Mybe, Sheffield Mandela Building
If you’ve ever visited the NMB, your first impressions were probably like mine as you walked in. ‘Shit, this is big’. Usually, a place wouldn’t have that kind of effect on me, as I’ve visited numerous music venues over the years. However, this time was different. The difference being that my little band, Six Foot Nothing (random plug – www.sixfootnothing.cjb.net) was opening, and this is what filled me with trepidation!
After the most thorough sound check I’ve experienced in a long time, and enough cans of Red Bull to get me mildly excited (OK, I was bouncing off the walls ….) it was time for SIX FOOT NOTHING to take to the stage. Obviously, I cannot really review our own performance, as I’d be slightly biased, but I think it’s fair to say that we put on an entertaining show for the ‘masses’ (80 people in a 900 capacity building that is) and our songs went down well. Yet again, my personal favourite was set opener ‘Lowest Common Denominator’, and the ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ cover to finish proceedings went down nicely. Make of that what you will.
Devon based punkers BRAT were up next. Their mini tour with Mybe was in full swing by this point, and after hearing such descriptions as ‘New Found Glory-esque’ and ‘Sickly sweet pop punk’ being bandied about, I can safely say I was merely curious to see if they could overcome these damning suggestions and alter my pre-conceptions. Luckily, they did just that.
While the New Found Glory/Starting Line comparison is almost feasible, it would be unfair and lazy to label Brat as mere copycats. While the vocals do sound remarkably like Jordan’s own dulcet tones, the guitars are chunkier, the riffs and melodies have more bite and they don’t have an overweight bassist who insists on removing his shirt at random intervals, which can only be a good thing. Kicking off with the searing ‘Time Well Spent’, Brat knock out a solid 10 song set that never fails to entertain and often captivates. While the mould has clearly not been broken in the formation of the band, songs like ‘Sob Story’ and a new, as yet untitled number are choc full of thick slabs of melody and while the vocals do, at times, begin to grate, Brat certainly made a good impression on a previously-sceptical audience. (7)
Well what do you know, if it isn’t comedic three-piece MYBE being plugged on these hallowed pages yet again! Yes, I’m a huge fan, yes, I’m good friends with the band and yes, I regularly force people to listen to their music at gun point, but all this is beside the point. Put simply, Mybe rock live. Not just occasionally, or on a good night, all the time. Even tonight, when the majority of the crowd wouldn’t notice if the stage was inhabited by a troupe of scantily clad, large breasted Amazon women (that’s women from the Amazon, not employees of the online ordering company), Mybe put on a hell of a good show.
Old favourites like ‘Dumbing Down’ (a sloppier than usual version is on show tonight) are placed seamlessly side by side with a number of crunching new tracks. ‘Rose West’, with it’s opening refrain of ‘Rose West, you’re killing me today’ and ‘Too Stupid To Care’, which contains possibly the simplest yet catchiest chorus since Blur penned ‘Girls and Boys’, both sound like seasoned veterans of the Mybe experience. (8)
Before you know it, it’s half past twelve, Mybe are leaving the stage and the crowd is free to mosh away ridiculously as the club night hits full swing. While the bands may have been either preaching to the converted, or preaching to the couldntgiveafucks, depending on who you talked to that night, it was still a highly enjoyable evening. Pop tinged punk rock in abundance.
Ross
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