My Dad Joe, London Camden Underworld
actually at The Pane and Table, Watford.
I didn’t even know this show was happening until about three hours before it kicked off, I must be slipping up in my not so old age. Anyways, a good ol’ punk rock show can brighten the dullest of Monday nights, so off I went to one of Watford’s strangest live music venues. The Pane and Table is a weird place, a posh trendy bar come club under usual circumstance, but for some reason Monday night’s have been host to a few shows there, can’t complain though, £2 is a fairly cheap night out.
Local post-hardcore posse FELL BEFORE FINSIH kicked things off for the reasonably sized, but relatively static and uninterested crowd. It’s always a shame when people don’t pay attention to support bands especially as there were only two bands on tonight’s bill. FBF weren’t that bad either, I get the impression they haven’t been around for that long, but they had bags of enthusiasm which is always nice to see, especially on a Monday night. FBF ply their trade with big chunky riffs a-la FFAF combined with some THRICE influenced technical elements which always go down a treat with the guitar nerds. The songs were quite lengthy, and as a resulted sounded a tad samey in places but they were consistent at least. Some extravagant drumming seemed inspired but a little over the top at times though. On the whole it wasn’t a bad performance and I’m expecting to hear more from them in the future. (5)
If you haven’t had the chance to see MY DAD JOE yet you’ll be in for treat if you like fast as hell, catchy pop-punk. In a time where punk has become a serious business it’s nice to see bands like MDJ keeping a sense of humour and tonight the on-stage banter was particularly funny, keeping the crowd entertained throughout. This is not to take away anything from MDJ musically, as they are incredibly tight and perform with more energy than a caffeine addict at a Red Bull convention, which again results in a more than entertaining show. A lot of material was previewed from the forthcoming debut album which according to Paul, is at the printers now. As well as the usual happy, up-beat poppy numbers, MDJ threw in a much darker track named; ‘Kill or be killed’, they pulled it off excellently and proved they have more than a solitary string in their bow. Another solid performance from a solid band. (7.5)
Well I’ve had much worse nights out in Watford so this show was a nice treat indeed. Cheap entry, cheap drinks, good bands, you can’t really go wrong with that. And it’s always nice to see a Watford band in an intimate venue in their home town without being swarmed by mobs of screaming pre-pubescent school girls; thank god for homework and age restrictions...
Mike
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