Lightyear, Derby Old Vic Inn
*This took place at the Assembly Rooms*
What a night. What an atmosphere, more to the point. Lightyear bowed out in style with their last show in Derby’s Assembly Rooms, a rather nice establishment that has probably never before had the likes of Lightyear and assorted mates running about in a naked game of Kabaddi and unfortunately never will again. As Lewis from C*E said, we were here to celebrate and not mourn, so everyone went mad from the beginning right up to the end, just trying to squeeze each last drop of pleasure from one of the best bands the UK has thrown up in the last few years.
I missed half of EVIL MACARONI’s set due to travel mishaps, and when I finally entered the Great Hall it felt more like a school battle of the bands, with EM on a huge stage raised about a metre above everyone. But they got on with it and the dancing was in full flow throughout their set, with bouncy ska rhythms being countered by a dirtier distorted sound that seemed at times to overwhelm everything else, leaving the sax licks lost in the mix. That’s not to say that the sound was rubbish, just that every now and then it got unbalanced but it hardly unhinged Macaroni’s performance, bounding around like a dog on heat. Good stuff, but I think that they need to expand on their brass sound if they are to really meet their potential (7)
I thought Adequate 7 were on next but I was pleasantly surprised when one of my favourite bands of the year, CAPTAIN EVERYTHING strolled onstage and proceeded to play one of the fastest and tightest sets I’ve ever seen. The trio look perfectly relaxed in their performance and roll out the power punk nuggets with consummate ease, the early inclusion of ‘My Girlfriend’s Dad Owns A Sweatshop’ whipping up a sizeable moshpit. You get the feeling that if C*E slowed down and whipped in a few more melodic interludes they could get used to playing venues this size, but the fact is that their razor sharp and lightning quick punk rock is just so perfect, and what’s more, they have the technical ability to play that fast and it just works so well. They even baffled Chas with the speed of their cover of Lightyear’s almost-forgotten ‘Glass’ and with the LY gang reprising their roles on the album with their vocals for ‘I’d Rather Have A Full Bottle…’ it was a fantastic show of friendship and community. If C*E don’t headline Reading within 3 years then it’s a travesty – they really are that good. (9)
What? Ska funk monkeys ADEQUATE 7 cocooned in outfits of silver foil to appear like robots? Yeah, go on then. While it’s initially hard to take them seriously in their costumes, Ad7 show just why they’re earned the good reputation that follows them wherever they go. Technically adept and precise, they throw out a mix of hardcore and ska punk, all put through a funk filter of roaming basslines and genius drumming to create a uniquely danceable sound. It was clear that Jamie was honoured to be playing this show, his sheer humility for a band very close to his heart brought a really quite sensitive edge to the otherwise abrasively excellent show. Demonstrating an admirable desire to innovate and go off in whatever musical direction they see fit, Ad7 seem to be in their strongest position yet, with their Capdown tour starting to gather steam now. (8)
But the band everyone came for. From Glasgow, London and even America came the faithful, for the last performance by a band that while may not have set the world alight, they certainly proved themselves to be one of the friendliest, accommodating and most human bands that I’ve ever had the pleasure to experience. They didn’t play every song they’ve ever recorded, but they did play a schizophrenic set of songs ranging from the opener ‘Nuff Cuts’ to ‘Spotcheck’ to a few choice cuts from the vaults (the roar when Chas belted out “Why d’ya have to be in such a hurry?” was fantastic) they played like it was the last show before Armageddon. Neil was a ball of naked energy, you simply could not remove Nelb’s smile with a welding torch and Chas…well, Chas was naked (as were half of LY and bloody loads of random people standing at the back of the stage, including most of Evil Macaroni, a couple of Captain Everythings and one or two Ad7s – I might be wrong…many naked people look the same). From chucking out Aldi bags during ‘Datas Double Chin’ to Chas’ Mum getting up onstage, to yet more “Gazebo” chants you couldn’t have scripted a better or more fitting finale for the hometown boys. The difference between LY and many other bands is that LY’s fans genuinely love the band and the members, and that is why they’ll be missed so much. And then ‘Pack Of Dogs’ and it was all over. I’m not going to give this performance a rating because tonight wasn’t about how well Lightyear played, it was about thanking them for simply being Lightyear. And I just hope they knew how much we fucking loved them.
“There’s a place where we’ll forget the things we’ve done, the things we’ve said, there’s been some hard times but I need you my friend.”
Ben
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