Friday 13 February - unlucky for some, not for us! For the paltry sum of four quid we were admitted into The Duchess to see three bands we'd never heard of before. Frankly I was amazed that there weren't more people about, probaly about fifty tops if you include the three bands, their mums and dads, Paul on the lights, and the bar staff! First on the bill were Dressed In Their Best (FaceSpace) A four piece from York they comprise; James, Danny, Shane, and Robbie on drums. I really liked these guys, they sounded like a raw version of Jimmy Eat World or The Ataris when they were young and playing in a mates garage. There was plenty of variety between the songs and the drumming was top class, it really had me tapping my feet.
Sadly, I can't say the same for the second band, I Call Shotgun (FaceSpace), is another four piece this time from Leeds/Preston/York comprising of students from the Leeds College of Music and Leeds University. ICS are; Joe De Luca (Lead Vocals & Frontman), Iain Bolton (Lead Guitar), Josh Weller (Synths), and Graham Robson (Beats). Their brand of '80s disco dance electro pop really wasn't my cup of cocoa at all and eventually we retired to the 'chill out' area were we sat like three old codgers (Tim's words, not mine) and debated the musical wilderness that was the '80s. The only song that raised a smile was when they sampled Supertamp's Breakfast in America, and that's as good as it got for me.
The evening was not done yet though. There had been some shuffling about with the line-up because of a recent upsurge of interest in our final band, the Brighton-based Telegraphs (FaceSpace). Five young folk this time; Darcy Harrison (Vocals / Guitar), Sam Bacon (Drums), Hattie Williams (Bass / Vocals), Darren LeWarne (Guitar), and Aung Yay (Guitar). Right from the first chord we could tell that this was band on the very brink of breakthrough with driving guitars, forceful drumming, and angst-ridden vocals. Hattie and Darcy are almost a double act, as he prowls at the back of the stage she strides up to the front adding her rich vocals and trashing away on her bass. She looks sassy, sexy, and confident. Like a well choreographed act Hattie slinks off to the side and Darcy takes center stage again. They sound like Biffy or Idlewild, Sam drums like Gorhl, but they're different, fresh and spiky. I know they've been kicking around since 2006 but for me they are the best 'new' band I've heard all year. Their set was short-lived, 'A' clocked them as 24 minutes, and there was no encore which was a bit of a disappointment.
As we'd finished early, we wandered through town to The Roman Bath to catch the second half of the set by Huddersfield rock covers band Storm. I've reviewed them before so I won't bore you with a set list (you can always type "storm" in the search box) but they did air some new material from the Kings of Leon and "Basket Case" by Green Day. Excellent stuff, they are always great fun and a great bunch of lads.
Saturday 14 February - Whilst in The Roman Bath on Friday, I noticed that the band for Saturday were Sundance a Hendrix tribute act, so two of us agreed to met up for some John Smith's and an earful of Jimi's music. Sundance are a four piece from Darlington whose members are; Simon Cassidy (Guitar), Lee Rippon (Vocals), Paul Bennett (Bass), and Martyn Bennett (Drums), and whilst they were in no way as technically accurate as say The Hamsters, they did convey the spirit of Jimi's songs and throughly enjoyed themselves along the way. We thought they were brilliant. I'm relying on their website, as opposed to my beer-fogged brain, to say that they played most of not all of; Highway Chile, Fire, Hey Joe, Manic Depression, Cross Town Traffic, Stone Free, Red House, All Along The Watchtower, Foxy Lady, Bold As Love, Angels, Changes, The Wind Cries Mary, Come On (Let The Good Times Roll), Castles Made Of Sand, 3rd Stone From the Sun, Hey Baby, Voodoo Chile, Purple Haze, Wild Thing, Spanish Castle Magic. Highly recommended.
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