheduled to play the show. Due to an unforeseen issue with another band on the bill, the three-piece offered their services at the eleventh hour and so take to the stage determined to warrant their inclusion. Immediately the most striking thing about the band is their look. They appear to be painfully young and yet play with purpose and aggression and no little hint of comedic value, as the song Techno Fish, which appeared to be a lament on the death of a friend’s goldfish at the hands of the guitarist, demonstrated. A later chat with the band revealed their influences to be a clutch of household name pop-punk bands, yet on stage we saw a far harder-edged, classic punk style, which we believe should be nurtured. It suits them.

It would be obvious and therefore dull to invite lazy comparisons to Nirvana for the next act, so we’ll dispense with that immediately and simply assess what we saw and heard. Like Nirvana.....sorry, like a certain three-piece band, who shall remain nameless, The Hangovers are a three-piece trading in growling vocals and heavy/soft dynamics.However, what sets them apart from other bands trading on this well-worn pattern is their appreciation and talent in tying these sonic polar opposites together to create some rather fine songs. Yes, there are touches of various other three-piece bands – Supergrass, the Stereophonics et al – yet, interestingly they add an occasional dash of The Beatles psychedelia to the mix, though whether this is by fault or design isn’t clear. One thing is though - if all hangovers are like this we’ll certainly drink to it.

We’re then offered a slice of hardcore punk impossible to ignore. 16 Guns play at a furious pace, feedback wailing,

snarling vocals and cracking snare drums.

Here are a proper, unapologetic punk band, taking no prisoners and caring little for what anyone thinks of them – the vitriolic Sod The Neighbours is just a taste of the type of evening one might expect in their company. If at times the unrelenting guitar feedback between songs did start to grate, one could quite reasonably believe that this was little more than a ploy to provoke and challenge the audience (or the locals). Sod the neighbours, indeed!

The Boys from Brazil move things in a different direction

with a set of expertly played cover songs, ranging from

The Strokes to Kings of Leon. The gathered audience

appreciated the chance to slow things down somewhat,

dance to music of a rather less bellicose nature, and in that the band onstage delivered. They were as tight and disciplined a cover band as there are out there. Still one can’t help but wonder whether they’d be as good playing their own tunes.

By the time Rage D.C. hit the stage the crowd were ready once again to tough it out to a quality punk act. Rage may

throw the correct punk shapes and the standard uniform is all present and correct, but they offer a lot more by way of quality songs of their own design. There are splashes of all the classic British punk bands in there along with the odd dash of American heroes – Rancid being the obvious contender. Still, it’s refreshing to see a band refusing to give in and playing music that they believe to be as important and vital as ever, even if the populist view sees the likes of Green Day as the height of the punk movement.

There's always something refreshing about seeing a gig that's clearly a labour of love. It's never really about the money taken on the door or the amount of alcohol imbibed by the paying crowd, it's about the music and nothing less. For many, this is the way it should be. Maybe the coffers will never be full, perhaps the money men will never get their fill, but whilst there are people out there still putting on shows that draw the sort of talent we saw at the Woodman, then the punk aesthetic lives on. Let's just hope that with time and a good word StageFrite gathers the sort of attention that the music richly deserves.