First Day, Lincoln Duke of Wellington
With the awful devastation of the Asian Tsunami hitting home all over the world, it is left to people in such privileged positions as ourselves to help out in whatever way we can in attempting to help those hit the hardest. Benefit shows, fundraisers, charity days have all been organised but it was Lincolns turn to join in on the act as local club Ponana hosted four live bands all in the aid of charity, complete with a stupendous raffle also on show featuring an incredibly cool talking robot.
All bands on show minus headliners Tripswitch were local, so it was a chance for the trio of other bands to show the packed club what they were made of, and hell, how that place was packed. A large turnout was to be expected, but how quickly that turnout gathered was unbeknown to any that were to be attending, let alone organising. So half an hour later than planned local five piece ‘FRATELLIS HIDEOUT’ took to the tiny stage to perform in their first ever live gig in Lincoln after coming together through the local university. While there emo-tinged rock harmonies weren’t going to win any awards for blistering originality, obvious work had gone into arrangements along with some extremely impressive duel guitar wielding which complemented the drumming patterns well. The buzz of the night obviously rubbed off on the band as they performed an energetic set which largely impressed the newcomers to the band. (7.5) If only lead vocalist Mark could learn some jokes you can see the semblance of a complete set coming along! Next up was the ska tinged punk rock of ‘RIDES THE BUS’. Having seen these boys a couple of times I always find that needing the right frame of mind is needed to really enjoy the show and get the most of it, and unfortunately tonight was not one of there nights. The set started off well enough but despite a hardcore faction at the front singing and dancing there little hearts out, little interest was held else where in the club and many quickly wandered to the bar in search of another cheap warm lager. The five piece are good enough at what they do, and their frontman has enough balls and confidence to make Kilroy question his beliefs but sadly it wasn’t enough and proved a disappointing link between the promising Fratellis Hideout and the more established First Day. (5)
So ‘FIRST DAY’ entered the stage and immediately fired off three of there more technical efforts and instantly made a rapport with the sceptical crowd. While you can argue that they may not have the biggest stage presence, neither effort nor energy is lacked in any performance I have seen by the band to date. (8) Reeling off all of the tracks featured on their debut EP, it was a strong and competent performance which proved a fitting precursor to headliners Tripswitch, which due to feeling like dogshit I unfortunately had to miss.
All in all this was a cracking little night which raised approximately £1000 for the Tsunami fund. While a big thank you should go to Adam Nicholson and Phil Stevenson for putting the event together a big hand clap should go to the Lincoln public who also came out in force for the event to make it a massive success and hopefully pave the way for more to come in the future.
Jay
*This gig was held at Ponana Nightclub, Lincoln.
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