Turns out that Barry and Nicky from Peski Kings go out on the odd occasion and do acoustic gigs - you can see why!! You see, the band didn't have a drummer around tonight, so rather than cancel, they elected to do an acoustic gig, the first time I'd witnessed such a thing. They began with just the two guys on acoustic guitars, with Barry on lead vocals and Nicky on harmony vocals, electing to perform a few covers first. So, we got a rather fine rendition of a lesser known Beatles song, blending the feel of sixties and country to great effect, then a version of a Creedence Clearwater Revival seventies hit which featured a more harmonious vocal than Fogerty's original rawness and a nifty refrain of the song's hook from Nicky's acoustic lead, finishing off this segment with a Stereophonics number which was a faithful, forceful, emotional rendition with both vocals on good form. Barry's got a good voice for this sort of thing and, far from dull, they performed with energy. After this, they brought on Peski's lead singer Becky for a few originals and, in this context, it was a real delight to hear her voice so clearly, full of depth, richness, hazy beauty, moving from hushed to wide open and flying, flowing to perfection. With the crispness of the acoustic guitars providing the depth and texture, the trio glided through "Sleepy Day Dreamer", "Deep Inside", "It's Your Time" and "Stay Tonight" with seemingly effortless ease, the quality of the songs meaning thet these slices of indie-pop purity lost nothing in their stripped down state. Very enjoyable.
Next up were Beautiful By Design, whose set I had to miss - why that is, you'll find (if you're a Metallica fan) on just here. Apologies to them - next time, for sure!!
I returned to The Doghouse just in time to catch the start of The Mirror Trap who, if I remember rightly, are out of the ashes of The Descartes. In short, they were magnificent!! Across seven songs, they didn't falter once. The opener began almost La's-ish with that lead guitar aided by riffs and a really high-flying vocal that's a sort of cross between Luva Anna and Quiver & The Ladysnatchers. To a pounding rhythm section, the song rolls forward amid a sea of lead guitar with a dynamic power, and certainly one wicked opener of a track, full of energy and emotion. To a thudding bass intro, the rhythm goes all crunchy as the song unfolds and you realise what an excellent and distinctive vocal the singer possesses, conveying every bit of emotion, power and depth to which a rollercoaster of an indie anthem keeps its feet firmly on the ground. Beefy with a really intense sound, a big bass boom, neat use of harmonies on the hook-as-verse, and strangely seeming wild yet controlled at the same time. The third song opened with an almost ska-like intro as muscular bass and stabbing rhythms enter. The song begins, then opens up with another arena-sized performance with the guitars riffing and leading as the vocal makes its presence felt, making you notice the sheer quality and strength of the song and the band. Thre's a a good siren-like guitar middle as the vocals ring out before te moves into a driving, headlong rush with stabbing, passionate vocals that get pouder anf turn the song into a huge stadium-sized anthem. Fourth up is a slower one with a solid, lurching backbone as ringing guitar features on top of this river of a song, as another quality vocal is a rush of emotion. The song slowly climbs to a crescendo of highly emotive vocals as the band accelerates and the song really lifts off, the density rising to melting point as it ends on this amazing peal of guitars. The fifth track I heard called "Crusaders" and it features a very emotive performance of a more mesmerising song with a powerful verse and one hurricane of a hook, full of driving rhythms and a sea of guitars that rise and fall together. Next one features a guitar hook intro as solid bass runs underneath with an almost synth-like guitar texture and crunching drums. There's an almost staccato arrangement with vocals to suit, as the song accelerates into one mighty chorus with huge guitar and bass before decelerating back to lurching rhythms and echoed guitars as the vocals follow the hook and a song full of twists and turns, works to perfection and towards its hi-energy instrumental outro. The final song was called (I think) "The Unsuccessful Hunter" and here, an almsot rock arrangement shoots into life with beefy bass, solid drums and a memorable guitar riff. Over this, the vocal drives effortlessly with the feel of menace and power at its heart. A siren of a guitar lead rises on top of the lurching rhythms and riffs before going into the lurching verse arrangement. Mighty and melodic with power and passion and a glorious guitar hook interspersed throughout. All in all, great band, magical performance, stunning songs.
There's not a huge amount that I can add to the reviere of Colour Coded at Fat Sams, that you can see if you check back a few reviews ago. The began with "Same Mistake" and right from the start, this was a band on fire, the soaring, distinctive vocals providing a great verse into an even higher hook asthe express train ride of indie guitars and rhythm section makes its presence felt. "The Struggle" is sharp and incisive, a guitars driven anthem that powers out through the Doghouse while the next track features a textural synth intro into stomping rhythms as a huge eruption of guitars rings out at blistering volume, the synth squalls just adding to the melodicd maelstrom, as the vocal flies out in that distinctively nasally, harmony laden impassioned voice, all flying headlongto a furiously swirling final section. Song after song is unleashed with furious intensity as the band power out with memorable hooks and high-flying verses. But, as I stood there, I still got that nagging feeling that either something's missing or that the potential commerciality of the songs is not as great as I perhaps thought. So, almost like they'd tapped into my skull, what do the band go and do? Well, they launched into the penultimate track, the blazing emotion and addictive chorus that is part of "Trying", but instead of a rifle-fire rhythm section, they, for want of a better phrase, "danced it up" - and the effect was stunning. The missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle was in place. For this number, in particular, the effect was stunning - you could tell everyone else thought so too, as the floor of the Doghouse suddenly filled with leapers leaping. A song that was a potential indie chart hit to start with, now improved a hundred fold. Fantastic!! Now, I'm not suggesting they do this for every track - please god, no!! - but for this and the final track, "Out of Sight, Out of Mind", it worked briliantly as the band paved a guitars-fuelled path through unforgettable indie songwriting and arranging, emotion and power together as one.
Overall, then, a superb night of music - apologiews once again to the guys in Beautiful By Design - will definitely catch you soon - as to the rest, catch you all again real soon - as I hope you all out there will follow.