4ft Fingers, Arts Centre, Norwich
*This show was at the Guildhall in Gloucester!!!*
THE MISNOMER are a band who have been knocking around for a while but have never really caught my attention, at least I don’t think I’ve seen them live before anyway. The band took to the stage first tonight and tried to tame a crowd of young teenagers. Their highly melodic pop-rock didn’t really bring the house down but it was kept me entertained for a short while. One thing I which I think tainted their set was when the band tended to go into ‘drop-d heavy-ish riff’ mode, which I personally thought was a bit unnecessary but judging by the kids making the floor bounce I may have been in the minority. Overall not bad, but not world-beating either. (6)
Wow, SHORT WARNING have got good, not that they were bad before, but tonight they were pretty special. The band turned their fast paced poppy-skate punk into a big ball of energy with timed-jumps, guitar swinging and amusing banter with verve a-plenty. Turning the best part of the crowd into a giant circle pit within the first song and a rendition of Happy Birthday to Jesus won the audience over without question and provided for a thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining and energetic set. If SHORT WARNING can knock out performances this good every night they could well be a force to be reckoned with in 2006. (8)
It had been a while since I’d seen Brighton skate-punk heroes PHINIUS GAGE last, in fact, too long. I forget how good this band are, and when I say good I mean bloody brilliant. Aggressive; fast; catchy; energetic; convincing and clinical are all words I could use to describe this lot live and tonight was no exception. It’s not often you see bands play with this much conviction so regularly as I can’t ever remember PG playing a bad set in the last few years. An airing of their new single, ‘Broken Wings’, was a highlight, along with blastings of what can be described as UK skate-punk anthems such as ‘Fire’s Burning’ and ‘Timmy’. Long live double-time, long live the GAGE. (8.5)
I think this was pretty much a home-town show for 4FT FINGERS, at least judging by the reception they got from start to finish you’d think it was; kids were going mad throughout the set. Credit where it’s due though, 4FT know how to work a crowd and that they did tonight; showing their experience as arguable veteran UK scene leaders. The amount of presence this band have is second to none, they literally filled the giant stage with ease and delivered a powerful yet entertaining set. A brief airing of some new material was offered tonight and it distinctly sounded like classic FINGERS to the delight of many in the crowd. A very strong and impressive set indeed. (8)
Skate punk may not be at the forefront of the scene the way it was a few years ago; but for tonight, it was not dead, it was alive and well and kicking double-time somewhere in Gloucestershire. The bands on show tonight were all flying the flag for British punk-rock and all doing a great job, ending the year with a great big bang of cymbals, distorted guitars and hook-laden melodies. Rock on 2006.
-Mike
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