DUNDEE LIVE - BANDS TO WATCH!!
THE GETDOWNS + RUSH HOUR SOUL + THE DESCARTES + DAVE? - "Single Launch Night", Dexters 20-06-08
That The Getdowns' debut single should be a limited edition 7-inch vinyl picture disc single is actually quite fitting for a band that has spent the majority of its existence breaking every rule in the musical indie book. So, to celebrate the launch of said single, they threw a concert - and, as you may have guessed if you didn't know already, the usual suspects were there - The Descartes, Rush Hour Soul and Dave?, this time in yet another different combination from before, with Rush Hour Soul opening up the proceedings.
The glorious thing that these four bands have in common - "glorious", that is, depending on your point of view, of course - is that you never see the same concert twice, certainly true when the four of them have played on the same bill together up till now - and tonight was no exception.
As I said, Rush Hour Soul began the night with what can only be described as a curiously laid-back performance that crossed over with but didn't match (track-wise, that is) the incendiary Doghouse set they played for "Go North". Yes, this was the band holding back the turbo charger in favour of something verging on the psychedelic, as swirling guitar leads swooshed and soared over the tasty rhythm section, as a fine set of tunes tended to uplift rather than hammer, and the songs they played were full of depth, veering from rocking out to taking off in heady clouds of joy. IN what was a mesmersing pereformance, they showed that they could tone things down, still sound solid and cohesive, and make it al hang together at the same time, still inventive, still fresh sounding and full of promise.
Dave? were up next and started well enough with a couple of songs over some surging instrumental work from the band as a whole, but enough to make you realise that this was going to be one of their more "song oriented" sets rather than anything going out on a musical limb. However, just as you might have thought that you'd got them pigeon-holed tonight, they let loose a song mid-set that must have gone on for about 15 minutes, twisting, turning and looping back on itself a bit like a musical rollercoaster in an alternate universe. Trouble was that the song, for all its qualities, couldn;t sustain itself for the due time, so that it ended up with you gazing down at your shoes, wondering if the thing was ever gonna end, despite the promise and the premise from which it began. That they then ended with an older, more familiar rockier number, made the excesses of the previous fifteen minutes or so, seem even more bizarre, but that's Dave? for you, I guess.
The Descartes electrified me back to life with a fairly standard set for them, nothing of which seemed to catch particular fire, but all of which was performed well enough, the songs sparking into life as the guitars came to life, but the sound gave them a bit of a tinny effect (or was it fuzzy?) and for some reason, the eruption that is a Descartes set these days, was lessened a tad, but that said, they went down supremely well with an enthusiastic audience, and it was this that seemed ultimately to lift them up and inspire them into a last third of the set where they turned on the power and let a fine set of songs rocket round the room to fine effect.
So it fell to The Getdowns to finalise proceedings. That you expected them to do the unexpected was achieved by the band playing..........a perfectly normal, song-based set - although "normal" for The Getdowns is probably not anyone's everyday definition of the word. So, without resorting to effects, menaderings, improvisations and humour, they unleashed this rocket-fuelled set that was more like a Ramones set than ever before, not so much musically, you understand, but by virtue that they fired off every song in the repertoire at breakneck pace, uninterrupted, so that it became a burning supernova of a "greatest hits" set - if they'd got any, that is! What you got to hear was a seriously on-fire trio playing 75% of the songs in the book, with some great vocalising from Stuart and remarkable rhythm work from the bassist and drummer who accredited themselves to perfection, linking everything seamlessly. Stuart did veer off the straight and narrow to a small degree, but by and large, kept the songs intact and racing, so that gems such as "Time Together", "proper Music" (the single) and many more, just roared into life. Although surprised, it was actually really good just to hear the band turn out such a solid set, proof indeed that, "normal" or "on another planet", this band is quite simply magical.
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