Route 215, Camden Underworld
This gig was at the Verge in Camden. Oh yes it was.
Getting ID’d on the door for a gig is kind of a rarity these days, especially at a venue I’ve been going to for years which I could have sworn had the most relaxed under-age door policy ever. But because of the actions of an idiot a couple of weeks ago the place has now got an extremely tight over 18s policy. Of course this led to a hell of a lot of people getting turned away which is a crying shame but what can you do? In turn it all led to a fairly sparse crowd considering the bands playing and the cheap £2 entry.
MY DAD JOE opened things up in the usual blistering manner and set the pace for a really fun show. Most credit has to be given to frontman Paul who played the set both singing and rocking out on the guitar with a recently fractured elbow! Legend! I’ve seen MDJ play three times in as many weeks and about a dozen times last year, I’ve never seen them play a bad set. They’re always really fun to watch and always on really good form. They have to be one of the most consistently good live bands in the country. Tonight they played some old classics like the popular ode to bad kebabs: “Oh Donner” and the catchy as hell “Every Second”, as well as this the quality of the new tracks like “Re-Start” and the epic revamp of “You’re Not The One” it was a killer set. Good Clean Fun have made an excellent signing. (8.5)
THE CHERRYBOMBERS had the hard job of following MDJ, although they confidently got on with the task. They played a blend of old school Ramones influenced punk with a bit of ska thrown in at times. They reminded me of something like the Queers being fronted by Gwen Stefani but without crude lyrics. It is nice to hear something a bit different from the usual pop-punk played these days. THE CHERRYBOMBERS aren’t the tightest band on the planet and the sound at The Verge was particularly bad tonight and it really dogged their set, but they seem really enthusiastic about what they do and have fun doing it. (5)
ROUTE 215. What can I say: best band in the country right now, catchy as hell songs, bags and bags of presence and in Rod they have the ultimate frontman. On top of all this they have fun doing it which counts for a lot. They played a really awesome set tonight, throwing in material mainly from the album plus a new song which sounds a bit darker and has Ryan taking over the singing duties, good stuff. The already legendary “Echo” had the crowd wilfully singing along as did the awesome chorus of “Push Me” The set seemed a little bit short I’m not sure whether it was, or whether I just didn’t want it to end. Although the sound was truly abysmal tonight it didn’t seem to hinder people’s enjoyment of the set and before long it was that time for the end of the show and the classic “Steal Your Soul”. Nick from Short Warning came up onto stage and played the bass giving Rod the freedom to go crazy which sent the front of the crowd into a frenzy: Blinding stuff. (9)
All-Star Recording’s PMX were in the crowd and were begged by 215 to play a couple of songs at the end of the show. By this stage however, the sound was just reduced to a wall of feedback and was actually half-way to making my ears bleed through my Pro-plugs, not good. What I could actually make out from what PMX played looked pretty good. I think we’ll be in for a treat. Overall it was a fun night, the bands were really good. However, it was marred by the fact lots of fans couldn’t get in and the terrible acoustics of the venue.
Mike Frankal
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