Rudi sits below the wrong poster     Rudi, DJ Scott & Mr Scott     The sad result of attending a Rudi & Andy G gig

The first thing that happened was that, due to the builders, the sound man got locked in and we got locked out of the Westport Bar as we arrived to soundcheck!! About half an hour later, we finally managed to get his attention, my knuckles aching from hammering on the door, and we all got in via the fire escape!! All this after I'd rescued The Doghouse from a change crisis, providing them both with change and some hot cross buns (don't ask!!!). Spinal Tap revisited!!!
Rudi was loving this - especially seeing me running on adrenaline while overseeing the set-up - and looked after the crew setting up Scott, eventually providing everyone with beer as the bar wasn't open yet!! So it passed that the night began - there will now follow what may well be my one and only attempt to review a DJ!!
I got Scott to start the evening off with a DJ set - having seen him practicing earlier in the week, I'd got no worries that it was going to be good. Now at this point, I have to tell you - coz most of you don't know - that I love ambient/house/trance music - me and that music go back a long way - and I regularly used to record and drive copious miles to repeats of Andy Durrant's show on Galaxy-FM, not to mention Jules and Fontaine on Radio 1. Anyway, I rate Scott Lee as up there with the best - and his mix did not diappoint as we were treated to a storming selection of pumping house grooves but with the required dyanmics and depth that makes a great mix so much more than just dance tracks. The seamless segueing of tracks and the build-up to climax after climax before dropping down a bit only to hammer it all home once more in a new context, was just superb, and the mixing he did proved irresistible to head and feet, the sort of thing you want to listen to and dance to at the same time. Before, between and after the bands, this was a DJ debut that delivered the goods, promised even more and will hopefully be just the start as any great dance venue or nightclub would be seriously enhanced by his presence.

RBRBR are a crazy bunch of guys from Edinburgh who last time provided this mix of funk, blues and dance dressed up as fishermen, Ninjas and jet fighter pilot. Tonight we got the pilot, but the other three there - bass, drums and guitar - sported the golf club look, totally visually entertaining. The set was more instrumental than I remembered with some way cool work from the band as a whole and the guitarist in particular. With a sea of swaying rhythms, the band played a set of originals that owed as much to early, more laid-back Prince as it did to uptempo Pink Floyd, with some seriously tasty guitar work throughout as the drummer provided a spot-on set of rhythms set to some drum programming that gave added meat to the chilled-out rhythmic strength. The audience loved them, dancing slowly or just chilling out on the tight and flowing sounds that soared out of the speakers. This really is a quality and class act, one that crosses various musical genres with ease and brings a tasty set of songs to life in a refreshing, original and highly addictive manner - you really should check them out!!

The RBRBR guys - well, 2 of 'em - party on!!

Altres performances are rare - so it's a positive privilege to catch them. The last few concerts have seen the two synth players and two guitarists embellished by the golden tonsils of vocalist Electra, with superb results. However, she couldn't be there tonight. Lead guitarist Brian had this idea for a while to get Henissi/Dubhead and ex-Isis drummer/percussionist Cath Costello to play in with an Altres rehearsal to see how it sounded. So, in true Altres traditions, he invited Cath to play percussion on tonight's set. All well and good, apart from the fact that, before tonight - albeit very briefly last night from a CD-R - Cath had never even heard any of the band's music, let alone played with them. Yet she accepted their offer and rolled up with bongos, an indian drum, shakers, cymbal and assorted percussive devices. Set up centre stage, she provided an excellent visual focus for the band. So it was that they played - as this huge sound of synths, sequencers, treated guitar, guitar riffing, lead guitar and guitar fx - poured out of the speakers - embellished by Cath's percussion, which was nothing short of magical. You would never have guessed that she'd never been in the band before as this amazingly intuitive sense of rhythm she has, got her to deliver a performance that was positively organic, her cymbla splashes and crashes, bongo drive and percussive additions, really added something special to an already unique sounding band. The did their classic "Snakebridge" to jaw-dropping effect, and an Indian sounding track that saw all five of them on fire and tightly knit, while the final track saw the storm unleashed as the guitars soared and sparked over this massive tidal wave of synths and sequencers. As an hour long performance, it was utterly riveting and proof postive that this band are just soooo unique and fresh, they have a place to play in any venue anywhere, anytime. That they were impressed enough to ask Cath back to play at a second gig a couple of nights later, a gig that was only half an hour but worked every bit as well if not better, was testament to the enhancement of one of the finest electronic rock instrumental bands in the UK.

Kev on synths                   Cath on percussion                   Joe on synths

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